Nawaloka Piling expands dominance with work on mega 19 projects in 2017

Nawaloka Piling has expanded its business with work contracted for 19 mega projects this year, with 13 completed so far.

Among landmark projects for which Nawaloka has carried out piling work are the 350-metre tall Lotus Tower Colombo, the tallest tower in South Asia; The Celestial Tower (presently Grand Hyatt Colombo) at Colombo 03, the tallest building in Sri Lanka; John Keells Holdings’ Waterfront Integrated Resort project in Colombo 2; and the Shangri La Hotel Development Project in Colombo. 

Nawaloka Piling also deployed 11 boring machines for the relocation of Manning Market from Pettah to Peliyagoda. This was biggest deployment of boring machine to a project in Sri Lanka.

Chairman and Managing Director Upali Dharmadasa

Founded in 1993, Nawaloka Piling is the pioneer in foundation engineering and has grown to become Sri Lanka’s largest and best equipped piling contractor with over 250 large scale and landmark construction projects in the country. 

It also owns over half the national asset base of piling heavy machinery and equipment including 24 hydraulic boring machines in different capacity; a micro pile machine; three vibro hammer; a silent piler; seven winch machines; 12 crawler cranes; nine mobile cranes in various capacity; and an equal number of excavators and five backhoe loaders.

Nawaloka Piling is an ISO 9001:2008 and OHSAS 18001:2007 certified company. It is also graded GPB1, the highest piling industry ranking offered by the Institute of Construction Training and Development (ICTAD), the national construction industry development body. 

Its maiden venture was piling for the Specialist Centre, now the Sampath Bank Head Office, at

Sir James Pieris Mawatha, Colombo 2.

According to Nawaloka Group of Companies Chairman and Managing Director Upali Dharmadasa, through the years the company has consistently invested in state-of-the art machinery and human resources that support innovative and sound construction solutions, to facilitate successful completion of all types of building projects with a reputation for quality, reliability and experience.

“In the current environment of lasting peace and economic and political stability, we plan to expand our services and increase our investments in the piling sector, to support Sri Lanka’s development drive into the future. We look forward to a brighter future for Sri Lanka and the construction industry that is now emerging as a key national industry, and we hope to actively contribute towards the development and growth of this vital industry,” Dharmadasa added.

The Lotus Tower project is an impressive demonstration of the capaibility of Nawaloka Piling. 

The contract was challenging as it involved the installation of a contiguous bored pile retaining wall comprising 124 bored piles of 800 mm diametre ranging in depth from 13 m to 8 m. 

The Lotus Tower, founded on a circular raft foundation at a depth of 15 m below ground level with a diametre of 43 m. The deep excavation for the construction of the raft is secured by a contiguous bored pile retaining wall. 

Although completion was initially scheduled within an overall period of 60 days, it had been possible to reduce this by 35 days with the completion of the bored pile retaining wall in an astonishing record time of just 25 days using two Bauer BG 28 rotary drilling rigs.

Works of Nawaloka Piling in the past have been recognised by the national construction industry development body, ICTAD. 

In 2005, Nawaloka Piling was honoured with the Construction Excellence Award by ICTAD, for the piling works for the high rise apartment complex, Empire Residential Developments in Colombo 02. In 2007, the Company was recognised by ICTAD for the super structure and sheet pile works of the Colombo Sewerage rehabilitation project, at the Wellawatte pumping station.

Nawaloka was also the first Sri Lankan company to build 1,800 mm diameter piles, as part of work on Celestial Residencies (Hyatt Hotel), Sri Lanka’s tallest structure, which required the construction of 164 piles in total. In 2005, the company introduced secant piling to Sri Lanka, which has contributed towards expanding structural design and construction options.

It has the capacity to construct piles ranging from 500 mm in diameter to 2000 mm and also 300 mm diameter micro piles whilst Nawaloka was the first piling contractor in Sri Lanka to have constructed pile as large as 2000 mm in diameter for JKH’s Waterfront Integrated Resort project.

Nawaloka offers what Dharmadasa described as unrivalled, end-to-end construction solutions, from architectural and structural designing, to pile installation and testing, to ensure maximum value for clients. 

The company specialises in cast-in place, reinforced bored concrete pile foundations, offering cost effective and efficient solutions for structures, such as bridge work and high rise buildings. 

The range of services includes percussion drilling and truck mounted rotary drilling, for dry and wet boring situations. It has also successfully completed all four secant piling projects that were offered in the country, with in-house technology and expertise.

The range of boring machinery, ancillary tools and related construction equipment, ensures a one-stop-shop facility for a wide variety of foundation piling techniques, to suit different structural engineering requirements. 

The backward integration capabilities, extensive resource base and local construction expertise, contribute directly towards successful completion of construction projects by reducing wastage, time and unplanned costs. 

Furthermore, the quality assurance processes and monitoring mechanisms ensure a strong foundation for any construction project, regardless of size, location or design.