By Michelle Clarke-Dowse 400H • ABC Anchors • Case Study • News • Portable Installer • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 0 Comments

Eco-Mooring Anchors

Recently we have been working on our underwater installation options to help our customer achieve an environmentally friendly mooring option. The journey began back in last year, (concept video)  and we were delighted to have been able to successfully install the anchors under water.

Our mooring anchors have recently been featured on the news, showing how the use of our anchors can protect the seabed and protect the wildlife within.

Below you can find further detail on our screwpiles and their application under water, should you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact us.

ABC anchors are the preferred supplier of helical screw mooring anchors, compatible with Hazelett, Seaflex and other Advanced Mooring Solutions (AMS). We have exhibited our products at the Plymouth Boat Show, on thegreenblue stand together with The Ocean Conservation Trust stand at Sail GP in Plymouth.

Test installations have been carried out at Studland Bay and Cawsand, where in conjunction with an AMS the regrowth of sea grass right up to the head of the anchor is truly impressive.

Helical screw anchors are installed to pre-determined torque to ensure a predictable pull out performance.

As a rough guide, a single 60R anchor when installed to 50% of maximum torque delivers the same performance as a concrete block weighing 5 tonnes.

Clearly some sea beds are very soft and may require an additional 2m extension, whilst other rocky sea beds will not allow the anchor to penetrate - evidenced by a lack of torque.

In general, the mooring rode attached to a screw pile can be much shorter than a conventional setup. The rated pull out capacity corresponds to a vertical force, which would reduce the holding power of a concrete block, already reduced by its immersion in water.

For seagrass beds, it is important to prevent the mooring rode rubbing on the seabed so the ability to shorten this allows savings in material and permits closer spacing. Where unitary synthetic rodes are used, a camera can crawl down to carry out routine inspection, and aid removal when necessary.

In the Tamar River at Calstock concrete block moorings are frequently displaced when fallen trees wrap round moored boats. None of the screw-anchored boats has moved over two seasons.

Alexander Mitchell invented the helical anchor in the 1830’s and in wide use today, both as a tension and compression-resisting element. Naturally, they are generally buried out of sight, but practically every Telecom and Electricity pole has a helical stay anchor installed to resist lateral loads.

ABC Anchors designs and manufacturers helical anchors and installation equipment so we are uniquely placed to monitor real world situations and help our Approved Installers achieve consistently excellent results in the most challenging of situations.

For marine installations, we have hand held hydraulically powered torque heads, suitable for use by divers, excavator or crane mounted equipment and are developing a road transportable barge for multiple moorings.

We work with local mooring contractors whose site specific knowledge of the ideal combination of gear is essential to ensure a satisfactory result, we are, of course ready to train operators using our experience to date.

By Simon Griffiths 400H • 60R • ABC Anchors • Case Study • News • Portable Installer • • • • • 0 Comments

Underwater Installation of an Environmentally Friendly Mooring System

A special revision of our 400H can be used by divers to install and environmentally friendly mooring system in depths up to 10m.

The unique hollow shaft 400H can drive ABC 60R screw anchors from the centre lugs, and then the end, of leads and 2m extensions.Hydraulics power is usually from a petrol power pack at the surface.

The driver operator maintains full control using the integral control valve. An extended torque reaction arm engages with the seabed for safety. A Mooring swivel is bolted to the final extension prior to being driven just below the seabed to prevent boat grounding damage. At maximum torque and 3:1 factor of safety the working load exceeds 40kN (4 Tonnes). The driver will also extract an anchor when necessary.

By Hannah Robertson 400H • 60R • ABC Anchors • Case Study • Equipment Hire • Foundation Solutions • News • Portable Installer • Screw Piles • Subsidence • Underpinning • • • • • • • 0 Comments

Underpinning a Failed Foundation

In July, we were approached by Peter at Foundation Solutions Ireland whose client was building a Residential Log Cabin as an extension to an existing cottage. They were experiencing some issues with a previous extension and contacted Peter to see if he could help.

"The problem was an existing extension was sinking slowly causing structural cracks so they asked us for a possible solution with our foundation groundscrews. The site is old shallow bog with 1.2m of bog soil on 1m of normal sandy soil and then in to the harder subsoil where we hit a rock base."

