New chip factory rests on 2,718 soil displacing screw piles

These foundations were laid by Votquenne Foundations, a still young Belgian foundation specialist that is fast becoming the market leader in total solutions for both foundation and shoring techniques. 

Votquenne Foundations was founded in 2006 by ir. Bart Cloet, with the aim of offering mechanical (foundation) techniques, such as soil displacement screw piles, micropiles, berliner wall, secant pile wall, et cetera, in addition to manual techniques. "With Votquenne Foundations we are a regular partner of Alheembouw and in that capacity we were asked to make an offer for the foundation of the new plant in Poperinge," says project manager Youri Coucke. "It was very nice for us to be awarded this assignment, since the project is in our backyard, so to speak, and many of our colleagues live in this region."

Economic solution

"Executing the foundation with soil displacement screw piles turned out to be the most economical solution for Aviko and is also our specialty and core business," says Coucke. "A different type of piles would have been more expensive and would have yielded a lower return. For us it was above all an all-round project of a nice size. We carried out both the foundation techniques and the drainage. Various machines were used for this; the beautiful project and the clayey soil lent itself to the use of smaller equipment. In total, we set up four foundation machines, which, incidentally, were not all operational at the same time. In addition, the necessary equipment was deployed to place and take care of the well drainage." The soil displacing screw piles are formed by laterally squeezing away the soil during the vibration-free drilling process, in order to immediately fill the space created when drilling out with concrete and add a reinforcement cage, Coucke explains. "With this technique, no soil is transported to the surface. In total, no less than 65 tons of reinforcement were processed and 5,000 m³ of concrete."

Total Solutions

Votquenne Foundations emphatically presents itself as a provider of total solutions for the realization of construction pits. Coucke: "If required, we provide the complete package of all possible foundation techniques and drainage operations. In cooperation with Lameire Funderingstechnieken, the company 2Fund was founded in 2019; the result of the driven ambition of both companies to become the Belgian market leader in total solutions for both foundation and shoring techniques. Thanks in part to this merger, we can now also offer soilmix techniques."

Throughout our operations, personal commitment and making everything negotiable and achievable are central, says Coucke. "Time and again we try to meet the needs and requirements of the client, without compromising on quality and safety. This also fits perfectly with the philosophy of Aviko, which sets great store by safety and therefore also constantly supervised the construction process. The result is to both our and the client's satisfaction. Of course, none of this would be possible without our employees, on whom we can count 100% daily."