Piling is the process of installing vertical pillars into the earth to support a construction. Piling has been used by human societies for thousands of years to provide the foundations for shelters and structures, from the earliest settlements built atop wooden stilts to the largest skyscrapers today reinforced with huge steel girders and tonnes of concrete. Concrete is one of the most versatile materials used in piling, and can be used to produce the piles themselves, or to support the piling process in other ways. Let’s take a look at some of the ways concrete can be used in deep foundation piling.
Precast Concrete Piles
Precast concrete piles are the most straight-forward way of utilising concrete in your piling project. Precast concrete piles are manufactured, transported, and installed in the same way as any other pile: long supports are set and inserted into the earth below your construction site.
Case In-Situ Concrete Piles
Cast in-site concrete piles work a little differently. As the name suggests, these piles are created by pouring liquid concrete into the ground to set. This is usually achieved by inserting a hollow concrete or metal tube into the earth and filling it with concrete. The tube can be left in place as further reinforcement or removed if preferred.
Reinforcing Wooden Piles
Concrete has more uses in piling than for the piles themselves! Concrete can be used to reinforce existing piles of any material. This is most vital with wooden piles, which are more economically friendly than other materials but also bear the least weight. Setting concrete around your wooden piles is the perfect way to reinforce them and protect them from rot and warping.
Preventing Corrosion of Steel Piles
Like wooden piles, concrete can also be used to support the usage of steel piles. Steel piles easily top the strength scale of piling materials, but can be vulnerable to rust and erosion due to moisture, oxygen, or extreme Ph levels in the soil. Setting concrete around steel piles gives an extra layer of protection against corrosion and oxidation!
Concrete is a marvelous material for deep foundation piling and can be utilised in a wide variety of ways. If you’d like to identify the best materials for use in your foundations, get in touch today to start off your construction with a full on-site evaluation done by our expert team! If you’re looking for a piling company with industry expertise to provide you with bespoke service, look no further than Rhino Piling!
