Sheet Pile Connectors, one of the most crucial part of a sheet pile is its connector or interlock.
Sheet pile walls or sections greatly depends on the performance of its connectors in becoming an effective full support system. The clutch shall allow on uniform load distribution to form a wall system, rather than individual piece of single pile effect alone.
Sheet pile connectors makes the whole support system rigid and durable yet become critical in resisting heavy loadings in long spans in ensuring that the wall stands firm and does not yield.
Applications Since the 1900s, sheet piles have been widely used for most of the construction project across the globe not just because of its strength to resist, but also of its versatility and convenience. With that, it is popularly used as a retaining wall, flood protection, bulkhead and seepage wall.
In addition, it can also be used as basement walls and as a marine protection, commonly being used for ship berthing structures in ports and harbors for mooring vessels. Different types of sheet piles are required on the structurally analyzed structures, it may require permanent sheet piles as it will take time to penetrate soils, that’s when contractors purposely install them by driving or jetting them into the soil, to make the planting of sheet piles quick and easy.
Classification of Sheet Pile Connectors When it comes to sheet pile connectors, there are two broad categories, extruded connectors and fabricated connectors. Here is a look at each of them:
Extruded Connectors
These types of connectors are designed in one solid piece and they corrode not as much as its counterpart. Extruded Connectors are manufactured for flat and Z-section sheet piles.
And as our Engineers becoming more innovative, the sheet pile connector market now has a 90-degree sheet pile connector or other, and with more options that are available makes it easy to implement in almost every situation in the construction trade.
Fabricated Connectors
These types of connectors are welded together with the angles, plates and interlock tips. These allows the manufacturers and customers to modify, arrange and design the connectors into various corners and angles. Fabricated connectors can be used for flat and z-section sheet piles also.
Connectors can also be classified as hot-rolled or cold-formed. Hot-rolled connectors can be used in various configurations including interlocking with non-ESC sheet piles. They include ESC-6E, ESC-6J, ESC-9E, ESC-9J, ESC-9HJ and ESC-10HJ connectors. Cold-formed connectors on the other hand interlock with ESC’s range of ESC-CRZ and ESC-CRU series sheet piles. They are available in a wide range of steel grades and shapes.
Contact ESC for more information email us at escglobal@escpile.com and our team will reach out to you