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CEO'S MESSAGE
MECHC FOR SMES
FASTER, QUIETER AND
SMARTER HACKING
A CELEBRATION OF
PRODUCTIVITY
ACHIEVEMENTS
BUILDING CHAMPIONS
OPENING OF TIONG SENG
PREFAB HUB
RECOGNISING
SINGAPORE'S
PRODUCTIVITY
CHAMPIONS
HSL Ground Engineering explores a new pile head removal SAFER WORKING
method using polystyrene foams, wedges and hydraulic jacks ENVIRONMENTS YIELD
CONFIDENCE
Noisy, messy and labourious. These describe the conventional method of RAISING MANAGERS FOR
hacking pile heads. In this process, mechanical equipment such as the hydraulic PRODUCTIVITY
breaker, excavator and air compressor are used to break the bond between the
concrete and the steel reinforcement bars. The concrete is then chopped into
small debris for removal. The whole process is time-consuming and labour-
intensive.
The collaboration paid off. A successful new hacking method was devised. The
method involves the use of circular polystyrene foams. Before casting, HSL
Ground Engineering installed the foams around the steel reinforcement bars to
debond the bars from the concrete mass. Special moulds had been
manufactured to produce the debonding material – an important step to ensure
that the debonding material could be accurately placed around the reinforcement
bars.
A crack was then induced at the cut-off level of the pile head. This allowed the
mass of concrete above the cut-off level to be separated, which led to its easy
removal in one piece to be lifted away.
The unique hacking method yielded several advantages. It sped up the hacking
process, which enhanced the company’s project productivity. There was also a
significant reduction of noise on site and no debris was produced during
hacking.