by Richard Cosgrove | Thu 23 Oct 2025
Careys completes work on Holcim cement facility
Working on behalf of Holcim UK, the team from Careys has successfully completed works on a new cement manufacturing and distribution facility at the Port of Tilbury. A key part of the project saw over 3,500 concrete piles of various dimension used. Playing its part were PC400 and MultiBar Large hydraulic pile croppers supplied and supported by National Pile Croppers.
Holcim UK recently announced that it has reached a pivotal milestone in the construction of the company’s flagship Tilbury cement terminal with the successful completion of all civil engineering works. This marks a key point in the multi-million-pound project, as structural and mechanical installation begins on one of the most advanced facilities of its kind in the UK. Located at the Port of Tilbury on the river Thames, the state of the art terminal is central to Holcim UK’s long term strategy to redefine sustainable construction through innovation, circularity, and decarbonization.
The three year construction project has seen the successful completion of all excavation, foundations, buried utilities, and site roads. Every element of the build to date reflects Holcim UK’s and its contractors commitment to sustainability. Materials excavated from the site have been reused either in the construction process itself, or in Holcim manufacturing plants. Meanwhile, the civil works have used the firm’s own portfolio of lower carbon products, including ECOPact ready-mixed concrete, recycled aggregates, concrete paving, and reclaimed asphalt. In total, more than 25,000m3 of concrete from the original site have been reused, alongside 10,000t of recycled asphalt planings. In addition, nearly 20,000t of excavated material has been processed through Holcim’s waste management business.
Working on behalf of Holcim UK, Careys began groundworks in early February 2024 before moving onto the main civils package. This included concrete works for the storage hall, VRM, silo array, conveyor systems and other structural foundations, installation of surface water and foul water drainage, utilities, fire main, and water and gas services and asphalt site roads. Before all of this work could be undertaken there was the small matter of installing over 3,500 concrete piles, and their subsequent cropping to size. The concrete piles were of various dimensions - 250mm, 300mm, 350mm – and were driven by Aarsleff. In addition, 400mm precast piles were manufactured by Aarsleff. The latter is highly unusual in the UK, although favoured in the US.
As Careys’ pile cropper partner of choice, National Pile Croppers supplied the hydraulic pile croppers and support for the project over a number of months. Given the importance of the facility to Holcim UK, both Careys and National Pile Croppers were fully on-board when it came to being environmentally focused, with the concrete and rebar from the piles being re-used and recycled. As well as this, the time frames around the project were demanding, with little room for unscheduled down time. Safety, efficiency and productivity had to go hand in hand to ensure that Careys’ part was completed to time, to the exacting standards specified.
National Pile Croppers’ MultiBar Large is designed to aid in such projects as these, proving to be the workhorse of the cropping onsite. It is simply lowered over the concrete pile which is then reduced at 250mm intervals enabling broken pile sections to be removed. The key to productive and efficient use is to ensure that the last bite at the finish level is of at least 250mm to ensure a good cut is obtained. “The cropper is best used by an excavator of at least 6t, and depending on the variant chosen, weighs either 450kg , 550kg or 600kg. This all means that it’s small enough to be highly manoeuvrable but has the substance to deal with the toughest of precast piles with four or more reinforcement bars (rebar),” explains National Pile Croppers Roy Taylor.
Further aiding efficiency and cropping refinement, the MultiBar Large further benefits from a new range of specifically in house manufactured chisels, designed with the purpose to not only penetrate the pile, but to leave a perfect finish with little or no tidying up. The new chisels effectively break up the concrete into pieces, and furthermore, the cropped unit can then easily be lifted off the pile enabling the removal and recycling of the cut away concrete in a safe manner.
One highlight on the project was the use of National Pile Croppers’ newly designed cropper for piles from 300-400mm. As its name suggests, the PC400 is used for precast piles (PCC ) with four or more reinforcement bars. The new cropper is designed for flexible and efficient use, and weighing in at only 550kg, the cropper can be mounted on a 6t excavator. The cropper is designed to remove sections of concrete at approximately 250mm per crop, with the four powerful rams and blades penetrating past the rebar and into the centre of the pile to leave a minimum of trimming.
“The PC400 proved itself on this project. Careys reported high levels of productivity, and ease of use,” added Roy who concludes. “Being able to be used by a 6t excavator meant that cropping could be undertaken with existing equipment onsite. The cropping was undertaken in a timely and efficient manner, with the concrete and rebar being able to be recycled and reused in line with Holcim UK’s inspiring environmental goals.”
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