Essex based piling contractor Hill Piling with their new Casagrande B175-XP, working on its first contract at a site in Saffron Walden.
Australian foundation specialist Wagstaff Piling Pty Ltd recently completed the upgrade to a number of its CFA rigs with latest specification NDT instrumentation systems.
The rigs include a Casagrande CFA26, Casagrande B400, a Llamada CK60 and a pair of Enteco E300 machines. These rigs join an established CFA fleet already equipped with NDT PL3000/CFA systems. With remote data access on all systems, NDT's engineers were able to commission, calibrate and monitor the performance of each upgraded rig from its base in the UK. One of the Enteco E300 rigs is pictured below. A crisp winter's morning in East London with Keller and their new Soilmec.
This SF50 becomes the latest in Keller's rapidly expanding fleet to be fitted with a PL3000/CFA control and documentation system. This system also benefits from one of NDT's new range of wireless concrete pressure sensors. Battery powered and with an identical footprint to our wired pressure sensors, these units fit into a standard pipe boss and remove the requirement for cable connections or, where auger extensions are used, recoil drums. Foundation Piling's new PVE45-DR rig, pictured here at AGD Equipment's headquarters in Stratford-upon-Avon during the recent commissioning of its PL3000/CFA instrumentation system. The PVE45-DR is the latest in Foundation Piling's growing fleet of NDT equipped rigs and joins a range of Bauer, Tescar and Soilmec machines. N D Technology was very pleased to supply a full PL3000/CFA instrumentation system to Nuneaton based foundation contractor I K Piling for their brand new PVE-55DR rig - the very first of its kind in the UK.
The PL3000 system as fitted will provide the operator with all of the tools required to install piles reliably, consistently and economically through real time graphical displays of all key construction parameters. The onscreen 'Virtual Supervisor' is unique to NDT and provides additional instruction and guidance to the operator throughout the entire piling process. Complementing the rig instrumentation, the online NDTDataCloud application allows I K Piling's staff unrivalled flexibility and convenience, not only to remotely access their rig data from any global location, but also to view at a glance vital ongoing summary information from all of the NDT equipped rigs in their fleet. With an effective leader length of 28m, a healthy nominal torque of 250kNm and the added advantage of pull-down, the PVE-55DR is capable of drilling 900mm diameter piles to depths of up to 25m without any need for an auger extension. This latest addition to I K Piling's fleet is scheduled to start its first contract within the next week. Customer saves over £500 per day after switching to PL3000CFA instrumentationKings Lynn based piling contractor G M Piling recently purchased 2 new CFA piling rigs. The rigs were supplied with pre-fitted in-built instrumentation. In discussion with G M Piling’s Managing Director, John Earp, we suggested the instrumentation was upgraded to N D Technology’s PL3000CFA systems. ‘So why would G M Piling want to replace the in-built systems with your PL3000/CFA ?’ he asked. Our answer was simple - ‘Because with our systems, you can pile more efficiently and this will enable you to save a considerable amount of money. What’s more, we can prove it’. John was initially sceptical of our claim but was prepared to set up a back-to-back trial with 2 rigs at the same site. One rig used the in-built instrumentation and the other used NDT’s PL3000 instrumentation. The trial showed conclusively that the PL3000 equipped rig allowed each pile to be constructed with less excess concrete. So much less that the savings in concrete amounted to more than £500 per day - that's over £125,000 per rig per year ! In little more than 6 weeks, this means the instrumentation would pay for itself completely and within just 5 to 6 years, the savings would equal the entire cost of the piling rig!* But the benefits of the PL3000 system don’t end there. In addition to providing a highly effective tool to control the installation of CFA piles, the system also provides a sophisticated back-office data management solution – N D Technology’s ground breaking online application 'Datacloud'. Datacloud allows piling managers to see at a glance the daily progress of their sites in near real time whilst mobile on a tablet or a smartphone, or in the office on a PC or smart TV. You can see, for example, the start times of the rigs, the number of piles installed, how many linear metres have been bored, the concrete consumption, the oversupply, the delay times etc. On the strength of the on-site trial, GM Piling placed orders for PL3000/CFA systems to ensure their entire piling fleet was fitted with NDT instrumentation. With the latest systems now having been up and running for several months, we were delighted to receive the following feedback from John Earp (GMP MD):
“After a long and productive relationship with N D Technology, G M Piling Limited recently invested in the PL3000 system and Datacloud for its two newly purchased CFA rigs. The rigs originally operated with an alternative system, however taking into consideration our extensive experience with the NDT system, and G M Piling’s requirements, we elected to retro fit the PL3000 thereby standardising the instrumentation of our fleet of CFA rigs. The NDT PL3000 instrumentation system and the Datacloud has become an indispensable tool for GM Piling. We can monitor and react if necessary to real time situations with actual ‘concrete’ information. One of our largest projects recently undertaken in London was to install CFA piles in layered strata. At tender stage we calculated the total concrete volume based on our experiences from previous projects in this area with similar ground conditions, pile diameters and lengths. Our aim was to reduce this figure whilst still installing satisfactory quality piles. Given the scale of this project we needed to monitor our activities closely not only in regards to concrete volume but production levels as well. The PL3000 system and the Datacloud enabled us to do this on a daily basis throughout this contract period, so at any point during the project we would know whether we were on programme and the volume of concrete used, and therefore make real-time changes as necessary to deliver a cost efficient project. Monitor + record + review + improve = high quality of installation in an improved cost efficient way. With the technology now available to us, we have been able to achieve our desire to innovate and improve. We now have the tools to advance our continuing goal to save money whilst delivering a quality product.” If you are not using PL3000/CFA systems on all your piling rigs and would like see how much our systems and expertise could benefit your company, please contact us for further information. *A £500 per day saving on concrete used can amount to over £125,000 per rig per year. In 6 years, this equates to £750,000, equivalent to (or more than) the cost of many CFA rigs. P J Edwards & Co recently took delivery of a new Llamada P135 piling rig.
