Solid foundations for Dublin landmark

The U2 Tower and Britain Quay development is located at the tip of the docklands peninsula on the south side of the River Liffey. When constructed the tower will be the tallest building in Dublin forming a prestigious gateway development to the city.
 
Our engineers have helped the client to maximise space availability within the development and to overcome the challenging ground conditions of the chosen site which is within the historical docklands area of Dublin, close to one of the largest former gas works in Ireland and surrounded by other former heavy industrial sites..
 
Using information from two phases of detailed ground investigations, together with our expertise from engineering tall buildings, we developed a robust substructure solution. We designed an innovative retaining wall solution with the support of finite element modelling (FEM) techniques to maximise the available basement space in the difficult ground and groundwater conditions. A dewatering strategy was devised using a 3D groundwater modelling tool. We also provided a clear strategy and advice for managing the contaminated soil and groundwater arising from the basement excavation.