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BBR GROUND ANCHOR

1 Introducing the BBR Ground Anchors
2 Typical Applications of Ground Anchors
3 Definition of Prestressed Ground Anchors
4 Categories Of Ground Anchors
5 BBR CONA: Table of Strands for Ground Anchors
6 BBR CONA:Temporary Ground Anchors
7 BBR CONA:Permanent Ground Anchors
8 BBR CONA:Different types of Ground Anchors
9 Ground Anchors With Bars
10 Typical Field of Ground Anchors
11 Corrosion Protection of Ground Anchors
INTRODUCING THE BBR GROUND ANCHORS
An early application of the prestressing technique was in civil engineering, to anchor structures into the ground or to stabilize
slopes. The first BBR prestressed ground anchors were used in 1951 to anchor the walls of the underground machine room for
the Maggia power station Verbano in Switzerland. Since then the application of BBR ground anchors has increasingly spread
throughout the world and is nowadays widely used. The technique, materials and procedures have also become more
sophisticated and versatile and are providing consultants and contractors with safe and economical solutions.

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Typical applications of ground anchors:

The most common application of ground anchors is for excavations where
shoring is not desired due to economical or space considerations. They may be
used in conjunction with sheet piling, slurry or pile walls, prefabricated elements
etc. Often these tiebacks are temporary but may also be an integral part of the
final structure and designed for permanent use. Ground anchors also permit
vertical excavation close to existing structures and serve to reduce settlements
to a minimum.

Stabilization of unstable slopes or man made cuts by actively exercising a force on the endangered zone of the ground,
counteracting possible movements. Reducing retaining wall foundations by use of tieback cables. Securing structures below
groundwater level against buoyancy (temporary during construction or permanent). Anchoring of concentrated tensile forces as fo
cableways, bridge abutments and other structures. Abutment of Soil arch bridge, Switzerland. BBR CONA ground anchors as
tiebacks for temporary stays.

Definition of prestressed ground anchors

The basic function of ground anchors consists of transmitting tensile forces into the ground by means of:

• The anchor head, holding the tendon under tension and transmitting the force into the structure.

• The fixed anchor length (lv), the part of the tendon over which the force is transmitted into the ground through the bond betwee
the prestressing steel, the grout and the soil. It is also called the bonded length and its length is usually determined by the
consultant

• The free anchor length (Ifr), the part over which the tendon can elastically elongate and is therefore also called the unbonded
length. To guarantee a free elongation this length should not be smaller than 5m.

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Tension or dead anchors also refered to as soil nails or rock bolts are only partially
stressed and considerable changes of tensile force and strain are permissible.
Prestressed ground anchors are stressed to the full service load so that only small
changes in the presstressing force is possible. The advantage of prestressed
ground anchors can be summarized as follows:

• Control over force and displacement For values of external loads P smaller than
the prestressing force V, the displacement of the anchor (and thus for the structure
to be anchored) is very small and limited by the compressibility of the ground.
Therefore the anchor force remains practically constant for the service load range.

• Predictability of anchor behaviour During prestressing the ground and the structural elements to be anchored will normally
be subject to loads exceeding the service conditions. Ground, structures and anchor components are thus tested and any
deficiencies can be discovered and rectified at an early stage during construction. The main application of soil nails is to
reinforce slopes and steep excavations. They are passive members, since they are usually unstressed and their tensile capacity
is activated by the nominal movement of the soil. Because their main function is to stabilise the soil mass, as opposed to
prestressed ground anchors which hold the soil mass in place, they are installed at a much greater density. Soil nails often
consist of steel bars grouted over the entire length, using similar installation procedures as for ground anchors

The different categories of ground anchors

By the anchorage zone: Ground anchors are often referred to as soil, alluvium or rock anchors, corresponding to the ground in
which the fixed length is anchored. Although the same anchors may be used for different soil conditions, the bore hole preparatio
grouting procedure and its corresponding parts of the anchors may differ. For cohesive soils as for example clays and silts the
anchor may be equipped with post grouting pipes through which additional grout is injected at high pressure which cracks the
primary grout and consolidates the soil surrounding it.
By classes: Depending on the country of application, ground anchors are classified according to their service live, corrosion
protection requirements, risk, assessment of magnitude and consequences of failure, as well as cost. The classification serves to
determine the appropriate corrosion protection and the safety factor.

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By Material of Tendon:

• Strands Tendons made up of seven wire strands anchored with wedges.

These tendons have become the most popular choice for ground anchors
especially for long and high capacity anchors allowing the free choice of the
anchor length.

• Wires Tendon made up of single/ mm wire anchored with cold formed

button heads on the wires. This anchor type is used for special applications
usually in rock where monitoring and fine tuning of the anchor force may be
required.

• Bars Tendons made up of bars and anchored with nuts. For short and low
capacity anchors (up to 6 m and 400 kN) these tendons are often chosen fo
their ease of installation.