Incorporating the most up to date technology, an impressive torque figure of 34tm and the capability to carry out Cased Flight Piling, the rig is the latest addition to P J Edwards' well established and varied fleet of Llamada rigs. One of our latest specification PL3000/CFA systems complements the cutting edge rig and ensures that Greg Edwards and his team across UK and Ireland get the very best from their latest investment. Two NDT PL3000/CFA systems were recently supplied to Piling Equipment Ltd for their Soilmec R312 & SR-30 machines. Both systems have full cellular connectivity to our NDTDataCloud application which enables any registered user to view the rigs' historic and ongoing piling data from any browser enabled device. With both rigs having piling work already booked, the systems needed to be installed in a very short space of time. Working closely with Tony & Graham and their team at Warminster, we were able to ensure that the systems were fully commissioned and ready to go well ahead of schedule.
Van Elle Piling wasted no time in getting their new Llamada P105 out on its first CFA piling contract. Fitted with one of our latest generation PL3000/CFA systems, we were able to assist with a rapid turnaround by commissioning and calibrating the system remotely without having to visit the rig in person. The cellular networking capabilities of the PL3000 system enables both ourselves and Van Elle to monitor the rig's performance (as well as sending messages, piling schedules, software updates) from any device with a web browser. Van Elle's Divisional Director Andy Waghorn spoke highly of our NDTDataCloud online data application, commenting how it had revolutionised Van Elle's handling of its rig data. Andy had a special mention for NDTDataCloud's 'Fleet Summary' page which provides a breakdown of production and concrete usage figures for each rig in their fleet, conveniently displayed on a single auto-updating webpage. With the Fleet Summary being displayed on a wall mounted display in their office, customers need only glance at the screen to get an instant view of how their rigs are performing in the field. We were delighted to continue our long-standing relationship with Mike and his team at Burras Ltd through the supply of a PL3000/CFA system for their newest acquisition - a Soiltek S100.
Their latest S100 joins an expanding fleet of Llamada, Casagrande and Soiltek CFA rigs, all of which are fitted with NDT instrumentation systems. During another recent PL3000/CFA training day, our customer saw their total excess concrete costs reduced from the already low figure of 19.9% (before training) to just 8.9% (after training). This represented an instant saving to our customer of £287.50 per day - that's over £6,200 per month ! This means that a new PL3000/CFA system could pay for itself in just a few short weeks. Want to know how your company could be achieving these savings and more ? Please contact one of our experienced staff for a chat or to arrange a demonstration / training day. On site with a customer in Surrey, providing training and tuition to ensure they were getting the very best from the PL3000 system fitted to their Llamada P90TT CFA rig. Please contact us if you would like to discover how a brief visit from one of NDT's experienced engineers could enhance your operation by helping to improve productivity & reduce both excess and waste concrete without compromising quality, consistency or reliability.
CFA piles being monitored by NDT instrumentation during installation at a site in Sandbanks, Dorset. A Bauer BG22 became the latest rig in Pacific Foundation's CFA piling fleet to be fitted with one of N D Technology's PL3000 instrumentation systems.
Installation costs proved to be minimal as fitting was straightforward and undertaken entirely by Pacific's own team. Commissioning and final calibration of the system was undertaken remotely from NDT's base in the UK with no requirement to visit the rig in person. The BG22 was put straight to work on a major project for Nike in Portland, Oregon. Keller Ground Engineering has been installing 900mm diameter soil-mix columns with a Mait HR100 at a site in Hampshire. Using the onboard PL3000/SoilMix monitoring & control system, Keller was able to construct each column to precise specified targets of both revs per metre and slurry volume per metre. The comprehensive construction data from each column were uploaded automatically within seconds of completion to the online NDTDataCloud application where they were immediately accessible by Keller staff worldwide. |
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