During recent years, we have noticed that on a number of prestigious Civils projects, the permanent works design of reinforced concrete piles or diaphragm walls has resulted in significantly more congested cages containing more and heavier rebars with resulting reduced circumferential clear spacings between adjacent bars.
This practice has occurred primarily on pile or diaphragm walls which form retaining walls and are subject to large bending moments and shear forces. The resulting heavy cages may have required the use of large capacity Standard SUPERLATCH® shackles, such as Types 9, 10, and 12, for which the shackle thickness is approximately 60mm. In practice, such cages have resulted in rebar spacings down as low as 75mm which, allowing for cage manufacturing tolerances and its effects on rebar positions, can leave little room for the Standard SUPERLATCH® shackle version to fit between rebars. Hence the SUPERLATCH®SLIM shackle was developed to cater for this specialised application.
The rationale behind the new SUPERLATCH®SLIM product is to reduce the shackle overall thickness by cranking its baseplate, so placing the rotating latch in the same plane as the inner web. The rotating latch is supported by a notch in the inner web, so eliminating the escutcheon bolt of the Standard SUPERLATCH® version. This allows easy access of the shackle through the rebar gaps in the adjacent cage, promoting rapid splicing of congested cages.
SUPERLATCH®SLIM shackles are fitted in a fully integral manner within the rebar cages at the cage fabricators Works. This means that there are no extraneous fastening components to loose in transit to site nor for the Contractor to fit during cage splicing.
The force of gravity is the most reliable agent known to mankind. It is this resource which the Contractor taps into when two cages are brought together vertically by the Site service crane. In the case of the SUPERLATCH®SLIM splicing system, the weight of the upper cage acts on the SUPERLATCH®SLIM shackles during the controlled lift thereby triggering the automatic latching action and securing the connection between the cages without Operators’ hands, fasteners, or tools being placed either in or on the cages.
The benefits which derive to the Contractor are:
- Hands-free splicing action in rebar pile and diaphragm wall cages. This avoids the potential hand-trapping hazard of other splicing systems, all of which use separate fasteners to be manually fitted by the Contractor. As such, SUPERLATCH®SLIM significantly reduces the Site Health & Safety liability.
- Boosting of site productivity through the instantaneous fastening action of the SUPERLATCH®SLIM shackle group on the cage-to-cage splice. This avoids installation delays which can occur with separate fastening systems, and reduces the time a pile bore / D-wall panel remains open.
- Promoting a prompt start and finish of the concreting activity, avoiding premium time working, as well as wasted concrete.
- Easy shackle access in congested cages.
- Cranked baseplate yields a higher shackle strength.
- Environmental benefits on site through both reduced energy consumption and carbon footprint
The SUPERLATCH®SLIM shackles and bands/plates of the system are attached to the rebar cages by fillet welding; this being certified by UK CARES approval (or equivalent) of competent cage fabricators.
All SUPERLATCH®SLIM shackle types have been proof-loaded non-destructively with these test values halved (FOS 2.0) to produce a Working Load Limit capacity per shackle.
Individual SUPERLATCH®SLIM shackles are stamped up with an alpha-numeric code, denoting batch traceability, and supported by batch testing.
SUPERLATCH®SLIM has been approved by the Renewable Energy and Rail Sectors on a project by project basis. Since 2024 the system has become well established and used on prestigious UK projects such as High Speed 2, and Ardersier Port InverEach SUPERLATCH®SLIM shackle physically bears its own UKCA / CE mark. The manufacture complies with BS EN 1090-1/2:2009 + A1:2011 under the auspices of an independent, third party certification scheme (BSI). The management systems conform to ISO 9001:2015.
What our Clients think:
Keltbray Piling
We utilised the SUPERLATCH® system to splice the two and three part 1180mm secant wall cages and the five part 1500mm, 1800mm, and 2100mm base-grouted Thanet Sand Pile cages – combining the SUPERLATCH® system with inverted splices to eliminate working at height during pile reinforcement installation. The SUPERLATCH® system impressed all the site team, our Operatives found the SUPERLATCH® system to be rapid and safe. Our Engineers found it highly accurate for vertical positioning, and even with multiple splices, were able to comfortably achieve the stringent contract tolerances. I would heartedly recommend the SUPERLATCH® system for cage splicing, the benefits for safety, productivity, and quality make it the obvious choice.
Van Elle
Van Elle's well-organized site, strong collaboration with the Main Contractor, and efficient sequencing of works ensured significant time savings. Smooth coordination with concrete deliveries further streamlined the process. Additionally, the innovative SUPERLATCH® spliced cage system for steel reinforcement reduced installation time, saving up to half a day per week compared to traditional cages.
Keltbray Piling
I can whole heartedly say how impressed I am with the SUPERLATCH® system being used on our cages at Aykon Vauxhall. We are installing 4No. 1350mm diameter cages per pile, and the operation is saving approximately half to three quarters of an hour per pile, and therefore saving us time. Not only that, but the fact that operatives are getting away from putting their hands inside of cages, or even close during splicing, is another major tick. Going forward, it is certainly the method of cage splice I want to be using due to the H&S and time savings.
Yvonne Ainsworth
I have worked with the patented SUPERLATCH® system on many of the projects I was in charge of. The SUPERLATCH® system enables the hands-free splicing of piling reinforcement cages in their vertical position. Due to the pre-assembled nature of the product (factory fitted), no additional fasteners / bolts / clamps are required. The SUPERLATCH® system enables the quick and easy connection of rebar cages above the hole. It is astonishing how quick it actually occurs (you blink and you will miss it!) The speed with which rebar cages can be spliced, reduces the time a pile bore / D-wall panel remains open, potentially resulting in technical, operational, programme related, and commercial benefits.
Just some of our Clients:
