Belfast: East Quay Wall - Titanic Quarter

The construction of a new sheet-piled quay wall some 200 metres in length and some 14 metres on the tidal water side of an existing quay structure. The contract included the demolition of the old quay structure and the reclaiming for use of some 2,500m2 of land between the old and new quay walls.

The East Quay Wall forms the frontage of the ARC (Abercorn Residential Complex) on to the Abercorn Basin of the River Lagan tidal reach, and launched the first stage of the prestigious Titanic Quarter Project at Queen's Island, Belfast. The work was programmed to be carried out in parallel with the construction of the basement for the ARC Residential Complex.

The works included:

The provision and compacting, in the tidal area in front of the existing wall, of some 20,000 m3 of stone fill to form a temporary piling platform;

The provision and driving of some 4,300 m2 of 23 m long AZ50 steel sheet piles into the bed of the existing Abercorn basin to form the new quay wall. The sheet piles were installed by our ABI Mobilram TM 18/22 B leader system mounted on a Sennebogen SR35TB 41/380-2 chassis;

Fabrication and placement of 60 Nr 13 tonne pre-cast concrete facing panels with exposed aggregate finish, fixed to the top of the sheet pile wall, with an overlapping link to give the appearance, at low water, of concrete wall construction to match that at the Odyssey Complex. The precast units were fabricated and stored in our yard, some 7 miles from the site, and called up for delivery as and when required;

The provision and installation of 170 no. 80mm diameter of steel tie rods 24m long connecting the new sheet pile wall with purpose driven sheet piled anchor walls. The infilling of the void between the existing and new quay walls with some 20,000 m3 stone fill, which included the re-use of the piling platform;

The demolition and removal for recycling/disposal off-site of the existing timber piled quay structure;

The construction in insitu reinforced concrete of the anchor beam and capping beam to the precast units and the cover slab to the extended deck area. Ancillary works included the provision and fitting of access ladders and mooring bollards to the new quay wall.

Access for plant to the works area was considerably restricted during the construction of the ARC basement and superstructure, so phasing of the new quay wall construction was programmed to coordinate with progress on the ARC;

Phasing of the deliveries of the 13 tonne precast concrete capping units in particular required careful coordinating with the building programme as on-site storage space was very restricted.