Bahrain International Airport

Terminal Building Expansion Phase 5

Remote Aircraft Aprons

As part of the expansion of Bahrain International

Airport the aircraft aprons needed to be
expanded to suit future demand.

In view of the mixed loose silty/ sandy deposits of the

existing ground the main contractor Haji Hassan Group
has nominated Keller Grundbau GmbH as specialized
subcontractor for the ground improvement works.

In order to limit the settlement and to achieve the

 Stone Column Installation Process required bearing capacity of up to 150kPa for the new
airport aprons, soil improvement by means of Vibro-
Replacement (Stone Columns) was employed to improve
the ground down to max. 7.00 m depth or refusal of the
vibrator whichever occurred first.
Client:
Kingdom of Bahrain, Ministry of Works As the works were to be carried out next to the fully
Consultant:
operational airport runways Keller has employed it’s dry
Jacobs-GIBB LTD bottom feed system for stone column installation. This
system does not require flushing water and minimizes
Main Contractor:
Haji Hassan Group B.S.C. dust and mud hazards during the operation. The dry
12-24Ei

method utilizes a depth vibrator with an attached stone

Work carried out: feeder tube to penetrate into the ground and build a
 96,017 lin. m stone columns (19,318 Nos)
 2 Field Trials column from the bottom up. The vibrator assembly is
 13 Plate Load Tests supported by Keller/s custom built “Vibrocat”, a special
 8 Zone Load Test crawler mounted rig which can exert a pull down force
Construction Period: on the vibrator string, thus further improving the
Phase 1: 5/2008 -12/2008 performance.
Phase 2: 8/2009 – 1/2010
 The ground conditions were varying significantly over the
site. In some areas soft silt/sand-deposits were
encountered up to the design depth of 7m. However, in
other parts only sand of various density was encountered
up to 2m depth, followed by hard caprock.
The ground improvement works were carried out in two
phases.

During most of the construction period Keller was

working in double shift. In some areas only limited access
was available due to the ongoing airport operations.
Henceforth, a close coordination with the main
contractor and the authorities was required.

The stone column spacing was varying over the site and
had to be adjusted locally to avoid obstructions such as
service and utility lines. Generally, a 3m safe working
distance from the existing services had to be maintained.
When working close to service lines vibration monitoring
was carried out as preventive measure by a third party
agency.

Vibration Monitoring on service lines
The Vibrocat carrier unit is equipped with a number of
sensors which produce a direct read out from Keller’s
M4 quality control computer. All relevant parameters
such as time, depth, power consumption, probe number
etc are recorded and printed in real time on the unit
itself.

Further, as part of the Quality Control Procedure two

field trials were carried out prior to the main works.
During the duration of the project additionally 8 Zone
Load Tests on a 2.5m x 2.5m cast-in-situ dummy footing
Keller Grundbau GmbH and 13 plate load tests on a 76cm diameter plate were
International Geotechnical Contractor
performed to verify the required bearing capacity and
www.Keller Grun dbau.com uniformity of the ground improvement works.
Bahrain
Flat 205, Bldg.63
P.O.Box 5452
Manama, Bahrain
Tel. +973 17741677
Fax +973 17741688
E-mail Keller@batelco.com.bh