Specialist machine foundations
- Commercial
A machine foundation has to be accurate to the manufacturer’s tolerances, and it is often built while the rest of the facility keeps running.
We build foundations for heavy plant and machinery to the client’s brief and the manufacturer’s technical specification, from a single conveyor pit to a complex multi-level installation. Every procedure is supported by risk assessments and method statements (RAMS).
Key
- Machine (by others), shown dashed
- Holding-down bolts cast in
- Reinforced concrete pit to the manufacturer’s drawing
Section A-A
Machine pit with cast-in fixings
Scale
NTS
Typical section: specialist machine foundations. Indicative, not to scale.
The challenge
The machine is only as accurate as its base
A base that is out of level or out of position delays commissioning, and putting it right means breaking out concrete next to equipment that is already on site.
We have delivered specialist groundworks across the North West since 2008. We know where these projects go wrong, and we plan for it before work starts.
What we deliver
Specialist machine foundations, done properly
Heavy machinery foundations
Bases for presses, lathes and production lines, with pockets, recesses and holding-down bolts cast in where the equipment requires them.
Pits and conveyors
From a single conveyor pit to multi-level machinery pits, formed, reinforced and poured to the drawings.
Weighbridges
The specialist foundations a weighbridge station requires, built so the bridge sits level and weighs accurately.
Crane pads and dock levellers
Crane pads designed for the loads, and foundations for dock levellers on new and existing sites.
Complete factory foundations
A full set of foundations for a larger factory, including the car park and loading docks, with one contractor responsible for the groundworks package.
Our process
Site to sign-off
Three steps, whether it is a machine base for a factory or a treatment plant for a farmhouse.
Step 1: Tell us about the project
Call us or send the drawings. If it helps, we will arrange a site visit.
Step 2: A clear price, with the risks identified
We review the ground conditions, access and programme, and raise anything that could add cost later, while it is still inexpensive to resolve.
Step 3: Delivered and signed off
Built to programme by our own team and plant, and handed over with the paperwork that goes with it.
What our clients say
“We have been very pleased with project delivery to our requirements – within timescale, budget, and most importantly to our demanding health and safety standards.”
What is at stake
When groundworks goes wrong
- Commissioning delayed while the base is corrected
- Production downtime from a poorly planned dig
- RAMS rejected by your health and safety team
When it is done right
A base that matches the manufacturer’s drawings, delivered around your operation, with the paperwork your health and safety team expects.
What affects the price
Every project is priced on its own requirements. These are the factors that make the biggest difference, and we will discuss each one with you before work starts.
- The manufacturer’s specification and tolerances
- Breaking out and removing an existing floor
- Working around a facility that remains in operation
- Pit depth and the reinforcement design
- Out of hours working to avoid production downtime
Accreditations for this work
Our health and safety management has already been independently assessed, which shortens your pre-qualification.
If your organisation manages its supply chain through Avetta, we are already registered.
Plant on your site is operated by carded, competent operators.
On site
Reinforced base, steel in, ready for the pour 
Shuttering propped along a deep reinforced base 
Breaking out an old floor inside an industrial unit 
Sub-base going in for a new internal floor 
Propped formwork for a deep base 
Breaking out inside an industrial building
Questions we get asked
Can you work while the factory is operating?
Yes. We plan the work around ongoing operations and can work out of hours, at weekends or overnight, to minimise disruption to production.
Do you provide RAMS?
Yes. Every procedure and structure is supported by risk assessments and method statements.
Have a project that needs pricing?
Send us the drawings, or we will arrange a site visit. We will give you a clear price and tell you about any risks we can see.