SS Pile or Super strength pile is a type of precast concrete piles, which mean the SS pile will be produced in the factory and delivered to construction site if there is a need. SS Pile is slightly different compare with other concrete piles, SS Pile has a widen radius and it can supports more loads from structures with fewer number of points. There is two types of stressing of tendons, which is post-tensioning and pre-tensioning, while SS Pile is using prestressing or pre-tensioning. Pile which uses prestressing is to strengthen the strengh of pile, or prevent crack and improves its’ strength so that the pile can carries more load.

Procedure and Sketch of How To Produce Super Strength Pile (SS Pile)

1) PC Bar Cutting and Heading

2) Cage Forming

3) Joints Setting

4) Concrete Placing

5) Concrete Batching

6) Prestressing

7) Spinning

Steam Curing

9) Demoulding

10) Autoclaving

These are all the steps of how to produce a SS Pile. All the procedures must be followed exactly and done it clean and neat. Safety protection must be carried on for workers who involved in the process of producing SS Pile. After the SS Pile has been done, it will be handled and stored in the factory or yard and ready for delivery.

Pile can be done in precast or cast-in-situ, cash-in-situ pile which is casted on the site, while precast pile is casted in the factory and deliver to construction site. This article will be teaching you how to handle and store the precast pile after it has been casted in the factory. Basically this article is writing about handling and storing hollow section pile such as Super Strength Pile (SS Pile). It has several steps need to be followed.

Procedures Of Handling and Storing Piles

1) Two point lifting position to be pitched at 0.2 x L distance from the pile ends (Diagram 1a as above). Alternatively, lifting from the pile ends is to be executed with the following controls :-

i) No jerking movements by the crane.

ii) Crane must be stationary.

iii) Vertical lifting rate at slower pace.

iv) Boom of crane to be swung at minimum rate of movement.

v) Piles are to be carried one at a time.

vi) Wire ropes are to be capable of carrying the load.

vii) Free rotation of the top swivel is to be ensured (Diagram 2 as above).

viii) Wire ropes are to be inclined at least 45 degree acute angle with the pile body. (Diagram 2 as above)

ix) Only PPDC verified / authorized hooks are to be used.

x) Two flat M.S. plate hooks are to be used at cross fin shoe ends or circular / torus hooks for conical shoe ends.

xi) Stoppers are to be put at both sides of the piles and fastened to be ground. (Diagram 1b as above)

2) Lifting from one end for pitching is at 0.2 x L. Pile is to be fastened in such a way to prevent slipping (multiple loop grip tie) with the following controls :-

i) No dragging along ground.

ii) Lifting rate at slower pace.

iii) Lifting piles from the ground is to be done at the open-ends with “C” hook.

iv) Nothing must be below the pile at transfer.

3) Refer to diagram 1a and 1b above for storage details.

i) Piles are preferably to be stored according to their respective lengths.

ii) Spacers of 2″ x 4″ hardwoods are to be placed at 0.2 x L from both ends of the piles and in between the 2 layers of piles.

iii) Preferably the ground is levelled and compacted with a 100mm thick bed of 20mm aggregates.

Super Strength Pile or SS pile is another type of piling which has higher strength and able to carry more loads from any structure with fewer number of points. Most probably SS piles are made of prestressed or spun concrete. SS piles are constructed in round and hollow in cross section and have the lengths up to 12 metres. SS Piles have a nominal bearing capacity in the range 1690 kN to 3500 kN. Of course, SS Pile has its’ own piling machine and it’s slightly different compare to other piling machine.

Features Of Super Strength Pile

1) Economical
Being economical is the basic consideration of every piling contractor. With the wide variety of sizes to choose from, SS Piles allow for optimum selection of sizes, wall thicknesses and lengths to meet contractor’s requirement. In additional to that, the higher strength also means that contract will need fewer number of points to cater for a designed column load.

2) High Concrete Strength
Owing to the Autoclave curing technology and high compaction induced by the centrifugal process, SS Piles are able to achieve concrete compressive strength of more than 78.48Mpa within a time frame of 24 hours. Coupled with SS Piles’ hollow circular cross-sections and prestressing, contractor will have piles with high resistance to bending. Higher concrete compressive strengths also allow SS Piles to be driven hard into rigid bearing strata to attain higher bearing capacity per pile point.

