PowerPiles

Uretek PowerPiles are polymer pillars to instal under existing buildings to easily retro-improve foundation support.

PowerPiles are a unique and patented ground engineering technique invented and developed by URETEK.

They're like keyhole surgery.

Accomplished cleanly, without excavation or mess, through cored holes not much bigger than a 50 cent coin, these expanded polymer, compacted pillars suit strata that will yield under pressure.

PowerPiles are not piles in the traditional sense. They work efficiently as combination soil replacement and compaction grouting elements, aided by skin friction/cohesion and base resistance. 

All materials and equipment arrive on site in one purpose-designed self-contained vehicle, with a team of three men. Installation equipment is portable and one man can safely carry several compressed 30 mm diameter, shrink-wrapped, prefabricated PowerPile elements at a time. Element lengths are currently available from 1000 to 6000 mm, and potentailly longer in the future.

In essence, an installed PowerPile is a geo-textile shell filled with an expanded Uretek resin that can have a compressive strength of 1000 kPa to 5000 kPa - and more, if required. Using geotechnical bore-hole information, resin quantities are predetermined and computer-monitored.

As the compressed tube/element is expanded from the bottom up, adjacent weak ground is displaced and compacted. The resin hardens and there is immediate increased support.  The shape of the PowerPile should be irregular, the shape being affected by the varying strength of ground resistance at the different depths.

PowerPiles themselves require no excavation and thus contribute no resultant spoil that needs disposal. Site conditions of course vary but 10 PowerPiles per day to 6000 mm depth is achievable.

Installation necessitates little disturbance to landscaping. PowerPiles can be inserted down to 6000 mm, even from under a normal domestic ceiling. There is minimal noise and the process is remarkably clean. Work can be done overnight.

PowerPiles would normally be installed up to the underside of footings but shorter lengths may be lowered and expanded to locally ‘bridge’ individual weak layers and lenses at depth, transferring load.

Installation of PowerPiles is convenient and precise:

1. A 36 mm diameter hole is driven into the ground by machine.
2. A compressed 30 mm diameter, shrink-wrapped, prefabricated PowerPile element is inserted manually.
3. Its central 10 mm diameter pipe core ...
4. is then connected to a computer-controlled extraction machine ...
5. and Uretek resin is injected as the pipe is slowly withdrawn, expanding the element up to 350 mm in weak soil strata.

Developed particularly for retro-fitting and for sites with special needs and access considerations.

• No demolition or excavation.
• Fast, clean, quiet, precise operation.
• Immediate results - no curing time.
• Portable equipment - for sites with difficult access.    
• Install to 6000 mm depth, even from under low ceilings.
• Can be installed in loose/soft sand.

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