What is Piling?

What is Piling?

Essentially, piling is a method of moving earth to build a flat foundation. Compared to conventional time-consuming methods, piling offers more advantages: saving time, land usage, labor cost and reducing environmental pollution.

Wikipedia defines piling as “a deep foundation is a type of foundation that transfers building loads to the earth farther down from the surface than a shallow foundation does to a subsurface layer or a range of depths. A pile or piling is a vertical structural element of a deep foundation, driven or drilled deep into the ground at the building site.”

Piling forms the very basis of construction; the essential support needed for any kind of structure. It is a technique that sets deep foundations for any form of construction work, such as buildings.

There are a variety of different materials that can be used in the piling process. Many people use wood, steel or concrete as their chosen piling materials. Naturally, the foundations of any building have to be exceptionally sturdy, so that’s why the choice of materials is important. The underground structural base has to support large buildings of various sizes, so one can never take risks.

How does Piling work?
Piling works by inserting large amounts of wood, steel or concrete into the the ground. The deep insertion of these elements ensures a sturdier base for the construction project to take place.

Imagine if your office building didn’t have any structured base underneath – your building wouldn’t be standing for very long and probably wouldn’t pass any inspections. Much like scaffolding, piling is not a technique that we could all learn in the space of a few hours, it is a highly skilled job and one which is very important. It’s imperative to ensure the base of a project is secure and the piling has been done correctly before any further progress is made on the construction process.

However, the piling process can not begin until other important factors have been taken into consideration like the condition of the soil beneath the ground. For example, wet soil is not a good consistency for which to place any wood, metal or steel in as part of your piling work.

Other Forms Of Piling
Different types of piling can be categorised by either the purpose of their design or by the method used to supply and install them.

• Bored Piling – or replacement piles, are a commonly-used form of building foundation that provide support for structures, transferring their load to layers of soil or rock that have sufficient bearing capacity and suitable settlement characteristics.
• Driven Piling – also known as displacement piles, are a commonly-used form of building foundation that provide support for structures, transfering their load to layers of soil or rock that have sufficient bearing capacity and suitable settlement characteristics.
• Screw Piling – sometimes referred to as screw-piles, screw piers, screw anchors, screw foundations, helical piles, helical piers, or helical anchors are a steel screw-in piling and ground anchoring system used for building deep foundations. Screw piles are typically manufactured from high-strength steel using varying sizes of tubular hollow sections for the pile or anchors shaft.
• Sheet Piling – is a form of driven piling using thin interlocking sheets of steel to obtain a continuous barrier in the ground. The main application of sheet piles is in retaining walls and cofferdams erected to enable permanent works to proceed. Normally, vibrating hammer, t-crane and crawle drilling are used to establish sheet piles.
• Mini Piling – is a great option when you have a small space to work with. Our high-quality equipment is small enough to fit through doorways, allowing us to access areas inside the property, as well as back gardens and other areas larger machines would struggle to get to. We work with many clients, from homeowners looking to make a few improvements, to commercial enterprises looking to expand.

Contact us to learn how we can help your construction project through effective piling services using a range of different specialities and top of the line piling equipment.