Anchor Systems Ltd ‘Goodbye concrete’

Anchor Systems (International) Ltd is a supplier of ground anchoring and foundation systems for temporary and permanent works within industry sectors such as rail, civils and construction.

Anchor Systems has the largest range of earth anchors globally, which are used for a variety of applications including slope stabilisation, retaining walls, and tying back sheet pile walls and contiguous piling. The company is also the supplier of the patented foundation systems that include the Anchor Post and the Anchor Screw which are used instead of concrete to provide foundations for lightweight structures and systems like cable routes, handrails, signal posts and signage.

Based in the UK and operating globally, Anchor Systems has considerable expertise in geotechnical and structural stabilisation and offer a comprehensive technical support service that includes advice, design specification and site testing services as well as product installation, if required. It also holds all the required industry standard accreditations including ISO 9001 and RISQS.

Elevated Cable Trough The patented foundation solutions that Anchor Systems supplies have been extensively used by London Underground for a variety of applications for many years. Most of the 50,000+ installations have been utilised as foundations for their CRMS (cable route management system) that are used to carry the cables in the open sections of the network. Balfour Beatty was introduced to the foundation systems in 2019 and immediately recognised the efficiencies that could be realised in its Elevated Trough projects it carries out for Network Rail as well as significantly contributing to its 25 per cent by 2025 promise.

Both foundation systems, the Anchor Screw and Anchor Post, can be easily installed quickly and with lightweight, handheld equipment with no requirement for RRVs. The Anchor Screw also benefits from a low noise and HAVS free installation process.

The Elevated Trough system utilises an Anchor Screw, an Interface plate (if required) for extra versatility and post and bracketry, all which can be made bespoke to suit any installation for any make of elevated cable trough. This provides sufficient flexibility to always align the run of troughing and make the installation quick and easy in comparison to traditional methods that have to allow for drying and curing times. All parts are made from one hundred per cent UK recycled steel and manufactured, stocked, and delivered in the UK, all of which result in a drastic saving on the carbon footprint over traditional methods.

The installation process starts with scanning the location with ground penetrating radar (GPR) and then measuring and marking out the positions for the Anchor Screws whilst taking into account and allowing for any sub-surface obstacles that were noted and marked out by the GPR survey. The Anchor Screws are then installed using a specialist hydraulic torque head, which can be hired or purchased from Anchor Systems. This is achieved with a two to three-person team for each torque head and produces very little noise and zero HAVS. Once the Anchor Screws have been installed to the correct depth, the interface plates, posts and bracketry can be fitted, aligned and fixed into position. This is achieved with ease due to the design of each part. The dome heads on the Anchor Screw and interface plate allow for vertical alignment through seven degrees of flexibility in all directions, as well as an abundance of specifically designed slots, holes and fixings in all other parts. The system is now ready for use and the elevated trough can now be installed.

After a demonstration where 24 metres of elevated troughing was installed and completed, along with the foundations, in 18 minutes by three people, Balfour Beatty were keen to explore the system further which resulted in an approval to use the system on a run on the Hither Green Signalling Renewal Project. In February 2020, 124 foundations were installed in a five-hour window which resulted in the following key benefits:

• 60 per cent time saving on foundation installation

• 40 per cent cost saving of £369 per metre to £221 per metre (derived from man hour savings, elimination of plant requirements, reduced possession requirements)

• 73 per cent embodied carbon reduction on materials, equivalent to 13,920kg CO2e and 89.4 per cent material saving

• Zero on-track plant and zero water consumed

• UK manufacturing and local materials, eliminating mainland European transportation miles

Balfour Beatty and Network Rail have continued to use this innovative system for elevated troughing as well as the Anchor Screw, as a better installed and more sustainable foundation than concrete.

Anchor Systems mission is to keep developing new systems and improving our existing systems and products that provide such big, key benefits and promote their use globally along with a first class service.