Allegheny Technologies Ltd

Machine Base Foundations

Allegheny Technologies’ sustained growth meant that expansion was required. A Mazak CNC machine was purchased, and tenders issued for the installation of a suitable concrete base to support it. A reinforced concrete base was vital to the machine’s ability to accurately precision cut the tens of thousandths of millimetres accuracy required by Allegheny.

The contract also included the installation of an independent crane base to sit at the end of the machine base. This required a concrete pit and installation of a budgie cage made from 20mm reinforced steel to ensure the crane was capable of lifting metal on and off the machines bed.

The Installation Process

Once the structural calculations were completed, we got to work sectioning off the floor area with fencing and polythene sheeting to ensure the rest of the factory was operational. The original flooring was marked out, excavated and removed.

The bases were prepared with hardcore materials and a polythene damp membrane was installed. To reinforce the base rebar was laid. The rebar allows the weight of the machine to be distributed proportionally. Then the high strength concrete is poured and floated to create a linear finish. Expansion joints were installed to allow the concrete base to safely absorb the thermal expansion without distortion.

We worked efficiently and, where required, out of hours to minimise production downtime.

Machine Base Flooring

It is vital to have reinforced concrete floors for heavy machines, as the vibrations alone from the machinery can cause cracks and alignment issues, which will damage a standard industrial floor.

Reinforced concrete flooring provides a solid independent base for operating engineering and manufacturing machinery. The machine vibrations can be absorbed into the reinforced concrete base to ensure machine accuracy is kept and the vibrations are not transferred to other surrounding floor areas.