The regeneration of Londons Royal Docks included renovation of a sixty year old quay wall at Pontoon Dock. The old steel sheet piles had corroded right through in many places and there was excessive deflection of the anchorage system. The new construction had to be suitable for a change of use from port to commercial activities.

Beckett Rankine designed and supervised construction of a new sheet pile wall. An innovative solution was necessary for a durable structure in the inherently poor soil conditions. Minimal use of land area was also an important factor to avoid sterilising the development potential.

The structure was designed to make best use of the ground conditions, which comprised eight metres of very soft alluvium overlying six metres of dense gravel with stiff clay at greater depth. Tie rods were fixed to raking piles at 3.5 metre centres and supported by pairs of vertical ground anchors.