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Discover The Essential Role Of Tubular Piling In Construction

Tubular piling might well sound like a particularly painful and unique medical condition to the layperson however it is actually an extremely important part of large-scale construction. Piling is traditionally made of wood and it refers to long structural beams in various shapes that are driven deep into the ground using piling rigs in order to support the structure of the building project.

Now piling comes in various forms such as concrete and steel with different shapes dependent on the technical specifications of the building project. Many factors affect the use of piling such as the load of the structure, the depth of the foundation, the ground density and the soil type. The piling can be driven into the ground or drilled in, however the advantageous benefits of driving piling is that the soil around the piling becomes compact.

Piling is used in deep foundations and the shape of piling depends on the structure being built, for large scale construction tubular metal piling is driven into the ground then filled with pre-stressed concrete. The number of tubular piles depends on the individual structure of the project and the weight that the deep foundations need to incur. H-beams or square concrete piles are used for certain projects such as domestic residences or small scale apartments.

A case study in 1960 was performed in Vietnam when building a major road from the city of Saigon North. The soil below the surface consisted of layers of muck on top of clay and sand which meant that there was no solid foundation to build on, risking subsidence under the massive weight of traffic. Massive metal tubular pilings were driven into the ground then filled with concrete. Test were carried out on them to evaluate their load capacity.

It is recommended that when dealing with piles over a certain size that tests are carried out on their load capacity and how they perform under certain weights. The production of tubular piles must be done to various standards regulated by industrial watchdogs. The process is called rolling and welding tubing where exactly circular tubes are formed by rolling sheets of metal and then welding them together.

Other forms of piling are drilled piles, underreamed piles and auger cast piles. They serve different purposes such as high load bearing or specialist systems for unstable subsurface sediment. They are essential to large-scale construction and there are a few specialist manufacturers who can provide rolled and welded tubing to exact specifications.

About the Author

Dominic Donaldson is an expert on piling and contributes to trade publications on the subject.

Author Profile: dominicdonaldson

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