Progress in underground operations

The offer of different technologies attending to the demand for higher productivity increases the competition and matures Brazilian foundation market

Due to technology, the industry of foundations is getting a new status in the country. According to calculations carried out by the German manufacturer Liebherr, there are about 650 foundation drills working in Brazil. Most equipment came to the market between 2003 and 2011, even considering that the year of 2009 was atypical, with a lower volume of sales due to the world economic crisis. During the last years, the market also did not show a significant increase, although running around R$ 300 million per year, according to CZM, another important player of the market. And it is just this “stability” that drives the quality advance of these machines.

After all, this selective scenario is the place where the manufacturers of this type of equipment fight for market share, focusing in differentiated technologies to get new works. “In Brazil, precast and bored piles are the most used solutions”, says Thomas Nagler, supervisor of equipment for foundations and earth works of Liebherr. According to him, two main systems of bored piles are used: continuous flight augers and reverse circulation (known as “Kelly”).

Continuous flight augers are more used in Brazil. According to Nagler, they correspond to more than 80 percent of the foundations carried out with bored piles. “But for the next five years the market seems to be more inclined to use Kelly technologies, mainly due to the increasing demand for higher diameters and depths, where they are more efficient”, says him.

Commercial director of the Brazilian manufacturer CZM, Marcos Cló confirms the national preference for continuous flight augers and adds that Brazil is the largest user of this technology in the whole world, followed by the United Kingdom. “When compared to other methods, the process of continuous monitored flight auger allows the production of a larger quantity of piles”, points him. “And the load productivity of the piles is that of best result, what confirms the maturity reached by the Brazilian foundation market.”