Peter found us through our website and we helped devise the best solution. Groundscrews would not have been suitable as they could not be installed deep enough into the harder ground to ensure no further movement on the property.

Our underpinning solution is ideal for briefs like this as it causes minimal disruption and can often be hand installed which negates the need for an excavator. Subsiding properties are often due to insufficient foundations or shallow footings on ground conditions such as clay and, in this case, bog land.

"We contacted ABC Anchors who were able to supply us the machinery and large helix screw anchors. The support plates reached the required torque at between 2m-3m depth and the extension is now supported fully to prevent any further movement."

Screw piles have many benefits. If you are experiencing problems with a subsiding building where our underpinning solution may be suitable, or you have any other screw pile enquiries, please don't hesitate to get in contact with us.

By Hannah Robertson 60R • ABC Anchors • News • Screw Piles • • • • • • • 0 Comments

The Cork House – Grand Designs

This week on Grand Designs, they announced the contenders for their 'House of the Year'. Featured on this list was The Cork House - a carbon negative building made entirely of cork and built on ABC Anchors screw piles!

The house has won several RIBA architectural awards

Check out the photos below during construction and after completion!

By Hannah Robertson 60R • ABC Anchors • Case Study • News • Tree House • Tree Roots • TV • • • • • • • • • 0 Comments

Crafty Camping – finished projects

We have been involved in two projects for Crafty Camping so far – both the Woodsman’s Treehouse and the Woodland Workshop. However, as a supplier of foundation solutions, we don’t always get to see the finished product after our piles have been installed. Luckily, many of our customers keep in touch and like to show us photos of their amazing builds once they are complete.

Thank you to Guy Mallinson for sharing with us!

By Hannah Robertson 400H • 60R • ABC Anchors • Case Study • Foundation Solutions • News • Other Structures • Portable Installer • Screw Piles • Torque Heads • Training • • • • • • • • • • 0 Comments

Cotswold Canal Trust – Bank Stabilisation

Cotswold Canal Trust got in touch via our website in regards to a bank on the Thames and Severn canal that needed stabilising. They had heard about us from one of our previous customers, who we helped with the Dursley Tree House project featured on Grand Designs in 2016.

One of our team visited the site at Ham Mill Lane in Stroud to discuss a solution to stabilise the failed canal bank with the volunteers from the trust. A screw piling solution to support the gabion retaining structure was developed with their Structural Engineer to install 60R screw piles both vertically and raked at 45 degrees using our 400H handheld anchor driver. This stabilisation would allow the Thames and Severn canal to be dredged. The work also formed a small part of a wider effort to eventually reopen the canal for public use.

As a result of our solution and the volunteer team's hard work, more material was prevented from falling into the canal, and they were able to support an adjoining neighbour’s garden from falling further down the hill.

The volunteers were inexperienced in screw piling so an engineer attended site to provide training on the safe use of the equipment. We assisted them with safe working methods to allow them to pile at 45 degrees on a steep slope.

“We had a good session of familiarisation training with one of your engineers on Wednesday . I would just like to say how pleasant and helpful he was, it was a pleasure to work with him.”

Bob Ambury, Cotswold Canal Trust

We enjoyed working with the Cotswold Canal Trust as the team are all volunteers, so they were keen to learn and get stuck in.

We are now assisting the trust with the design of a further 4m high gabion retaining wall which will be supported on screw piles. We are keen to see how this second project progresses and hope to continue to be involved with the wider project of re-opening the Thames and Severn Canal for public use.

If you have a project in mind and are considering using screw piles due to their many benefits, please don't hesitate to get in contact with us.

By Hannah Robertson 2500X • 89R • ABC Anchors • Foundation Solutions • News • Screw Piles • Torque Heads • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 0 Comments

625kN Pile Test – Restricted Access London Site

When configuring suitable screw piles for a project, our Engineers rely heavily on soil properties determined from geotechnical investigation. Often undertaking soil testing using the ABC Anchors soil test probe, or commissioning a full soil investigation (SI) report from a geotechnical engineering firm provides us with sufficient design information. On small projects, use of our soil test probe instead can significantly reduce the cost compared to an SI report and provide similar results for specification purposes.

There are occasions however when pile testing is necessary to confirm our pile specifications.

