Foundation piling key for green communities
Foundation piling has a role to play in the future of sustainable and weather-resilient communities.
The Town and Country Planning Association has warned that, at present, many parts of England are not well prepared for future flood risks, despite investment in preventing flooding in some communities.
“While the funding for improving flood defences is imperative, we must also recognise the importance of planning and local authority cooperation in tackling challenges which operate above the local level,” says TCPA chief executive Kate Henderson.
In a TCPA guidance document, the potential role that foundation piling can play in preparing developed areas for weather events is spelled out.
The document recommends ensuring that foundation piling is deep enough during construction, so that any waterlogged soil in future does not reach the bottom of the structure’s supports.
Concrete piles’ ability to withstand variations in heat is also pointed out – making them preferable to ‘green’ alternatives such as timber-framed structures, which cannot cope as well with temperature changes.
For existing buildings, meanwhile, the document suggests underpinning foundations, so that they extend into more stable, deeper soils than was initially intended.