Industry Sectors
Coffey utilises years of combined experience, innovation, and insight across a variety of challenging sectors.
Our team of geotechnical experts offer bespoke, innovative, and cost-effective design solutions.
Energy
Coffey has extensive experience in geotechnical aspects of energy production and distribution networks from design of foundations for wind turbines and transmission tower bases to assessment of dynamic soil properties for large scale power stations. Our support to the energy sector also involves design of ground improvement for the otherwise difficult access to remote renewable energy sites and geotechnical design for energy terminals such as HVDC substations and converter stations and associated civil infrastructure.
Water
Coffey works with water supply asset owners to improve and protect geotechnical aspects of their networks from reservoirs to pipes, and to assess the impact of proposed construction works on existing utilities in terms of induced ground movements to inform designs of permanent and temporary works.
We are currently designing the UK’s first new reservoir dam in 40 years at Havant Thicket. We have extensive experience of geotechnical design relating to water courses including flood risk management and erosion control for canals, lagoons, rivers, and coastal environments.
Highways
Coffey has a proven track record in providing cost-effective and innovative solutions to foundations, retaining structures, earthworks, and asset management in the highway environment, including new construction, road widening, investigation and remedial works. As specialists in geotechnics, we can also provide value engineering services for earthworks and structural elements on road schemes at tender or ECI stage.
Rail
Coffey has extensive experience of providing specialist engineering geological and geotechnical skills to the rail industry to provide pragmatic, sustainable, and resilient solutions and mitigation actions. We have worked for client organisations including Network Rail, HS2, Crossrail and London Underground; and principal and specialist contractors.
Recent projects include emergency response and remedial works for landslides; earthworks and drainage risk assessment and remedial works design; earthworks monitoring utilising traditional and modern techniques such as InSAR, LiDAR, and GPS; tunnel assessment and design; alignment feasibility studies; detailed substructure design and bridge concept design. We actively utilise GIS, Point Clouds, DTMs and DSMs to advance assessments, solutions and effective designs. We have a team of rope access qualified engineers for work at height situations.
Groundwater Control
Coffey has extensive expertise in dewatering and groundwater control for construction and engineering projects. Our specialists apply hydrogeological and geotechnical skills to develop safe and cost-effective solutions to control groundwater using pumped well systems, and by use of cut-off walls and low permeability barriers. We develop dewatering solutions to comply with abstraction licence regulations, and assess the potential for external impacts, including dewatering-related settlements.
Property
Coffey is at the forefront of innovative foundation design and solutions, whether it be deep piled solutions or shallow foundations with ground improvement. With the increasing demand for upward development of cities, complex foundation solutions can often be required to accommodate space constraints and reduce impacts on other infrastructure. At the other end of the spectrum, the distribution business is growing all the time with new industrial warehouses being constructed across the UK. It is common for these expansive warehouses or similar structures such as data centres to be sited on brownfield sites, perhaps previously associated with mining or industry. Related ground difficulties are not rare and hence our extensive involvement in this sector.
Sustainability
Through our geotechnical engineering design, we communicate the benefits of material resource efficiency and work with industry colleagues to record metrics for sustainable design. Our accredited ISO 14001 Environmental Management System (EMS) provides a framework to address financial, environmental, and social responsibility for a more sustainable and resilient future. Tetra Tech Inc has signed up to Science Based Targets (SBTi) for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and we have a Sustainability Improvement Plan to this end.
Temporary Works
Coffey has years of experience of designing geotechnical temporary works to enable contractors to undertake construction works safely and efficiently. Whether it be a temporary working platform for construction plant and equipment or the provision of a robust ground stabilisation system including anchors, soil nails or cut slopes to allow construction of a deep basement, Coffey has the skill and experience to provide a cost effective and workable temporary works solution.
Asset Management
A thorough assessment of the nature and condition of existing assets is an important aspect of understanding their serviceability and ongoing maintenance requirements. Our extensive experience in the inspection, monitoring, maintenance and remediation of geotechnical elements and structures across a wide range of infrastructure sectors allows us to tailor our services to provide cost-effective, buildable and compliant engineering solutions for the repair, upgrade and enhancement of existing assets.
Quarrying and Minerals
Coffey Geotechnics specialise in providing solutions from initial site characterisation through to analysis, design, construction, assessment / monitoring (e.g. Quarries Regulations Geotechnical Appraisals and Assessments) of quarry and mine excavations, tips, lagoons, stockpiles, infrastructure and restoration/reclamation. Coffey provide assessment and remediation for a wide range of geohazards including rock slope instability, karst features, soil slopes, historical mining, ground / mine water issues. We have provided expert witness services for rock excavation, blasting and vibration issues.
Waste Management
Waste disposal is heavily regulated and technically complex, with challenging and continually changing legislation and regulation. Successfully gaining and maintaining regulatory approval on behalf of clients across different jurisdictions requires close attention to detail and presents numerous challenges for design and specification. The overall goal is to protect the environment for current and future generations and do that sustainably to ensure that our clients, environmental liabilities and responsibilities are properly discharged. Our clients include local authorities and operators of landfills, quarries, mines and industrial chemical process plants. We work across the UK and worldwide, and our experience includes design of tailings storage facilities, heap leach pads, as well as repositories and landfills for a wide range of municipal and complex industrial solid and liquid wastes. In addition to innovative and cost-effective design of new facilities, we also assist clients in managing their operational and legacy waste facilities.
Specialist advice worth having
Our specialists use a range of analytical techniques including numerical modelling to. We provide ground engineering design services for foundations, soil and rock slopes, retaining structures, ground improvement, dams and reservoirs, marine and near-shore structures, deep basements, temporary works, quarries, landfills, mines, and tailings dams. We also offer value engineering services, providing alternative design solutions for more cost-effective construction.
We work throughout the industry
Our teams have worked on projects associated with most types of ground engineering. If you don’t see what you are looking for listed in our sectors above, we will have access to the experience you need.
Please contact us to talk through your project requirements. We can send you details of specific projects we have conducted to demonstrate our expertise.