I'm sure you know that every aspect of a Pre-Engineered steel building starting from its structure to its strength and stability, depends upon the execution of the anchor bolt casting. But do you know how a an anchor bolt casting is done properly.  Let's find out!

In my previous blogs, I have discussed with you various aspects of constructing a Pre-Engineered Steel Building, such as dealing with a PEB vendor and buying coloured steel sheets. In this blog, I am going to discuss with you the engineering behind executing a perfect anchor bolt casting in your PEB to make the building strong and stable.

Let me make the process easy for you and divide the information into two parts namely -

1. The things that you need to prepare before starting the anchor bolt casting

2. How we proceed and you should too with the casting work in your PEB.

Talking about the preparation, you cannot jump into constructing a Pre-Engineered steel building without being prepared with some essential items.

These items are -

1. An anchor bolt casting drawing or a proper layout of the design

2. Two civil persons and one welder  - for on-site execution of the PEB construction

3. Ceiling wire - for measuring the on-site layout accurately.

At Adi Durga Steel we practice the method of Total Station, but it's fairly expensive and not readily available. So we practice it wherever it's possible to do so.

4. Welding machine - for welding the anchor bolt to the civil column as per the anchor bolt drawing so that it remains fixed to its position

5. Steel Measurement tape - to check the dimension of bars and columns of the Pre-Engineered steel building

6. Water level tube - to check the surface equilibrium at all points of the PEB.

7. Shutter covering material - to keep the civil column erect

8. All templates - to fix the civil columns of the PEB.

Now comes the execution work. I have already discussed in my previous blogs that how we at Adi Durga Steel can assist you at all stages of the execution of your PEB construction, starting from selecting the outside agencies to helping you to save on the civil foundation cost.

Now let me tell you how we make sure that the anchor bolt casting in your Pre-Engineered steel building is done properly -

1. Completing the required civil work

At Adi Durga Steel, whenever we undertake a PEB project, we make sure to complete all the civil works, such as footing completion, land backfilling, fixing of beams if any, and so on, before beginning the anchor bolt casting of the civil columns.

2. Keep a standard 3 ft distance from the top of the anchor bolt

The length of anchor bolts determines how much casting should be made to fix them properly. We would suggest you keep a distance of 3 ft from where the mechanical column or the anchor bolt casting begins. You can keep a wider gap if the size of the anchor bolt is larger than that.

3. Layout checking as per anchor bolt drawing and fix the center-to-center measurement

At Adi Durga Steel, we check the layout for all the column locations at the site of construction. This is to make sure that the columns are erected at proper locations and match the anchor bolt drawing. We also check whether the distance between all the columns in your PEB is the same at all locations and also whether the dimensions, that is, the width and length of each civil column are equal.

4. All columns should have rings binding and templates should be placed as per the center-to-center measurements

We suggest you to check whether the civil rings made in the columns are intact and cut to size as per the final height of the civil columns. At Adi Durga Steel, we also make sure that the shutter covering is done from two to three sides depending upon the size of columns and the number of anchor bolts to be fixed to prevent your PEB construction from bending. Also, the templates are placed as per the layout of the anchor bolt drawing and the center-to-center measurements done earlier. The water leveling of templates is done as per the desired height and has the same value throughout the PEB.

Earlier, I have shared a video about the ideal size of the shutter of your PEB shed as per your requirements.

5. Level of TMT bars and placement of anchor bolts in the template

We cut the TMT bars where the base plate is to be placed so that the template can be placed on it and we can continue with the anchor bolt casting. The level of this placement depends upon the size of your PEB construction. There are pre-made holes in the anchor bolts but we, at Adi Durga Steel, recheck it after placing them in templates to make sure that all the anchor bolts are placed as per the dimensions of the anchor bolt drawing.

6. The anchor bolt threads should be above template level

The anchor bolt threads are used to bind the bolt, reposition it and other such purposes. We make sure that the anchor bolt threads are placed above the template so that we can proceed to work with it like setting the position of the column and so on.

7. The anchor bolts should be welded with the civil column bars covered with shutters

The anchor bolts at all positions of the Pre-Engineered steel building are to be welded with the TMT rods in the civil column bars. We do this to fix the anchor bolts and columns to their respective positions. Then we install the shutter (the details of which I have already covered above) and proceed with the casting work.

8. Measurements should be reverified

Post settling of the column and completing the anchor bolt casting in your PEB, we recheck the measurements. This is because vibrations are used to settle down the cement while casting which can cause the columns to bend. There is a tolerance limit up to 5 mm which can be left on all sides on the bend of the column. But if your column has a greater bend, we practice and would suggest you the same, that is to break and rebuild it.

I hope that these points will help you while doing the anchor bolt casting in your Pre-Engineered steel building.

Adi Durga Steel is one of the leading steel manufactures in Eastern India. We have been in the steel industry for the last 30 years and dealing with PEB constructions from the last 10 years. Till date, we have worked on about 250 Pre-Engineered steel building projects in various sectors and gained valuable experience from it. We can help you to build a safe and affordable civil or PEB construction, that would satisfy your structural and aesthetic needs.