Steel is an incredibly important industry to the United States. The industry employs over 140,000 people and produces up to 82 tons of steel every single year. Steel is also the most recycled material on earth and is used in nearly every working manufacturing facility in some capacity. In other words, there’s a reason that steel suppliers feel a sense of job security. Steel can be used to create the tools used within manufacturing facilities and can also be a part of the product itself. Below are a couple of quick facts about steel sheet piles, which are commonly used in a wall form to keep soil or water from going where it doesn’t need to go:

Permanent or Temporary – One of the first questions you’ll be asked after contacting a sheet piling company to do a job is whether you want the structure to be permanent or temporary. For instance, if you are going to be at a construction site with your crew where you need to be enclosed for various reasons you may just need the sheet piling company to put something up temporarily for you. On the other hand, if you know that holding the water or soil back at a certain location is something you want to do long-term, then you’d opt for a permanent sheet piling structure.

How It’s Made – Sheet pile is made by using two main methods: hot rolled and cold rolled. Cold rolled steel is typically stronger than hot rolled, but any sheet piling company will tell you that the method you choose will really depend on how you want the sheet pile to actually interlock. There are over half a dozen interlock designs for sheet pile and you should consult with a sheet piling company to determine which is best for your project. Typically the variables that will come into play will include the type of soil the sheet piling is being put into, for how long, and to hold what elements back.

If you are a project managers or engineer who oversees industrial construction projects then you know the importance of having your crew protected from all that could happen during a project. From landslides to erosion to water breeches, having a perimeter of sheet piling there could make a huge difference for you financially. If you know that you need something like this for your next project but have tons of questions about how much, where to put it, what kind of interlock you need, then reach out to a sheet piling company and ask. That’s why we call them the experts after all!