BUILDERS & CONTRACTORS
Spiral Drillers
Seismic strengthening of existing buildings just got easier Auckland company, Spiral Drillers is excited about a new micro-piling rig it has acquired, saying it will change the drilling scene, being able to drill in tiny areas and tighter places, outdoing any other available drilling machine. It’s only 1.4 metres wide on its tracks and 2.4 metres tall, can drill up to 900 millimetres diameter holes, and go down to depths of 15 metres. That’s a far better performance than any other equipment available in New Zealand, says Spiral Drillers Limited’s business development manager, Ben Faber. He says the new TC7 micro piling rig is ideally suited to seismic strengthening and upgrading work to bring buildings up to the new standards. He says a recent project the company completed is a good example of the capabilities of the machine. Spiral Drillers was called in to drill some additional 750mm piles down to 14m in the
basement of a two-storey building being upgraded and having two levels added. The company completed the job with a low head height of just 3.2m, the micropiling rig’s compact size and weight of seven tonnes making the job possible. The micro-rig is capable of handling any situation, from residential to high-rise buildings, meaning it has few limits, with a wide range of possibilities. He says the micro-rig can be used anywhere and it will drill as quickly as anything else available. “The fact that it can fit into a basement is what it’s all about. We want building owners to go ‘this is the problem I’ve got; these guys might be able to help.” He believes it is ideally
suited to New Zealand conditions, where sites are becoming more confined The TC7 is designed for such spaces and also for work on cliff edges and palisade walls. The TC7 is controlled remotely, with the operator standing alongside it,
meaning safer operation with greater location accuracy. Ben says he is expecting it to be used most often in the North Island, but would readily send it to the South Island if there were suitable jobs for it there. When confronted with out-of-the-ordinary on-
site obstacles the company typically responds by designing and constructing its own specialised equipment. For example, in a recent project the company needed to construct a 600mm diameter pile down 5.3m for a power pole in the middle of the bush. Spiral Drillers fabricated its own portable
rig to complete the job. The rig was dismantled, helicoptered to the site in sections, and then reassembled before drilling before drilling could start. Once drilling was completed, reinforcing steel and concrete was flown in to create the pile and then the machine was disassembled
Specialists in dif cult access and low headroom piling solutions
PROUD TO SUPPORT SPIRAL DRILLERS PermaPine Limited Cnr White Road and Broadlands Road, Reporoa Phone: 07 333 8523 Email: permapine@permapine.co.nz 0800 PERMAPINE (0800 737 627) www.permapine.co.nz 52 - BUILDERS & CONTRACTORS - SUMMER 2015
• AUGERS • THUMBS • PIPE WORK • QUICK HITCHES • ROCK BREAKERS • TILT BUCKETS B1504