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On the dyke reinforcement project Wolferen-Sprok a serious amount of steel sheet piling is being installed. Commissioned by combination De Betuwse Waard, De Vries Titan is taking care of the anchoring of the steel sheet piling by means of self drilling grout injection anchors. Because of the local foundation with gravel layers in the sand package, a bit of craftsmanship of the drillmaster is definitely a requirement.
Divided over the entire route, we are installing a total of 276 anchors, says Hendrik van de Woestijne, business manager at De Vries Titan. "Not every cluster requires steel sheet piles, the combination also uses plastic sheet piles where possible. This means that we are not permanently active on the project, but gradually and spread over different phases. We began construction in October 2021 and have now installed about 30 percent. The rest will follow this year, next year and another small portion in 2024."
For De Vries Titan, applying the grout injection anchors is a routine job. "It is our expertise," states Van de Woestijne. "Although our drilling engineer had to do some puzzling the first few days. Of course, the subsoil with gravel layers in the sand package is no surprise close to the riverbed, but it always requires some extra attention. In a gravel layer it is more difficult to install a grout anchor. It is always a matter of finding the right parameters for the drilling torque, the flushing rate, the support fluid, et cetera. It requires craftsmanship on the part of the drilling master, but our people are trusted to do that. We have a lot of experience nationwide in all kinds of subsoils and are also regularly active in Germany, with its very different soil structure. Our equipment is extremely suitable for a wide variety of applications. Thanks to the many adjustment possibilities, we can install anchors at any angle with our fully-hydraulic machines. For this dyke reinforcement, we are using anchors consisting of a steel tube of round 76 mm in lengths of 4 meters that we extend to lengths ranging from 16 to 24 meters."
Except for the substrate, with which we puzzled for a while at the beginning, we see the project primarily as a routine job. "It is running smoothly and the cooperation with the combination is also extremely pleasant."
