Ground anchors and nails

Ground anchors and soil nails are soil mass retaining devices constructed to transmitting an applied tensile load to a load bearing stratum. Anchors and nails are normally pre-stressed, composed of steel bars that are introduced into a small diameter pre-drilled hole of limited diameter and covered with borehole grout.

Construction sequence

Installation process of ground anchors: in accordance with the requirements of standard NBN EN 1537 : Ground anchors

Fields of application

• Reinforcement of excavation pits, anchorage of retaining walls (withhold active earth pressure), slope protection and stabilization (loose soil or rock slope)

• Nailing

• Resist and absorb tensile forces (e.g. uplift of slabs below groundwater).

Environmental impact

• Vibration-free

• Removal of excavated soil and drilling spoil from the job site is required

• A stable, dry and flat work platform is required

• Execution with electrical machines possible (no emission of waste combustion gases).

Technical specifications

• The anchor allows for resisting tensile loads along its axis. Anchors transfer forces acting on a supporting structure either into the soil behind the structure or into the underlying soil layers.

• The anchor consists of:

  • pre-stressed strands (free length and bond or anchor length)

  • steel tubes, with couplers or single length

  • steel bars or rods of standard quality or high-resistance quality (pre-stressed bars)

  • fiber glass rods

  • self-drilling hollow steel bars (bars drilled into soil without the need for a casing to support the borehole)

• The anchor head transmits the anchor force to the structure through the anchor bearing plate

• Depending on the duration of use, two types are distinguished: temporary and permanent anchors (the latter ones provided with a corrosion inhibiting compound)

• Borehole diameter: 100 up to 250 mm

• Possibility to realize inclined anchors

• Anchors are prestressed (active), nails are not prestressed (passive anchors).

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