The Federation of Piling Specialists (FPS) has published a Technical Note on “Corrosion of Pile Reinforcement Cage.”

The Technical Note discusses the recent trend in some infrastructure projects where clients are requesting or querying that the extended bars, which extend below the base of the required reinforcement cage to level and act as temporary support to stop the cage descending too far into the concreted pile, should be protected against corrosion.

This trend is despite not noted in the ICE Specification for Piling and Embedded Retaining Walls, or the Specification for Highway Works Series 1600 Piling and Embedding Retaining Walls, as being required.

The note explains why corrosion protection is not necessary, with reasons given, as well as the numerous references that support this view.

The fully referenced document provides all the information necessary to answer requests for corrosion protection.

The guidance note can be found here: https://www.fps.org.uk/content/uploads/2021/11/FPS-Guidance-Note-on-Corrosion-of-Pile-Reinforcement-Cage.pdf