Smaller diameter piles can support heavy vertical loads as the overburden drilling techniques adopted have the capability of forming rock sockets into stronger underlying rock strata.
A wide variety of drilling methods are available, depending on ground conditions and project requirements.
Also known as replacement piles, bored pile, mini piles, cast-in-drilled-hole piles (CIDH piles) or cast-in-situ piles, has many applications within the civil engineering and construction sector.
Drilled piling are installed using rotary percussive hammers and drill bits to simultaneously install casing as the pile bore is advanced. Compressed air or water is used as both a circulation and a flush mechanism to bring bored cuttings to the surface. Where a pile is to be founded in bedrock, casing is advanced to the rockhead before the drilling tool is extended to create a rock socket. Concrete and reinforcement is installed in the completed borehole and casing is either removed or left in place to form the finished pile.
Van Elle have a unique offering providing cased piles including the rock socket in which the steel casing transfers the load and removes the need to concrete and reinforce the pile.