Piling Equipment: Essential Tools and Machinery

Piling Equipment: Essential Tools and Machinery

Piling has a wide range of uses in construction, and some of these involve creating large structures, such as bridges and oil rigs. For domestic and smaller industrial projects, however, mini-piling is nowadays the go-to solution for anything from underpinning foundations to creating a retaining wall.

At U&M, we specialise in mini-piling services. So, if you hire us for your project, what kind of piling equipment are you likely to see?

 

Augur Piling Equipment

Broadly, there are two methods of getting piles into the ground — drilling and driving. The drill or augur method works by boring a hole, with a metal casing inserted. Once this is fully in place, the cavity is filled with concrete or grout, which forms the pile, with the tube removed.

We at U&M generally use one of two types of augur piling equipment:

  • Sectional Augur Mini Piles — This uses multiple flight sections of anything from 150mm to 450mm in diameter. Depending on ground conditions, the most common approach with the equipment is to extract the metal flight, once the hole is bored, and then fill it with concrete.
  • Grout Injected Continuous Flight Augur — This uses a single, continuous flight of between 250mm and 300mm. The sides of the hole are supported at all times by the flight, and the grout is injected into the cavity as the flight is withdrawn.

 

Driven Piling Equipment

Driving piles means that, instead of creating the hole first, the steel pile is forced straight into the ground, down to the required depth, before the concrete or grout is inserted. The two pieces of equipment we use for this are:

  • Steel Cased Grundomat Driven Piles — Designed for smaller piles, from 105mm to 150mm, this is powered by compressed air that drives a hammer action. Each length of steel pile is attached to the last as needed until the required depth has been reached.
  • Steel Cased Bottom Driven Piles — This can drive piles of diameters ranging from 150mm to 300mm. Unlike the Grundomat, all the energy is delivered to the toe of the pile, meaning that none of it dissipates along its length. Piles can be inserted with working loads from 5 to 85 tonnes.

 

Screw Piles

Screw Piles consist of steel shafts with helical plates and extension sections that are driven into the ground by a machine or handheld drive head. Screwpiling has become firmly established in the UK as a means of providing an instant foundation for underpinning or new builds, especially in restricted access or sensitive locations.

Advantages of Screw Piles:

  • Rapid installation
  • Instant loading – no curing time
  • Handheld install for restricted access
  • No earth to remove/no concrete to install
  • No noise
  • No vibration
  • Proven technology
  • Can be removed if required
  • Environmentally friendly
  • Can be installed in low headroom conditions
  • Effective in compression and tension
  • Can be used for jacking

 

Which Equipment Is Right for Your Piling Project?

No two piling projects are identical, and each of these rigs is the best solution at times. Clearly, one of the first questions to be asked is what size of mini-piles you need, and this might dictate which equipment is appropriate.

Other considerations may be the amount of clearance available and the need to keep disruption to a minimum — for you or for your neighbours. Both the Grundomat and the sectional augur, for instance, are especially suitable for areas with restricted access. The Grundomat causes minimal vibrations, too, which is also true of the continuous flight augur.

If you’re looking for piling contractors in London, the surrounding areas or South East England, you can get in touch with U&M to discuss your needs — including what kind of piling equipment is appropriate for your project.