Piling

Piling is where it all began for our Structural repairs service in 1998.  It all started with the invention of the Shire Pile and we have rapidly become an industry leader in a wide variety of piling types.  

Mini-Auger Piles

In the most restricted areas such as basements and between property boundaries, commercially available piling equipment does not allow access or installation.

Shire have developed installation equipment and piles specifically to service this requirement. Our unique micro auger pile can be installed in areas with a footprint of 600x600mm with a head height as low as 2.0 metres. The Shire micro auger pile can be fully heave-protected for use in shrinkable clay soils.

Shire Piles

Shire Piles are small diameter steel piles with helical fins on the base section. The piles are driven into the ground using a compressed air, post driver. The difference between piles and stabilisers is the application and the design approach.

Shire Piles are used to strengthen existing foundations. The piles are generally installed as a single line on the outside of the foundation and this produces a moment at the head of the stabilizer. The strength of the existing building is used to reduce this moment. Typical applications would be subsidence repairs due to soft ground or clay shrinkage movements. 

Shire Piles can also be used to support new build structures. They are designed to fully support the structure and are usually designed with a minimum safety factor of 2. Typical uses would be new build garages, conservatories, porches, etc.

Steel Cased Piles

Steel cased piles are bottom-driven using either drop hammers or vibrating moles. The continuous steel casing of the pile ensures that no spoil or ground water enters the pile casing during installation.
The pile is reinforced and backfilled with concrete, once the target capacity or “Set” has been achieved.
Shire design and install case piles from 100 to 210mm diameter.

Auger Piles

Auger piles are installed using a Compact tracked auger rig.  The rig is used to bore as deep as 16 metres below ground.  The piles are then installed and where appropriate in heavy clay soils, anti-heave sleeves are fitted around the Auger piles.  This enables the ground to move while leaving the piles stable and unaffected.