A Simple Guide to Pile-driving

What better way to pass a hot summer’s afternoon than watching men at work on the New Hut! This is what I learned about the craft of pile-driving, the stages are:

  • A 1m screw is attached to the machine, cage door closed
  • Screw lowered, displaced clay shovelled away
  • Repeat above steps until a total of 12 screws have been used
  • Reverse the motor to raise the screws one at a time taking care not to allow those remaining to fall back down the hole
    We counted them in, and we counted them out
    Finished hole
    Hole + readymix + steel = finished pile

    Now see the action for yourself:

Building Begins

Once the old hut had been demolished, the site was cleared and pegs put in the ground to mark out the footprint of the New Hut. The foundations will be built on piles – 30 altogether. For each pile, the clever machine in the photo screws out the soil leaving a vertical hole about 25cm in diameter and 11.5m deep. Then the holes are filled with concrete.

Thanks to the amazing dry weather, our contractors have made rapid progress and have completed 20 piles already.