Hospital in Salford

Concrete for piling

Hanson EasyPile® CFA has been successfully utilised in the redevelopment of a hospital in Salford. The development included the design of a new link building incorporating continuous flight auger (CFA) cast piles for the foundations. This method was chosen as it causes minimal disturbance and thus reduces the risk of any damage to the adjacent buildings.

Challenges

A major problem for the piling contractor was the ground was very dry, draining water from the concrete mix as it was being placed.

This made insertion of the reinforcing cages extremely difficult, with a high risk of damage to the cages.

In the case of a cage being damaged, the only solution is to remove the cage and concrete and re-drill the piles.

Hanson’s solution

• Hanson EasyPile® CFA was successfully used on the project
• Specially formulated for CFA piling concrete to improve cage placement in dry and dense ground conditions
• Improved Health and Safety on site as mechanical assistance was significantly reduced
• Gave improved cohesion properties and pumpability, as well as reducing water loss, segregation and bleeding from the concrete

"By using Hanson EasyPile® CFA on the project, we found the cage installation time was cut in half and the need for mechanical assistance was significantly reduced. In some instances it was not required at all. Clearly this has benefits not only to the efficiency of the process but also in reducing the Health and Safety risk of excavator assisted cage installation. Consequently, it was more efficient and effective with Hanson EasyPile® than with the traditional mixes we have used. With no cage failures, we not only minimised wastage but also ensured our production schedule remained on time."

Nigel Brockman

CFA Operations Manager, UK
BBGE