The Civil Engineering Contractor July 2019 | Page 34

CASE STUDY
Standing the
test of time
Franki DCIS piles being installed.
When Edgard Frankignoul invented the
Franki pile in 1909, he had no idea that
110 years later it would still be regarded
as one of the most cost-effective and
reliable solutions for a host of different
geological conditions.
“I
t’s quite amazing,” says Franki Africa’s Gavin Byrne,
“that with only relatively small improvements over
time, the Franki pile, after so many years, repeatedly
remains the solution of choice in a wide variety of conditions.
Given that we operate in an ever-changing and advancing
technological environment, this makes the ubiquitous nature
of the Franki pile even more remarkable.”
“Above all, the Franki pile is a unique system for generating
excellent load capacity and we have developed a number of
techniques to install it in a variety of soil conditions,” adds
Byrne. “With its wide range of pile sizes and its characteristic
enlarged base, it’s fair to say that the Franki pile has been one of
the cornerstones of Franki Africa’s success in southern Africa.”
32 | CEC July 2019
The latest project to demonstrate the magic of the Franki
pile is the piling work done for Sappi at its Saiccor mill in
Umkomaas, KZN.
Difficult ground conditions and record
depths
Sappi’s project includes the installation of a new evaporator,
recovery boiler and screening and washing plant, along with
upgrades to the bleach plant and pulp machines, improved
recovery circuits and additional magnesium digesters. The
piling tender for all these elements stipulated the installation
of approximately 1 900 piles to varying depths.
“I would say that the ground conditions on this site were
among the most difficult in Franki’s 75 years of installing
piles in the Southern African region”, says Byrne. “From our
initial design and construct perspective, we had no doubt
that the Franki pile would be the most cost-effective and
technically robust solution for a variety of reasons.”
The fact is the conditions actually encountered on site
revealed even greater variations in the geological profile than
was expected. Not only would piles have to be installed at
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