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Historic granite sea wall stabilised

Client:	Cornwall Council
Location:	Green Bank Steps, Falmouth
Approved Installer:	R M Construction
Reference No:	PR203

Due to their age and the action of the sea tides, granite blocks in the historic sea wall at Green Bank Steps in Falmouth had become loosened and Cornwall Council required them to be securely and aesthetically stabilised to retain their original appearance.

The local Helifix Approved Installer, RM Construction of Redruth, in conjunction with the Council's engineers, devised an appropriate repair scheme using Helifix products, the Helibeam System and grouted CemTies, and associated concealed installation techniques.

Some 60m of marine grade 316 stainless steel HeliBars were bonded into the channelled out mortar beds using HeliBond cementitious grout. The bars provide great axial strength, to stabilise the granite block wall, but are flexible enough to follow irregular mortar beds and be bent around corners without loss of performance. In addition, 50 x 800mm marine grade CemTies were installed simultaneously with HeliBond grout into clearance holes at right angles to the wall face to complete the structural stabilisation.

Once re-pointing and making good of the clearance holes had been completed there were no signs of the repair works that had been undertaken. The historic sea wall at Green Bank Steps was rapidly, economically and sympathetically secured and the expensive alternative, of taking down and rebuilding, had been avoided.