Continued extreme weather could make underpinning foundations a necessity
The British weather has swung back to being extremely dry and hot in the past few days – which could make underpinning foundations necessary to safeguard some structures.
Recent weeks prior to that have seen heavy rainfall take some areas out of drought conditions, while others languished under storm clouds and a hosepipe ban at the same time, following another heatwave towards the start of spring.
All this means soils have been expanding and contracting repeatedly over the early part of this year, as rainwater swells them and then the heat of the sun dries them out.
In some areas – particularly soils with root networks of trees passing through them – this is likely to have had a destabilising effect, which may put nearby buildings at risk.
Underpinning foundations can help by putting back much-needed stability in places where shifting soil or subsidence has changed the density of the surrounding land.
We can fit pile foundations and needle beams to existing properties, as a combined approach towards supporting the structure with minimal excavation work required.
Pile driving contractors could be in demand as new-start blip evens out
If you’re going to need the services of pile driving contractors in the next few months, it might be wise to make a booking sooner, rather than later.
The latest housing figures from Communities and Local Government show a drop in new project starts in the first quarter of 2012.
Between January and March, 24,140 new houses began construction, with the early stages of a project understandably the point at which piling rigs and pile driving contractors are most in demand.
This is an 11% fall over the previous quarter, and a 15% drop year-on-year.
However, the first quarter of 2011 had been unusually active, with 18% quarterly growth, while October-December 2011 also saw a quarterly increase in starts, taking market activity higher by 3%.
While it’s impossible to be certain, the latest report could just be a blip in a swiftly recovering market – and if the April-June quarter overcompensates, it’s likely that piling rigs and contractors alike will face renewed levels of demand.
Perhaps most tellingly of all, completions were up across the board by 6%, even when seasonal effects were taken into account – hinting that there is still life in the house construction market.
CFA piles can prepare public land for domestic builds
CFA piles could prove to be useful in helping the government achieve its ambition of building 100,000 homes on previously publicly owned land.
By 2015, the government wants to have enough land available on previously public sites to support more than 100,000 houses and flats.
Already it has managed to outline locations for 102,000 properties, on former army barracks, NHS hospital sites and coal yards.
However, building on brownfield sites that have not been used before for housing can be an unpredictable process, until the ground-bearing capacity of the land is known.
CFA piles help to overcome such uncertainty, as they can be put in place with very small amounts of noise and vibration, yet are able to support very high loads.
The Continuous Flight Auger approach is effective in confined areas where large excavations are not an option, which can be ideal if a brownfield site already has foundations in place from previous constructions.
Piling rigs simply bore a small hole into the ground, which is then filled with concrete and a reinforcing cage – a fairly easy procedure that means foundations can be put where you need them, without the whole site needing to be cleared of any previous developments.
The eco-credentials of concrete piles
Concrete piles can help construction companies to demonstrate their commitment to environmental issues, with clear benefits in terms of eco-friendly site practice.
On May 16th, Loughborough University is hosting an event at which several high-ranking individuals from concrete-related organisations will meet to discuss sustainability topics.
Ahead of the event, the Sustainable Concrete Forum has published figures showing how precast products including concrete piles are more eco-friendly than many people might think.
For instance, a quarter of the aggregates already used by the precast concrete industry are from recycled or secondary sources – and their end-products can often be fully recycled, too.
Precast concrete piles can be kind to other resources as well – with up to 85% of the water used by the industry reused or recycled each year.
Of the water that is used, more than a third (36%) comes not from the mains supply, but from licensed alternative sources – reducing the strain placed on the environment, and on drinking supplies, by the manufacture of concrete piles.
If you’re planning a project that needs to demonstrate environmental commitment from its outset, concrete pile foundations are one way to incorporate sustainability from the ground up.