3) Durability
The carefully monitored spinning process which gradually induces a force equivalent to 35 times that of gravity will lower the water to cement ratio further thus increasing the concrete density greatly.

Though the high temperature and pressure of the Autoclave curing technology, the calcium silicate hydrate in the high-density concrete will stabilize and form crystals of tobermorite. Permeability is then reduced. Low permeability also means high resistance to internal steel reinforcement, making the concrete exceedingly durable.

Utilizing SS Piles in extremely corrosive marine condition can also be considered as the low permeability will prevent sulfate and also hinder the more vigorous chloride attack.

4) Consistent High Quality
The quality control team rigorously inspects in-coming raw materials to ensure their compliance with governing standards. An exemplary quality control program including periodical samplings and testings, is conducted constantly to guarantee optimum performance of the SS Piles.

Pile driving is the process which the piling machine drives the piles into the ground, the purpose is to strengthen the soft soil so that the soil able to support the weights or load of the buildings. Besides of building, piling also been using in bridges and wharf. Piles can be made of structural steel, pressure treated timber, hollow steel casing, reinforced concrete, or prestressed concrete. Types of piles used is depending on the condition of soil and surround environment, it may affect the total cost of piling works.

Sketch For Pile Driving

In the process of pile driving, it requires few piling equipment such as piles, piling machine, pile hammer, cushions and etc. Here is the sketch and rough definitions for pile driving :

1) Crane
Crane or piling machine is used to drive the piles into the ground.

2) Hammer
Hammer normally made from steel. It’s used to knock on the top of pile and drive the pile into the ground.

3) Cushion
Cushion is used to put at the top of pile which the place that hammer will hit on. The purpose is to reduce the friction between pile and hammer, so that the pile will not be crack easily.

4) Leads
Leads is used to support the hammer and handle the pile vertically. Leads will be handled by crane or piling machine.

5) Pile
Pile is the structure that will be driven into the earth to strength the soft soil and carry the load of buildings.

6) Template
Template is like a framework that used to carry the pile, so that the pile can be driven in the right pile point.

Contractors use sheet pile as a temporary supportive wall which is used to support the soft soil collapsed from higher ground to lower ground. Sheet pile is commonly used in the construction and has variety types of material for sheet pile. The price for variety types of material for sheet pile is different, the driving method can be in variety ways as well. Contractors might need to determine the condition of soil then only can decide which type of sheet pile can be used.

Simple Guide On How To Install Sheet Pile

Sheet pile installation can’t be done by piling contractor while there is specialist contractor for sheet pile to do the installation. Here is a rough installation procedure for sheet pile :

1) Pile Driving Equipment
Before starting driving sheet pile, a few equipments have to be prepared such as driving hammers and jetting equipment. The driving energy for hammers shall be recommended by the manufacturer so that it’s applicable to relevant sheet pile. While jetting equipment shall have a minimum of two removable or fixed jets of the water or be a combination of air a water type.

2) Placing and Driving
After preparing all the sheet pile driving equipments, sheet piles can be started to place on the location that shown in the construction drawings. Temporary wales, templates, or guide structures have to be carried on to ensure the sheet pilings are placed and driven to the correct alignment.

After the sheet piles is set on place, jetting machine will be starting to driving the sheet piles. Sheet piles have to be driven with the proper size of hammer and by approved methods to ensure no damage to the sheet piles and proper interlocking throughout their lengths. A protecting cap shall be employed on the tops of sheet pile to prevent damage during driving with hammer.

3) Cutting-Off and Splicing
After driving the sheet piles into the ground, if contractor find that they need additional penetration, splicing or jointing works will be carried on. Driving works will be done again for the sheet piles until it reaches its’ limit on the ground. After this, excessive of sheet pile will be cutting-off and removed from the site. All cutting-off work must be done in a neat and workmanlike manner for safety purpose.

4) Inspection of Driven Piling
The contractor shall inspect the interlocked joints of driven sheet piles extending above ground. If contractor find out that the sheet piles are out of interlock, then the sheet piles have to be removed and replaced with a new sheet pile.

5) Pulling and Redriving
After the inspection of driven piling, another similar process has to be carried on which is called pulling and redriving. The contractor shall pull selected sheet piles to determine the condition of the underground portions of sheet piles. If contractor found any damages to the extent that its usefulness in the structure is impaired, then the sheet piles have to be removed and replaced with a new sheet pile.

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Source : Sheet Pile