ABC Anchors was recently contacted by a Client looking to install screw piles for a residential project in close proximity to the Thames in London. From an initial review of the SI it was understood that the site was underlain by a thin layer of dense gravels, however the soil properties below this were not described in the report. Being London based, an area known for weak Clays, and with a site in such close proximity to a river; it was decided that the soil report could not be relied upon alone. As the project required over 50 piles to be installed with design safe working loads of 20 tonnes per pile, it was critical to test the pile under load to confirm that any settlement was within acceptable limits.

ABC Anchors installed an 89R test pile to an installation torque of 25kNm using our Autoguide 2500X torque head mounted on a 3 tonne excavator. Typically excavators between 5-10 tonnes are used to install piles of this size, however as the site access was restricted to a small alleyway only 1.5m wide, a 3 tonne excavator was the only option. It was a testament to our Engineering team’s ingenuity and the skill of our installers that installation torques of this magnitude were achieved using such a low powered machine.

The pile was tested using our recently redesigned ABC Anchors testing equipment and experienced only 2mm of settlement when loaded to the pile’s ultimate load capacity of 62.5 tonnes. The Federation of Piling Specialists suggest that allowable settlement should be no more than 10mm under working loads.

The testing was a complete success and confirmed the suitability of our 89R rock tip pile for the project.

By Hannah Robertson 400H • 60R • ABC Anchors • Case Study • Installation • New Build • News • Portable Installer • Screw Piles • • • • • • • 0 Comments

Garden Structure – Karen’s Childcare

ABC Anchors were approached to assist in a solution for foundations at Karen’s Childcare. They wanted to expand the outdoor area for the children and the available space had a few challenges to overcome.

Site access and foundation positioning was limited, so screwpiles were identified as the best solution by the Client. The piles were to be installed behind a retaining wall and next to a boundary wall; therefore they needed a vibration free and non-destructive installation method to prevent damage.

We used our 400H Handheld pile installer due to a lack of space, ensuring a smooth installation. There was no damage to the wall, as the piles transferred load from the structure to below the wall to prevent it failing due to the additional load of the garden structure.

Our lightweight garden piles were specified by the team here as they were ideal for supporting the low loads (up to 2 tonnes per pile) and are suitable for most soil conditions. The 8 pile system was installed in a day and once finished, the structure could be built instantly, as screw piles are unique in not requiring any wet trades. This removes the time delay in the build for curing.

Our customer was happy we were able to find a solution to building on this tricky site and we are pleased to say they have now completed their garden structure.

“ABC Anchors provided an 8 screw pile solution in a difficult location that was installed by a very professional team of two. it is a great system that is providing support to our Outdoor Structure which was designed, manufactured and installed by Beyond Timber of Dinnington.”

David Ellison, Karen's Childcare

For more information on our services, or to talk to us about your own project, please feel free to contact us. If you have any questions on using a screw pile system, our FAQs may provide the answer!

By Hannah Robertson AB Chance Distributor • ABC Anchors • News • Training • • • • • • • 0 Comments

CPD Accredited Training

We are delighted to announce that ABC Anchors is now an approved Continuing Professional Development (CPD) training provider.

Being CPD accredited ensures that the training offered by ABC Anchors meets strict standards and quality benchmarks, whilst also demonstrating our continued commitment to education within the construction industry. Attending any of our training courses counts towards achieving your annual professional CPD quota as a Fellow, Associate, Chartered, Incorporated, Graduate or Technician member with all of the relevant professional institutions.

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By Hannah Robertson 60R • ABC Anchors • News • Screw Piles • Shows • Tree Roots • • • • • • • • • • 0 Comments

Confor Woodland Show 2017

Autoguide Equipment and ABC Anchors would like to thank everyone that joined us at the Confor Woodland Show last week. We hope you all enjoyed the show as much as we did; we were definitely glad that there was slightly less rain and mud than the last trade show we attended!

If you saw us at the show, you probably noticed that we are celebrating our 40th anniversary this September! We have been celebrating in a number of ways, including building a special edition Midi Postmaster, as well as handing out some free gifts at the stand. We are happy to report that our gift bags, including a bottle of ‘Ruby’ port were very well received, although some of the staff here are a little disappointed about the lack of leftovers!

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