Piling and diaphragm wall construction for Havelock City Commercial Mix Development Project awarded

Access Engineering PLC, one of Sri Lanka’s leading engineering companies renowned for high standard of workmanship in the area of piling/diaphragm wall construction and soil retention works, was recently awarded with the contract for the installation of bored, cast in-situ reinforced concrete piles and a diaphragm wall for Havelock City; the premier integrated mixed-use development coming up in Colombo, Sri Lanka. 

Havelock City, the brainchild of S.P. Tao, is developed by Mireka Capital Land, a fully-owned subsidiary of Overseas Realty (Ceylon) PLC, the owner, developer and manager of the iconic World Trade Centre Colombo.

The Havelock City Commercial Development is a 50-storeyed complex which houses a 600,000sqft Grade ‘A’ premium office tower designed to be a LEED GOLD certified building and a 200,000sqft shopping mall. 

The office space will comprise of smart functioning infrastructure with computerised car park, elevator, building management systems while the shopping mall comprises of six floors of international branded retail stores, dining and entertainment facilities amidst a state-of-the-art multiplex cinema. 

The work awarded to Access Engineering PLC includes the erection of a diaphragm wall, which is 557m long and 18m to 22m deep from the ground level and the installation of 436 No. bored piles. 

The diaphragm wall will be erected utilising the Bauer GB 34 Hydraulic Grab machine with a maximum hoisting force of 340kN. High closing forces of the shovel in combination of the possibility of multiple grabbing at the trench bottom, result in high excavation rates even in dense and very hard soil strata. As the project is scheduled to be completed within seven months, considerable effort is assigned by the engineering team to ensure the project completes on time while meeting the strict noise and vibration limits, work time restrictions and the sensitivity of the earth. 

“At Access Engineering we constantly look at ways of improving on what has been achieved before such as in this project, we erect a diaphragm wall; a technique which was introduced to Sri Lanka for the first time by Access Engineering PLC,” said Saman Kumara; the project manager.