CINTEC International Ltd received the Queens Award for Innovation in 2002 for their remarkable reinforcement product technology and the pictures here show it applied during the construction of the Hovercraft Column at Somerleyton. See also – www.cintec.co.uk

Reinforcement for the Hovercraft Column comprised a high specification stainless steel bar enclosed in a  fabric sleeve with a small open mesh, a specially developed grout is injected into this under low pressure. The grout is Portland cement based product containing graded aggregates and other constituents which, when mixed with water, are pumpable and have good strength without shrinkage when set. The bar was installed in a precisely drilled bore using wet diamond coring technology. The flexible sleeve of woven polyester restrains the grout flow and can expand up to twice its nominal diameter, thus moulding itself to the internal shape of the structure.

The two pictures (left) show the stainless steel anchor being lowered into the stone Column that had been bored earlier to 70 mm diameter.  The mechanism at the top is used for tensioning the bar immediately before injecting the grout. In the bottom picture injection has been completed and the polyester meshed sock, inflated by the pressurised grout, has reached the required height; the circle of ‘milk’ providing a chemical bond, from 1.3 metres below ground up to the top of the Column, is clearly visible.

We are extremely grateful to Peter James of CINTEC in Newport, South Wales, for donating their advanced and elegant reinforcement system. CINTEC was specified by Richard Swift of SFK Consulting, the Southampton based structural engineer specialising in historic buildings, to whom we are similarly grateful for donating his services. These two highly professional firms have worked on Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, the Egyptian pyramids and many other notable buildings around the world.