Gloucester South West Bypass Simplex Foundations is carrying out piling work on a contract to complete the final section of the Gloucester South West Bypass. Norwest Holst is underway with the £12 million contract following the succesfull competion of the first section two months ahead of schedule. The latest contract involves the diversion of the Gloucester to Shapness ship canal to enable the construction of a new swing bridge. The construction of a 750mm Hard Secant Wall will form part of a protective structure for existing underground services when the canal is realigned. Piling has already been completed in preparation for the swing bridge which will sit on heavily reinforced 750mm Rotary Bored Piles. Akeler Leeds Valley Park Simplex Foundations is installing 550 piles over a six week period to provide foundations for a major business park development by Akeler Leeds Valley Park.“ Hounslow As part of a £750,000 contract for Norwest Holst, Simplex is currently installing 649 piles at the Blenheim Centre in Hounslow. Pile depths range from 10m to 32m, with particular safety requirements being imposed by the proximity of the London Underground. Royal Mills Simplex Foundations installed a contiguous piled retaining wall for a three level underground car park being built as part of the Royal Mills development in Manchester. The development brings together four Grade II listed mill buildings dating from the 19th and early 20th centuries, new apartments, shops, restaurants, office units and other business spaces.   City Square, Liverpool Simplex were faced with complex piling design and execution on this contract due to the site being located directly above a subterranean escalator shaft for the Merseyrail underground city centre loop and the predominance of Sherwood Sandstone. The use of transfer piles minimised the load transfer onto the railtrack and station tunnels whilst the problem of drilling into the abrasive Sandstone was overcome by a vigorous regime of maintenance and repair of the drilling tools. Melton Mowbray Approximately 3000 piles have been installed during the foundations phase of this major new warehouse in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. The size of the new building is 20,000 square metres with a height of 25 metres. Up to four CFA rigs were on site at any one time, achieving a daily installation rate of almost a mile of piles per day. Beetham Hilton, Manchester The 48 storey Beetham Hotel in Manchester, currently under construction on Deansgate, one of Manchester’s busiest shopping streets, will be the tallest UK building outside London and will feature among the tallest primarily residential buildings in Europe. Simplex have completed the contract to install the piled perimeter retaining wall which will form the 10 metre basement of the new hotel. Temple Quays, Bristol Simplex has successfully installed foundation piles for a prestigious new six storey office development being built on the banks of the River Avon at Temple Quays in Bristol. Simplex had to overcome a number of environmental difficulties during the contract, all associated with either the geology, archaeology and history of the site which dates back to the late 1600’s when the area was used as a manufacturing base for glass, copper and most recently lead shot. Swiss Cottage London More than 240 piles were installed, some up to a depth of 66 metres, at this mixed development site in Swiss Cottage, North London.