30th October 2020

Innovative foundation solution enables 300 new homes in Liverpool

Housing

Van Elle is laying the foundations for more than 300 new homes in Liverpool thanks to its innovative modular foundation system.

Working with David Wilson Homes and Barratt Homes, Van Elle will complete the ground engineering work on the site before the new houses can be built in Formby, Liverpool.

Van Elle will use its innovative Smartfoot system to lay the foundations for the 317 new properties, which uses modular pre-cast ground beams instead of traditional foundation methods to speed up installation times and enable the next phase of construction.

Malcolm O’Sullivan, Piling Director at Van Elle, said: “Our Smartfoot system significantly reduces the amount of time and resource spent on laying foundations for housing projects like this one. We are delighted to be working with such forward-thinking developers in David Wilson and Barratt Homes who understand the advantages of the system.”

Van Elle will install around 12,000 linear metres of the ground beams over a 28-week period – one of the largest that Van Elle has used its Smartfoot product on.

The Smartfoot system makes use of post tensioning technology to connect factory-produced ground beams which are laid on top of piles ahead of the next stage of development. The beams are produced to specific requirements and delivered to site to be installed at a rate of more than 350 linear metres per week.

In 2019/20, Van Elle’s laid the foundations for more than 1,500 properties across the UK using its Smartfoot product.

Van Elle will also install a total of more than 2,000 piles to support the new homes in Formby.

Van Elle is the UK’s largest ground engineering contractor, completing more than 1,000 projects per year and has the country’s largest fleet of ground engineering rigs.

For more information on Van Elle’s Smartfoot ground beam system, visit https://www.van-elle.co.uk/techniques/Smartfoot/.