“The ground investigation around the chimney area of the power plant has recently been completed… In the remaining areas to the North, South and West of the power plant where rock is at shallow depth mainly in areas of thick soil cover, five trial pits and two probe holes are proposed.”
“a) a maximum bearing stress (assumed safe bearing capacity) of the ground of 3,000kN/m2 or 3MPa (taken from John Redding’s memorandum of4 January 1996 ) …”
“the boiler house and milling house are assumed to be founded on rock. This has an assumed safe bearing property capacity of 3MN/m³. Further GI (ground investigation) work is intended to confirm the value (sic) at an early stage of the design and to establish that the foundations will be founded on consistent material.”
“0.0 – 0.2 grey, sandy, fine - … gravel 0.2 – 1.6 moderately strong – strong, extremely close to medium fractured, grade III BASALT. Discoloured brown along all fractures. Broken pieces. No soil matrix. North face predominantly fractured. South face is predominently very closely fractured. The rock was reasonably easy to rep/excavate due to the large amount of fracturing.” 0.2 – 1.6 moderately strong – strong, extremely close to medium fractured, grade III BASALT. Discoloured brown along all fractures. Broken pieces. No soil matrix. North face predominantly fractured. South face is predominently very closely fractured. The rock was reasonably easy to rep/excavate due to the large amount of fracturing.”
“1. boiler foundation medium foot alternative plug/club foot to be developed on 4.5m diameter, 6.5m deep base. Detailed design will need to be reviewed on site when assessment of rock formation integrity possible, particularly unit 1 where some excavation has already been undertaken.”
“5 Bases to be founded on un-fractured rock. All formations to be approved by CEPAS and where necessary brought to level and consolidated using mass concrete as directed by CEPAS.”
“The material exposed at formation as viewed on the edges of blinding appears to be highly fractured and weathered basalt possibly Grade III/IV. The formation on the western footing is weaker and on some sections sandy gravel up to 300mm thick underlay the blinding.”
“I shall ring you to discuss this further. In particular, I will be interested to know how the formation was prepared and what you think could be causing the settlement.”
“For the east-west excavation steeper cut slopes are being achieved, but are liable to ravel and I don’t think we can justify having high level foundations above the 45° line ….”
“After the site formation only hard out-crops of basalt could actually be seen in the formation and to the east of the boiler house a fill platform had been laid as part of the fabrication area for the tower crane. Excavations to the west were at the cooling water intake and the silos. The strike of the rocks is E-W to the plant grid with a dip of 85° to the south. The nearest excavations to the boiler house show highly fractured rock but not badly weathered. Nearly all the rock on site is highly fractured.”
“The heavy fracturing of rock will require some site modification of the planned excavations to ensure adequate formation of the primary foundations.”
“In theory ground water levels at shallow depths would be significant in the design of structures like shallow foundations.”
“Rebars subsequently fixed in boiler area subsequently removed and rebar in CEB blown up in recent blasting.”
“Blasting today at boiler U-1 (cable ducts) … item 4 unit. Fixing of shoring jacks and checking the centre line of anchor bolts at PAD F8 … blasting at cable ducts …”
“SSCC staffing has and continues to be behind requirements.”
“Significant problems have been encountered with the concrete batch plants and rock crusher. Equipment failure has restricted the rate of concrete placement. Equipment vendor representatives were called in to evaluate the problems and provide solutions …”
“An overall review of the entire quality programme by the Consortium is recommended at the earliest possible opportunity”
“Boiler foundation drawings appear to be complete; the foundation installation is in progress.”
“There was evidence of loose and fractured rock which is out with specification and cracking of what appeared to be F8 foundation blinding.”
“Formation appears to have deteriorated after rain and was not properly cleared out after blinding.”
“Extremely closely fissured and fractured rock greyish brown with some zones of 0.15m joint spacing. Fresh fissured nosed (open) suggest blasting effects or probably opened up by trial pitting.”
“The material exposed at formation as viewed on the edges of blinding appears to be highly fractured and weathered basalt possibly Grade III/IV. The formation on the western footing is weaker and on some sections sandy gravel up to 300mm thick underlay the blinding.”
