Diversion of existing services and investigation work on existing features

Description

The South Plaza is an area of proposed works centred on the Clock Tower in Waterford City Centre. At its centre point, along the edge of the river, the new South Plaza, when constructed, will be approximately 2 m higher than the existing ground level, where the Plaza is brought up to meet the deck of the new Sustainable Transport Bridge. Two buildings may be incorporated into the plaza on either side of the bridge landing at some future time. Arising from the consideration of the additional weight of fill required in this area, combined with the potential loading from two buildings and the relatively poor ground conditions in the area, it has been necessary to design a reinforced piled slab over a section of the South Plaza area to carry this additional loading. This slab is required to be placed, on average, approximately 1.5 m below existing ground level in order not to interfere with future services, existing drainage pipes, and to provide an anchor for the sheet pile wall which will form the new shoreline. Construction of this slab requires all the existing utilities within its footprint to be diverted before works can start. Contract also requires excavations to investigate existing features