Access Engineering PLC, one of Sri Lanka’s leading engineering companies was recently awarded with the contract for the installation of bored cast in-situ reinforced concrete piles and a diaphragm wall for Havelock City; the premier integrated mixed-use development coming up in Colombo.
Havelock City, the brain child of S.P. Tao is developed by Mireka Capital Land, a fully owned subsidiary of Overseas Realty (Ceylon) PLC, the owner, developer and manager of the iconic World Trade Centre Colombo.

The Havelock City Commercial Development is a 50-storeyed complex which houses a 600,000 square-foot Grade ‘A’ premium office tower designed to be a ‘Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design’ (LEED) Gold certified building and a 200,000 square-feet shopping mall.
The office space will comprise of smart functioning infrastructure with computerized car park, elevator, and building management systems, while the shopping mall comprises of six floors of international branded retail stores, dining and entertainment facilities amidst a state-of-the-art multiplex cinema.
The work awarded to Access Engineering PLC includes the erection of a diaphragm wall, which is 557 metres long and 18 metres to 22 metres deep from the ground level and the installation of 436 bored piles.

The diaphragm wall will be erected utilizing the Bauer GB 34 Hydraulic Grab machine with a maximum hoisting force of 340kN. High closing forces of the shovel in combination of the possibility of multiple grabbing at the trench bottom, result in high excavation rates even in dense and very hard soil strata. As the project is scheduled to be completed within seven months, considerable effort is assigned by the engineering team to ensure the project completes on time while meeting the strict noise and vibration limits, work time restrictions and the sensitivity of the earth.

“At Access Engineering we constantly look at ways of improving on what has been achieved before such as in this project, we erect a diaphragm wall; a technique which was introduced to Sri Lanka for the first time by Access Engineering PLC,” said bored, in-situ reinforced concrete piles and diaphragm wall project installation Project Manager Saman Kumara.