Keller Foundations Enable the Games to Begin On Time! Sponsored

Hayward Baker’s UK sister companies were instrumental in the on-time completion of facilities for the 2012 Olympics in London.Read more...

Three divisions of Keller UK – Phi Group, Keller Geotechnique and Keller Foundations – were involved in the construction of foundations for Olympic facilities in Stratford, London – including the Main Stadium, Media Centre, White Water Rafting, Basketball Arena, part of the Aquatics Centre and bridges all over the park. They even installed piles for the “Orbit Tower”, Britain’s largest piece of public art, created to commemorate the Games.

Keller’s design-construct solution for the Main Stadium, presented as an alternative to the original specification of precast and auger cast piles, combined three techniques to deliver a 25% cost saving and reduce construction time of the foundations by about six weeks.

The solution consisted of driven cast-in-situ (DCIS) and auger cast piles for the Main Stadium structure, and vibro concrete columns (VCC) for some of the ancillary structures around the perimeter of the stadium. Being very robust, DCIS piles are able to overcome difficult ground and a range of obstructions. VCCs are quick to install, helping to reduce construction time.

Sustainability was an important aspect of the foundation construction. The DCIS and VCC techniques produced no spoil to be trucked off-site and were shorter than other piling systems, requiring less material. Locally-produced concrete was utilized, which included the use of recycled materials such as pulverized fuel ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag.

Twenty-five colleagues from Keller’s UK business were not only invited to attend the opening ceremony, but also serve in the honor guard of construction workers who flanked the path as the flame was carried into the stadium. Sir Steve Redgrave, five times Olympic gold medalist rower, ran past them proudly carrying The Torch on its way to ignite the iconic Cauldron.