Another steep and narrow access made to feel even more like the mountains with the gondolier overhead. The client had contacted us to stop the movement of the wall beneath the castle.

The access road to the site access is extremely steep with a 2.5 metre-wide pinch point.

Key aspects
– The wall was up to 5 metres high.
– Weight above the wall had to be kept to a minimum (initially)
– All pins had to be back to bedrock

During the planning of this project, we established that the larger machine would be required to reach the bottom of the wall – however the weight would be an obstacle.

It was decided to use the small 2t machine to reach over the handrail and drill the first two levels of pins along the entirety of the wall. These pins where fully installed to create an underpinned bed. This allowed the weight of the large machine to be transferred to the newly installed pins and allow the remaining levels of pins to be installed.

Using our Marini MA100 drill and drill mast we where able to drill to accurately and efficiently to a depth of 12 metres. Finding bedrock with all 76 pins ensured good support from each.

Due to the height of the wall, our team of rope access technicians were utilised to operate the drill, grout the pins and install the plates. Between the drill mast, spider excavator and rope technicians, the task was completed quickly, efficiently and safely.