Our Skanska Costain STRABAG JV, Cementation Skanska and specialist supplier Hercules Site Services have won a BCIA award for the zero-trim piling innovation.
The British Construction Industry Award (BCIA) ceremony, held in London on 13 October, recognises exemplary projects and initiatives from the past 12 months.
The Skanska Costain STRABAG JV, Cementation Skanska and specialist supplier Hercules Site Services won in the health, safety and wellbeing initiative of the year category.
The zero trim piling technique uses a vacuum excavator to suck out excess concrete from a pile while it’s still wet – traditionally the concrete is overpoured and then site teams have to break out the excess concrete. This can cause health problems, including hand-arm vibration syndrome, hearing loss and silicosis. This new approach removes the need to do this, creating a safer method for people in the industry.
In presenting the award, the judges said: "This is a fantastic initiative removing health and safety risk from the activity with the added benefits of improvements to quality, schedule and cost. This has the wow factor and has the potential to radically change how pile construction is undertaken globally, across construction, in the future."
Cementation Project Director Deon Louw, who helped develop the technique alongside the JV’s Lee Piper, said: “It’s fantastic recognition for the work of the entire team. We’ve been supported all the way by our customer HS2 and the technique is making a tangible difference on site.
“It’s much safer for our people, is less noisy for our neighbours and is a much quicker form of delivery. Significantly, it also uses less concrete meaning we can cut carbon emissions.”
Cementation Skanska will be installing around 2000 piles on the London tunnels section of HS2 over the next three years. Discussions are taking place with other HS2 contractors to see how the technique can be used further across the route.