Sando certifies the technological innovation designed for the foundations of the Oceanographic Centre in the Port of Málaga

08/03/2021

The construction company presents a viable alternative for deep foundations below the water table of the sea.

Sando has succeeded in certifying as a technological innovation the construction solution it developed for the complex foundations of the Oceanographic Centre building in the Port of Malaga. The research proposed by Sando allowed for reactivating the works. These works had been stalled for months due to technical concerns about the structural viability of the building’s construction.

Sando’s research project, certified in accordance with the UNE 166001:2006 R&D&I management standard, focused on consolidating alternatives that allow deep foundations to be laid in saline port environments, a characteristic of the land on which the Oceanographic Centre is located, built with fill material in its different layers. The study also assesses the problems that could put the infrastructures’ structural safety and surrounding elements at risk.

The novelty of the research, led by a group of Sando engineers, is the design and development of a new solution that optimises the absorption of the structure’s loads. It also eliminates the problem of excavation through breakwaters, which are common in seaports.

Piles CPI-4

From a technological point of view, Sando has used a substantial innovation in constructing the Oceanographic Centre building, using CPI-4 type concrete piles in situ. The piles used in foundations to transfer the structure’s load to a resistant layer of ground reach a depth of 36 to 40 metres.

Sando’s construction solution incorporates metallic structures in these piles, known as permanent steel casings, which reinforce the ground and are superimposed on each pile up to the first ten metres. This technique, adapted to the terrain’s geological characteristics, allows for the concrete’s containment and provides robustness to the foundation as a whole.

Sando can apply this project’s results, called “Research, design and development of deep foundations in port environments”, in future infrastructures that require large piles below the water table.

This construction process optimises the use of piles and their placement, the safety coefficients, and considers the humidification-dehumidification of the ground of this type of calcite and clay rocks (marls). From an environmental point of view, it also reduces Waste generation.

The construction work on the Malaga Oceanographic Centre for the Spanish Institute of Oceanography is currently in the last phase of execution following the structure’s completion and the laying of the different cladding.