Roger Bullivant Limited (RBL) is proud to announce the successful deployment of two of its newest in-house designed rigs, the 5508 and 5509 driven rigs, on a major residential development for Vistry Group on their Ibstock project, located in St Helens. The rigs are playing a key role in supporting foundation works for 243 homes.
This project is technically demanding when it comes to the ground conditions encountered on site, which include areas of significant made ground and high walls due to the site’s historic use as a brick manufacturing facility and quarry. To meet these challenges, RBL is employing Driven Precast Concrete Piles, Driven Steel Tubular Piles and its Overburden Drilling System (ODS), a combination chosen for both technical suitability and cost-efficiency. Precast piles offer the most economical solution across majority of the site and steel tubular piles are being used in areas where challenging driving conditions are encountered, while ODS is used in areas where ground conditions require deeper penetration into the underlying bedrock to provide additional support, especially near the former quarry faces.
The 5508 and 5509 rigs, both built on Casagrande B175XP-2 piling-specific base units, are the newest additions to RBL’s fleet and are being used on site alongside two further rigs (one driven rig and one ODS rig), bringing the total number of active piling machines to four. This marks one of the first times that the 5508 and 5509 have operated on a live project, and they are already delivering the high performance and operational flexibility they were designed for.
Andy Tebbs, Manufacturing Director at Roger Bullivant Limited, commented: “It’s incredibly rewarding to see both the 5508 and 5509 machines being put straight to work on a large, technically challenging site like Ibstock. These rigs are the result of careful in-house design and collaboration, and they are already proving their value by delivering efficient, quiet, and precise piling operations. We’re proud to support Vistry with our latest technology and play our part in helping bring 243 new homes to life.”
With all four rigs operating in tandem, the project is progressing at pace. The success of the Ibstock deployment not only highlights RBL’s capacity to support large-scale housing developments, but also reinforces its commitment to investing in innovative, in-house engineering to meet the needs of the UK construction sector.