“ • The maximum allowable design deviation between consecutive boiler foundations is 10mm • The attached graphs detailing settlement trends indicate that the foundations G5 and G2 have average settlements of 37.0mm and 26.0mm respectively, albeit the associated base plates have been re-levelled to within 5mm of the required elevation putting the boiler structure in a safe state of stability. • The maximum acceptable settlement for continued boiler erection is 25mm (the present settlement exceeds this) Analysis of the above data proves that the application of increasing loads results in an ongoing trend of settlement with no apparent levelling off in the rate. Based on this we have concluded that any additional loading will result in settlement breaching further conditions. In consideration of this the boiler erection is stopped completely from7th May 1997 until SSCC correct this problem.” • The maximum allowable design deviation between consecutive boiler foundations is 10mm • The attached graphs detailing settlement trends indicate that the foundations G5 and G2 have average settlements of 37.0mm and 26.0mm respectively, albeit the associated base plates have been re-levelled to within 5mm of the required elevation putting the boiler structure in a safe state of stability. • The maximum acceptable settlement for continued boiler erection is 25mm (the present settlement exceeds this) Analysis of the above data proves that the application of increasing loads results in an ongoing trend of settlement with no apparent levelling off in the rate. Based on this we have concluded that any additional loading will result in settlement breaching further conditions. In consideration of this the boiler erection is stopped completely from7th May 1997 until SSCC correct this problem.”
“The ground is behaving neither like a sound rock nor a fractured rock would. It is essential that the nature of the ground below the foundation is known before any decision on the ability of the ground to support the structure under either static or combined static and dynamic load is made.”
“I went down into the trial pit and excavated in one location to 750 millimetres below the base of the blinding using a spade … I could say that the ground was soft enough to be excavated to an even greater depth using a spade only. It certainly did not consist of sound rock. It consisted of completely decomposed Grade V rock (a friable silt) and there was a band of clay in the base of the pit although … there were also some blocks of strong rock.”
“The Boilers were to be built on sound basaltic bedrock, approximately 20m below original ground level on a rocky headland which had been levelled for construction. Possible reasons for the settlement were proposed. The most likely were that the foundations rest on naturally shattered and completely weathered material located on a geological fault, there is a different geological stratum at shallow depth below the foundation (this stratum being highly compressible) or the foundation rests on backfill to an excavation (i.e. on compressible made ground). Ground investigation could not confirm which of these or if there was another cause in the available time.”
“Drilling from the level of the underside of the foundation to a depth of 1.0m below this took 10 minutes which does not compare favourably with the four hours taken to drill 2.0m in basalt to the west of Boiler No. 2 using the same equipment.”
“The trial pit excavated by the eastern side of the G2 foundation was easily excavated to a depth of 0.5m below the level of the mass concrete which underlies the structural foundation. At this level there is a layer of very weak friable highly to complete weathered material. There is also a clay pocket extending to a depth of 0.36m below the mass concrete … On completion of the boreholes at G2 a hole was cored adjacent to G5. Although most of the recovered material was shattered basalt, core recoveries were low and sand was recovered from 3.00 to 3.65m depth.”
“The material underlying the blinding layer of these previous footings comprised very highly to completely decomposed very weak BASALT rock the top 300mm in contact with the blinding appeared to be made ground as evidenced by wood, PVC piping, cement sacks and pieces of wire embedded in the matrix.”
“As an example of a major item omitted in the [Arup] report was the explosives we found under G5. We found additional explosives east of G2 this week at about 2m below where it should have been. I want this in the report as facts and prefer that we refrain from speculating without evidence on the surface work done prior to SSCC or OAP presence on site.”
“It is difficult to see why concurrent remedies in tort and contract, if available against the medical profession, should not be available against members of other professions whatever form the relevant damage may take.”
“If the sub-contracted work or materials do not, in the result, conform to the required standard, it will not ordinarily be open to the building owner to sue the sub-contractor or supplier direct under the Hedley Byrne principle, claiming damages for him on the basis that he has been negligent in relation to the performance of his function. For there is generally no assumption of responsibility by the sub-contractor or supplier direct to the building owner, the parties having so structured their relationship that it is inconsistent with any assumption of responsibility.”
