Balfour Beatty Ground Engineering (BBGE) has launched the UK's first driven precast pile cutting system which has the potential to reduce piling waste to zero.

The new system, which has patent-pending, works by cutting precast concrete piles above the ground with diamond tipped blades and then using the trimmed section of the pile as the lead part of the next pile. The system meets all requirements for compressive strength and can also cut piles to within 100mm of ground level, so providing fewer obstructions to other trades and enhancing access to a site.


Even before the introduction of the new system, BBGE had been able to reduce its precast piling waste from 1.6 metres per pile down to 0.8 metres per pile. However, this new system will allow BBGE to reduce this even further, with significant cost and sustainability benefits for its customers. A recent project to build a supermarket in Scotland requiring the use of 4,500 piles saw the cutting system save up to 3,600 metres of pile waste that would otherwise have been produced.

The process also has significant benefits for the environment as each metre of precast pile manufactured and delivered to site in the UK produces around 40-60kg of harmful carbon dioxide gasses. The reduction in pile utilisation has the potential to save up to 2000 tonnes of these harmful emissions per year.

The team worked with Finnish suppliers Junttan who supplied the mechanical cutter which has been fitted to two piling rigs to date.

(CD/JP)