Underpinning solution for the repair of eight, 4 storey residential apartment blocks in Nairobi, Kenya.
The project
Underpinning of 4 storey residential buildings which were settling excessively due to collapse settlement.
Keller in partnership with Dunhill Consulting Limited, installed and designed micropile underpinning to cater for the loads as per the soil conditions within the area.
The challenge
The main challenge was the installation depth of the micropile as the soils within the area proved to be highly variable.
Vertical R38N micropiles where installed in limited access, in the narrow restricted building, without any disruption to the building’s primal structural elements.
The solution
Micropiles were installed onto the existing foundation position, with a new pile cap to tie the building with the drilled micropile.
Test piles were done, 12m and 6m long, with a maximum tensile and compressive working capacity approaching 400kN.
Depths varied with the soil condition from 10m to 15.5m, as refusal within the rock strata was encountered on drilling the micropile.