Shire Pile used to solve problems at Beaumaris Castle

A brief history 

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Built in the early 12^th century by the English monarch Edward I as a way to stamp his authority on the Welsh.  Beaumaris is widely considered to be the finest of all the great Edwardian castles. It is also the most technically perfect castle in the UK, due to the superior build quality and the introduction of ‘walls within walls’ concept, which involved four successive lines of fortification even though it was never finished as the budget ran out.

The problem 

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In 2010 the Welsh Assembly’s heritage body (CADW) decided Beaumaris Castle was in need of vital repairs and foundation reinforcement, extreme care needed to be taken to prevent the collapse of the outer walls.

Wall foundations being prepared

The solution 

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Thor Helical Remedial and Shire Piles were chosen by the project archaeologist and CADW for the foundation reinforcements. The Shire Piles were the preferred choice due to the minimal ground disturbance caused by the low displacement of the Helix product.

Contractors Antares Construction set the Piles to depths of 4-6 metres, giving compression capacity in excess of 50kN. The Piles were used in the ancient dock walls in addition to supporting the foundations of a new revetment being built within the existing moat.

CADW the guardian of Welsh built heritage.