Another 'Grand' Project Completed!

Bullivants recently completed a geothermal pile project for a new 3 storey dwelling in Brixton, South West London, which will appear on Channel 4's 'Grand Designs' in the 2011/2012 series. The project involved the installation of 15, 300mm diameter CFA piles to a maximum depth of 15m, of which 10 piles were used as geothermal piles to a depth of 12m. The loops were constructed and pressure tested at RBL's main site in Drakelow, Staffs before being delivered to site. Each pile consisted of two 'U' tubes constructed from 25mm diameter Pe-Xa pipe chosen for its resilience to scratching, which otherwise could lead to pipe weakness. The intention with this project is that solar heat will be captured from an array of solar thermal panels and transferred to the ground, providing an interseasonal store of heat from the summer to the winter. Even though this was a highly constrained site due to the proximity of neighbouring properties the piles were successfully installed within three days.