Pile Caps At The Kellogg’s Factory

THE CHALLENGE

Kellogg’s needs no introduction. It’s cereals have been a staple of people’s weekly food shopping for generations, and at the heart of that in Britain is The Kellogg’s Manchester Plant, more commonly known as ‘The Kellogg’s Factory’, in Trafford Park.

In 2019, Kellogg’s in-house engineers and maintenance team observed some cracking and signs of aging to the bases of their cereal production silos. They immediately reduced their capacity by 70% whilst further investigation took place.

THE SOLUTION

Eventually, on the instruction of the principal contractor, Blue Projects, Simpkins Kenny Civil and Structural Engineers produced a solution involving x62 168mmø mini-piles to be installed over x16 pile caps to reinforce the silo bases’ foundations.

Despite only being in business for just over 1 year at this point, Rhino Piling was asked to tender for the project, and several meetings later, we were appointed as the piling contractor. 

Food production had to be maintained throughout the works, which demanded extremely stringent health and safety standards and work practices. This was a major learning curve for us at the time, but the method statement devised and prepared by our Technical Director Jonathan Wolowicz ticked all the boxes.

WHAT WE DID

The pre-existing slab was pre-core drilled in preparation for us, which uncovered a myriad of debris like old railway tracks and cables. This may sound unusual but anyone familiar with Trafford Park will remember the trains that used to frequent the area and service the Kellogg’s plant.

We drove all x62 168mmø piles according to Simpkins Kenny’s drawings, installed 204m of steel ring beam between the 16 caps, then worked with concrete company RBS to line pump 33 cubic metres of C35 concrete and float-finishing.

6 of the piles underwent dynamic testing by James Fisher Testing and were deemed satisfactory, ‘capping’ off the project nicely! (Pun intended!)

Phone: 0161 706 0365 | Email: enquiries@rhinopiling.co.uk