“What emerges is that, in addition to the foreseeability of damage, necessary ingredients in any situation giving rise to a duty of care are that there should exist between the party owing the duty and the party to whom it is owed a relationship characterised by law as one of “proximity” or “neighbourhood” and that the situation should be one in which the court considers it fair, just and reasonable that the law should impose a duty of a given scope upon the one party for the benefit of the other. But it is implicit in the passages referred to that the concepts of proximity and fairness embodied in these additional ingredients are not susceptible of any such precise definition as would be necessary to give them utility as practical tests but amount in effect to little more than convenient labels to attach to the features of different specific situations which, on a detailed examination of all the circumstances, the law recognises pragmatically as giving rise to a duty of care of a given scope.”
“It has now to be accepted that there is no simple formula or touchstone to which recourse can be had in order to provide in every case a ready answer to the question whether, given certain facts, the law will or will not impose liability for negligence or in cases where such liability can be shown to exist, determine the extent of such liability.”
“In a situation ‘equivalent to contract’ it must be expected that an objective test will be applied when asking whether, in a particular case, responsibility should be held to have been assumed.”
“These economic losses are recoverable if they flow from breach of a relevant contractual duty but here again in the absence of a special relationship of proximity they are not recoverable in tort.”
“1. The advice is required for a purpose whether particularly specified or generally described which is made known either actually or inferentially to the advisor at the time when the advice is given; 2. The advisor knows actually or inferentially that his advice will be communicated to the advisee, either specifically or as a member of an ascertainable class in order that it should be used by the advisee for the purpose; 3. It is known actually or inferentially that the advice so communicated is likely to be acted upon by the advisee for that purpose without independent inquiry; 4. It is so acted on by the advisee to his detriment.”
“4. The decision is clear authority for the proposition that … the law imposes upon the person primarily responsible for placing on the market a defective building no liability to a remote purchaser for expenditure in making good defects which, ex hypothesi have injured nobody.”
“The principle rests upon the relationship between the parties which may be general or specific to the particular transaction and which may or may not be contractual in nature.”
“In particular, as cases concerning the solicitor and client demonstrate, where the plaintiff entrusts the defendant with the conduct of his affairs, in general or in particular, he may be held to have relied on the defendant to exercise due skill and care in such conduct.”
“In addition, the concept provides its own explanation why there is no problem in cases of this kind about liability for pure economic loss; for if a person assumes responsibility to another for personal services there is no reason why he should not be liable in damages to that other in respect of economic loss which flows from the negligent performance for such services. It follows that once the case is identified as falling within the Hedley Byrne principle there should be no need to embark on any further enquiry whether it is fair and reasonable to impose liability for economic loss …”
“The test is the standard of the ordinary skilled man exercising and professing to have that special skill. A man need not possess the highest expert skill; it is well established law that it is sufficient if he exercises the skill of an ordinary competent man exercising that particular art … He is not guilty of negligence if he has acted in accordance with a practice accepted as proper by a responsible body of medical men skilled in that particular art … Putting it another way round, a man is not negligent if he is acting in accordance with such a practice merely because there is a body of opinion who would take a contrary view.”
“Beware of imposing … upon professional men … duties which go beyond the scope of what was requested and undertaken to do.”
“Task 1 - a combined geophysical and hydro graphic off-shore investigation (now completed); Task 2 - an initial trial pit and probe investigation of critical areas such as the pump house and chimney (now completed); Task 3 – a borehole, probe and trial pit ground investigation of the whole site including on-shore facilities. A limited amount of laboratory testing will be undertaken on samples recovered from the site investigation in relation to Tasks 2 and 3 of the scope. The results will be summarised in an interpretive report containing recommended design values. It is assumed that these reports will provide both CEPAS and GECA that all necessary information to complete the geotechnical design of the Sual power station.”
“There are zones of weak rock. There are joints which are open and we know from the geology that this material is very degraded, and from the pictures on site you can see these good zones in the lenses and you can see the bad zones around and this is the type of geology which has this structure which can collapse.”