Manufacturing Process
Unrivalled Quality Concrete Piles
Centrum Pile Ltd, based in Newark, Nottinghamshire, is the UK's leading manufacturer of continuously reinforced precast concrete piles. The company uses the most advanced concrete, distribution, mould, pile joint and reinforcement cage manufacturing technology available for the production of different lengths of various square section precast concrete piles.
All precast concrete segmental piles may look alike but Centrum Pile's product stands at the top of the class with 'AA' standard.
The standard pile sections are truly symmetrical with square sides produced by unique hydraulic mould systems and domed pile heads to ensure optimum efficiency of transfer of energy from the pile driving hammer to the pile, hence reducing bursting stresses in the pile.
The Utilisation of a fully automated welding robot to produce fully welded pile reinforcement cages provides Centrum Pile with the next generation of precast concrete piles with new standards of integrity and quality. Each pile is tagged in order to provide details of pile specification, cast date and mould number to ensure complete trackability of the product.
The unisex quality controlled ABB jointing system not only provides a mechanical joint as strong as the pile shaft itself, but also provides the maximum flexibility of pile stocks to help ensure the availability of the exact segment make up to ideally meet the needs of the site.
Aspects Of High Quality Precast Concrete Piles
Use of purpose built forms which are rigid, dimensionally accurate and designed for ‘easy striking’.
The moulds, joined together in rows, are individually formed and separated between each row. Cams and hydraulic rams lock the sides of the moulds in the vertical during casting. After casting and initial curing the rams operate the cams enabling the moulds to flex for easy stripping or striking of the pile.
All piles are reinforced full length with cages made from high tensile steel coil fed through a purpose built computer controlled fabricating and welding robot. The fully automatic robot wraps hard drawn stirrup wire around the main bars and welds every metal-to-metal joint to produce an exceptionally rigid cage. The cages are placed in the special moulds ready for casting the perfectly symmetrically square section piles. Pile sections incorporate full-length chamfered corners and a domed head, which dispenses with reinforcement bands needed for driving conventional flat-topped piles.
Main-Bar and shear-steel reinforcement cages which are both fabricated and positioned very accurately over the full length of the pile section.
Use of a concrete with an appropriate mix design—provided by an approved supplier that is fully intergrated into the production process.
Since the middle of 2000 we have used specially formulated, free flowing, self-compacting concrete, that is mixed in the factory’s batcher prior to placing directly into the special hydraulically operated moulds. The self-compacting concrete, which flows into the moulds like water and without the need for vibration, allows the moulds to be stripped within 16 hours and achieves the required strength for driving within 10 days. This concrete is delivered by an automated skip from the batching plant on site directly into the factory. The concrete is then placed directly into the moulds by purpose built casting machines.
The precast concrete pile sections are available in single lengths from 5m up to 18m. Piles can be further extended by use of our simple mechanical steel joints which can be cast into the ends of the piles. Pile Sections can be quickly and easily joined together on site using the proven and rigid pre-tensioned joints, which maintain the integrity of the fully reinforced piles.
Use of purpose designed lifting devices to move pile sections around after casting.
Where joints between pile sections are required, they are designed to accommodate tension and bending forces greater than those that can be tolerated by the reinforced concrete section (the ABB joint).
Substantial stock piles of the full range of pile lengths are held to accommodate changing ground conditions, changing customer requirements etc without delay.
A quality control system is in place which provides a full, traceable history of each pile section produced.
The precast concrete pile sections are available in single lengths from 5m up to 18m. Piles can be further extended by use of our simple mechanical steel joints which can be cast into the ends of the piles. Pile Sections can be quickly and easily joined together on site using the proven and rigid pre-tensioned joints, which maintain the integrity of the fully reinforced piles.