• Carbon fibres tendons made of carbon fibre reinforced polymer wires

anchored in a composite of ceramics and epoxy. A new technology under
development which has its advantages in the high capacity and the non
corroding material.
By application:

• Permanent ground anchors Permanent ground anchors have to guarantee their function during the lifetime of the structures to b
anchored. Therefore, they have to fulfill the specific project requirements with respect to failure and corrosion protection and thus
require special design and supervision measures.

• Temporary ground anchors Prestressed anchors which have to fulfill their function only for a limited time, in general, up to 2-3
years are considered temporary anchors. Typical applications are retaining of walls during excavation, holdbacks of temporary sta
structures etc. Temporary anchors in corrosive environments may require additional corrosion protection, similar to permanent
anchors.

• Test anchors Test anchors are specially design anchors subject to extensive tests in order to obtain, either comprehensive
information on anchor capacity and geotechnical conditions, or to prove the quality and adequacy of design, materials and
construction.

• Control anchors Control anchors are anchors in or beside the structure used for long term observation. They are often equipped
with devices which monitor the variation of forces and displacements.

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BBR CONA SOL: Table of strands for ground anchors

STRANDS 0.5”, u.t.s. 1860 N/mm2, 100 mm2 STRANDS 0.6'', u.t.s. 1860 N/mm2, 150 mm

number anchor strand ultimate stressing weight Number anchor strand ultimate Stressing
area of area
of type force force at of type force force at
of strand of
strands BBR tendon u.t.s. 0.8 u.t.s. bundle strands BBR tendon u.t.s. 0.8 u.t.s.
mm2 kN kN kg/m’ mm2 kN kN
1 CS105 100 186 149 0.79 1 CS 106 150 279 223
2 200 372 298 1 57 2 300 558 446
3 CC405 300 558 446 2.35 3 CC 406 450 837 670
4 400 744 595 3.14 4 600 1116 893
5 500 930 744 3.93 5 750 1395 1116
6 CC705 600 1116 893 4.71 6 CC 706 9000 1674 1339
7 700 1302 1042 5.50 1050 1953 1562
8 800 1488 1190 6.28. 8 1200 2232 1786
9 900 1674 1339 7.07 9 1350 2511 2009
10 CC1205 1000 1860 1488 7.85 10 CC1206 1500 2790 2232
11 1100 2046 1637 8.63 11 1650 3069 2455
12 1200 2232 1786 9.42 12 1800 3348 2678
13 1300 2418 1934 10.21 13 1950 3627 2902
14 1400 2604 2083 10.99 14 2100 3906 3125
15 CC1905 1500 2790 2232 11.78 15 CC1906 2250 4185 3348
16 1600 2976 2381 12.56 16 2400 4464 3571
17 1700 3162 2530 13 35 17 2550 4743 3794
18 1800 3348 2678 14.13 18 2700 5022 4018
19 1900 3534 2827 14.92 19 2850 5301 4241
20 2000 3720 2976 15.70 20 3000 5580 4464
21 2100 3906 3125 16.48 21 3150 5859 4687
22 2200 4092 3274 17.27 22 3300 6138 4910
23 2300 4278 3422 18.05 23 3450 6417 5134
24 CC3105 2400 4464 3571 18 84 24 CC3106 3600 6696 5357
25 2500 4650 3720 19.63 25 3750 6975 5580
26 2600 4836 3869 20.41 26 3900 7254 5803
27 2700 5022 4018 21.20 27 4050 7533 6026
28 2800 5208 4166 21.98 28 4200 7812 6250
29 2900 5394 4315 22.77 29 4350 8091 6473
30 3000 5580 4464 23.55 30 4500 8370 6696
Notes: -Bold lines are fully used anchors with one hole used for grouting pipes -For more details about strands and tendons refer
BBR CONA COMPACT brochure -Larger anchors up to 54 0.6” strands and special design upon request

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BBR CONA SOL: Temporary ground anchors

Temporary ground anchors are designed for a service life of maximum two to three years. This is why
corrosion protection requirements are less stringent than for permanent ground anchors and
prestressability of temporary ground anchors is of lesser importance. Therefore, temporary ground anchors
are normally not encased in a PE duct. In the free length the individual prestressing strands are usually PE
sheathed even when the hole is not filled with grout.

Temporary anchor, specification for 0.5'' strands

numberof bearing trumpet formwork recess strandbundle bore
plate internal holemin

strands a/amm dia. c/cmm dmm max sizemm* emm

Bmm
3 140 65 200 120 50 65
6 175 77 230 140 60 75
11 220 109 270 140 75 90
18 270 138 340 150 85 100
30 345 178 420 165 95 110
Temporary anchor, specification for 0.6'' strands
3 175 77 230 140 60 75
6 220 109 270 140 70 85
11 270 138 340 150 85 100
18 345 178 420 165 105 120
30 440 222 460 185 *** ***

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BBR CONA SOL: Permanent ground anchors

