Civil engineering is an essential part of modern construction and includes special methods for stabilizing and improving building foundations. It is primarily used when buildings have to be erected on difficult ground conditions or when there are high static requirements. Common methods include pile foundations, excavation shoring, soil improvement and tunnel construction.



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When is civil engineering used?
Civil engineering is indispensable for numerous construction projects, especially for:
High-rise buildings with deep foundations
Bridges and tunnels
Excavations in densely populated areas
Infrastructure projects such as road and railroad construction
Hydraulic structures such as locks, dams and port facilities
Underground garages, cellars and other underground structures where stable excavations and seals are required
The use of modern specialist foundation engineering techniques enables structures to be built safely and economically, even in geologically challenging environments.
Important areas of special civil engineering
Civil engineering covers a broad spectrum of construction methods. The most important areas are
1. pile foundation
Pile foundations are used to transfer the load of a structure to deeper, load-bearing soil layers. Depending on the subsoil conditions and requirements, different types of piles are used, including
In-situ concrete piles: Drilled directly on site and filled with concrete
Driven piles: Prefabricated piles that are driven into the ground
Piles: Particularly suitable for difficult geotechnical conditions
2. excavation shoring
When building deep excavations, the lateral earth pressures must be safely absorbed. This is done with:
sheet piling
Pile walls
diaphragm walls
Excavation shoring plays a particularly important role in underground garages and basements, as measures to seal against groundwater are often also required here.
3. soil improvement
Soil improvements are necessary to increase the load-bearing capacity and stability of the subsoil. The methods include:
Soil injections for compaction and reinforcement
Vibration pressure and vibration tamping process
Icing techniques for tunnel construction
4. tunnel construction and underpinning
Tunnel construction often requires the use of special foundation engineering techniques to secure the subsoil, e.g. using icing or shotcrete methods. Underpinning is used for structures in the immediate vicinity of existing buildings to prevent subsidence.
Pile foundations – in-situ concrete piles as an efficient solution
In-situ concrete piles are one of the most commonly used methods of pile foundations. They are constructed directly on site by drilling or driving and then filled with concrete. Their advantages include high load-bearing capacity, adaptability to different soil types and the ability to safely transfer large loads.
The correct processing and professional capping of in-situ concrete bored piles are crucial for the stability and quality of the entire foundation. There are specialized methods and tools for this that enable efficient and precise processing.
Brextor® is one of the most innovative methods for professionally capping in-situ concrete bored piles. This method enables safe, economical and environmentally friendly processing of bored piles and bored pile walls. Find out more about the advantages of Brextor® and how it works in the following section.
Pile breaking with an innovative solution
Brextor® is an efficient, safe and high-quality method for pile breaking. With this method, not only single piles, but also all types of pile walls (tangent, secant or contiguous) are processed gently by machine. The work is done by one person and one machine. The weather conditions have no influence here.
Brextor® offers the following advantages:
🏗 Increased construction quality
Perfect pile cropping without cracks in the pile body or spalling on the pile outer skin, no bent or torn reinforcements and a height accuracy of +/- 1cm.
💵 Reduced construction costs
The demolition material consists of 80% gravel 0-30mm and can therefore be reused directly on the construction site. In addition, Brextor® requires less working space than conventional mining methods. This means that not only expenses for transportation and disposal incl. fees are saved, but the purchase and supply of replacement material is also eliminated. Furthermore, the preparatory work eliminates the need for a separating diamand cut at the final extraction level and the cleaning effort is massively lower than with conventional extraction methods.
⏱ Shortened processing time
For example, a pile with a diameter of 1 m and a height of 1 m can be processed within 40 minutes. A daily output of up to 16 piles is possible. In addition, Brextor® provides reliable performance and therefore increased planning security.
♻️ Environmentally friendly
With Brextor®, the demolition material (80% gravel 0-30mm) can be reused directly on the construction site. In addition, Brextor® requires less working space. This saves excavation and replacement material. Due to the direct reuse of the demolition material on the construction site and the saving of excavation and replacement material, transports can be saved. In addition, landfills are less burdened.
👷 Increased health & safety at work
No heavy physical work is required for pile cutting, which massively reduces the risk of health hazards such as HAVS syndrome. In addition, Brextor® avoids working in danger zones.
Find out more about Brextor® here:
Contact us for more information and find out how you can benefit from this revolutionary pile breaking method.
Call us on +41 41 495 05 20 or send an e-mail to info@brc.swiss. We look forward to working with you and taking your projects to the next level.