The newly relocated Travelodge hotel in East India Docks is an 18-storey structure comprising of 350 rooms with the inclusion of a restaurant, bar and café. Situated adjacent to the building lies a car park that can accommodate approximately 35 car parking spaces.
Key Technical Challenges
Located beneath the existing site lies the East India Dock Road Tunnel, which implicates loading restrictions and exclusion zones set by Transport for London (TFL). Due to this, it was essential to thoroughly consider the foundation design and the construction sequence of the superstructure to ensure that there was no adverse effect on the below tunnel.
Key Technical Solutions
Using a 3-dimensional model of the soil, a detailed impact assessment had been undertaken to determine the effect of the construction and proposed permanent loads that superimposed on the existing road tunnel formation.
This model assisted in the setting of restrictions which aided in avoiding unfavourable effects.
It was also established that a lightweight attenuation tank could be moved to a location that minimised the impact on the tunnels. The proposed tank weighs less than the existing soil it replaces when the tank is both empty, and at full capacity, and facilitated in mitigating the loads inflicted on the underground tunnel.
Further geotechnical analysis commissioned by RBG determined that the ground conditions of the soil dictate a piled foundation system was appropriate for the proposed building and that Contiguous Flight Auger (CFA) or bored piles were suitable pile types.