Typically, BBR CONA permanent ground anchors are entirely encased in PE ducts, which are smooth in the free length
and corrugated in the bond length for the transfer of forces. The strands in the free length are greased and PE
sheathed individually. The void between the borehole and the PE duct as well as the interior of the duct is injected with
cement grout from the bottom to the top. Such anchors can be force monitored and may be restressable at all times.
Permanent anchor, specification for 0.5'' strands

Bore
number bearing trumpet form strand
recess hole
of plate internal work bundle
min
max
a/a dia. b c/c d e
strands size
mm mm* mm mm mm**
mm*
3 140 65 200 120 60 100
6 175 77 230 140 70 110
11 220 109 270 140 90 130
18 270 138 340 150 100 140
30 345 178 420 165 115 155
Permanent anchor, specification for 0.6'' strands
3 175 77 230 140 70 110
6 220 109 270 140 80 120
11 270 138 340 150 100 140
18 345 178 420 165 125 165
30 440 222 460 185 *** ***
*diameter for tendon without centralizer and ext. grout pipes

**appro. size with centralizer and external grout pipes

IBBR CONA SOL: The different types of ground anchors

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Standard anchor This anchor uses the standard BBR CONA anchor head. It permanently locks the strands. The strand ends ar
cut off and the anchor can therefore not be adjusted nor re-or destressed.

Control anchor This anchor has a threaded anchor head to which a stressing sleeve can be attached and is used to check the
anchor force and to restress the anchor.

Adjustable anchor This anchor is also equipped with a threaded anchor head and has additional shims underneath. This type is
used to check or restress as well as to destress the anchor completely.

Force monitoring anchor This anchor is basically a control anchor but is additionally equipped with a force measuring device. Thi
device can be linked to a remote control station for permanent monitoring.

BBRV: Permanent ground anchor with single wires

The BBRV permanent ground anchors consist at high tensile steel wires which are positively anchored by means of cold formed
button heads. Ground anchors with up to 132 dia. 7 mm wires with about 9000 kN u.t.s have been installed. The main advantage
of wire ground anchors is that the force is transmitted through the end anchor at the end of the fixed length. The positive anchorin
of the wire also allows for fine tuning of the force.

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Permanent anchor, specification 7 mm wires

number of bearing trumpet form Recess d wire bundle bore hole

wires plate a/a internal dia, work max size min e mm*
b mm* c/c mm mm mm*
mm

7 140 80 180 105 66

12 175 94 215 130 76
20 210 124 250 160 86
32 260 144 300 180 101
42 300 169 340 200 101
52 335 186 375 215 116
62 365 203 405 235 131
82 380 134 440 dem 131
102 430 154 490 dem 150

Table of wires dia 7 mm, u.t.s. 1670 N/mm2

Number of anchor wire area of ultimate force Stressing Stressing

wires type tendon force at 0.75 force at 0.8
mm2 kN u.t.s. kN u.t.s. kN
BBR

7 G7 269 450 340 360

12 G12 462 770 580 620
20 G20 770 1290 960 1030
32 G32 1232 2060 1540 1650
42 G42 1616 2700 2020 2160
52 G52 2001 3340 2510 2670
G62 2386 3980 2990 3190

62
82 G82 3156 5270 3950 4220
102 G102 3925 6550 4920 5240

Ground anchors with bars

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The usual bar ground anchor consists of a single bar dia. 20 - 50 mm with a continuous coarse thread. Where as the high strengt
prestressing bars are mostly used for prestressed ground anchors, the normal rebar strength bars are commonly used for soil
nails. The advantage of bars is that for short and lower capacity anchors they are easy to install and the continuous thread makes
them length independent. On the other hand, for long ground anchors the bars have to be coupled and the insertion of straight
bars become cumbersome, especially on steep hillside or scaffolds, Therefore, bar ground anchors are more commonly used for
temporary applications than for permanent.
Permanent ground anchor Temporary ground anchor with coupler

Typical field testing of ground anchors

This testing is normally carried out on every ground

anchor installed under a contract. A typical test procedure
would be as follows:

• Starting from an initial jack load P0, increase load

gradually to P1 where P1 – P0 is roughly a third of the
maximum proof load Pp intended. Note total displacement
of anchor head d1l. Observe jack load readings under this
constant displacement for 5 to15 minutes depending on
ground type. Release jack load gradually to P0. Note
residual displacements d1lpl of anchor head.

• Repeat above procedure for load P2, where P2 - P1 is

also roughly a third of the maximum proof load. Note
anchor head displacement d2l and d2Ipl.

• Repeat procedure for maximum proof load Pp. Note

anchor head displacements dpl and dplpl. • If test is

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successful, apply load V0 to anchor.

The sketches above show a typical method employed for recording the test observations. The test is considered successful when

• certain specified maximum values of plastic deformations dpIpl are not exceeded, and

• when the effective free length of the anchor as detemined from the elastic displacement is not larger than the theoretical free
anchor length If plus half the bonded anchor length lb. In the sketches above the upper limit lu corresponds to an effective free
anchor length If + and the lower limit line IL, to an effective free anchor length 0.9 If.

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