Spinnaker Tower

Carillion helped to bring new life to Portsmouth Harbour when it put the foundations in place for the eye-catching and awe-inspiring Spinnaker Tower.

The elegant arcs of the Spinnaker Tower have become a national icon, offering a world-class visitor experience via three glass enclosed viewing platforms.

We were responsible for constructing the offshore piles for the 170m tower, which is built on a piled raft at the Gunwharf Quays retail development. The piling was extremely difficult, as all works were carried out from floating craft, in tidal conditions and within a very busy and constrained area.

A total of 88 piles were constructed over the water during the seven-month job. The 1,400mm diameter piles varied in length from 36m to 51m, each with a permanent steel casing enclosing the top 18m to 36m to meet specific loading requirements.