London Gateway Berth 4

Quinn Piling delivered specialist piling and jet grouting works as part of the Berth 4 expansion at London Gateway for DP World.

Located on the north bank of the River Thames, the project forms part of a major expansion to one of the UK’s key deep-water container terminals, increasing capacity to accommodate some of the world’s largest container vessels.

Working alongside McLaughlin & Harvey, Quinn was appointed to deliver the piling works for the rear crane support beam serving the ship-to-shore cranes, together with specialist jet grouting works to the combi-wall structure.

The new 430m-long berth forms a significant part of the wider port expansion and increases operational capacity at London Gateway by approximately one third.

Scope of Works

CFA Piling Works

Quinn completed the installation of:

• 294no. 1,050mm diameter CFA piles
• Installed to depths of approximately 29.4m

The piling works formed the foundations for the rear piled crane support beam supporting the new ship-to-shore cranes along the quay structure.

Test piling operations were completed during summer 2023, with main piling works commencing in January 2024 and successfully completed in July 2024.

Jet Grouting Works

In addition to the piling package, Quinn carried out specialist jet grouting operations along the combi-wall structure.

The scope included:

• 225no. 250mm diameter grout columns
• Additional 800mm diameter grout columns at the interface with Berth 3

The grout columns were installed to seal the clutch joints between the combi-wall tubular piles, preventing the migration of sand from Berth 4 into the River Thames and protecting the long-term stability of the quay wall.

Jet grouting operations were carried out using high-pressure grout injection to erode and mix with the in-situ soils, forming engineered soilcrete columns at the required locations.

Site Challenges

Ground conditions across the site presented challenges during the jet grouting operations, with very dense soils encountered at depth.

To overcome this, Quinn carried out additional CFA pre-drilling works using a 140T Mait piling rig. This enabled the B125 jet grouting rig to achieve the required installation depths and successfully complete the grout column works in accordance with the project specification.

The works required careful coordination within a live port environment while maintaining programme and operational requirements throughout construction.

Project Outcome

The London Gateway Berth 4 project demonstrated Quinn Piling’s capability in delivering large-scale marine infrastructure works using a combination of CFA piling and specialist ground treatment techniques.

Through careful planning, specialist equipment and close coordination with the wider project team, Quinn successfully delivered the piling and jet grouting package required to support the expansion of one of the UK’s leading deep-water container terminals.