Concrete wire cutting in Ballarat and Melbourne
Concrete Wire Cutting
Wire cutting delivers precise, accurate cuts and leaves surfaces smooth and clean on completion, through material nothing else will touch.
Diamond wire cutting, or wire sawing, uses a metal cable with synthetic diamonds set into beads spaced at regular intervals along it. The beads sit at around 11 mm, slightly wider than the wire itself, and it's the diamonds within those beads that do the cutting.
The wire is threaded through a series of pulleys, positioned to establish the exact cut line, and joined into a continuous loop. Driven by a hydraulic or hi-frequency electric power pack, the wire is tensioned and pulled through the pulley network and along the target material. As the beads are drawn under pressure, the material is cut. The process continues, with the wire kept under tension and continually tightened, until the cut is complete.
The length of wire depends on the size of the object. It can exceed 50 metres and beyond. Where access to all sides isn't available, small feed holes are drilled so the wire can be fed through and around the material.
Advantages of wire cutting
Wire cutting produces precise, accurate cuts and leaves smooth, clean surfaces. No further surface preparation is needed afterwards because of the finish achieved during the cut itself.
It can cut in any direction: along walls, across floors, and inverted. Wire saws can also produce virtually any shape or size within the structure being cut, including circular penetrations of differing sizes.
Wire will cut through virtually any material, from very thick concrete, masonry or stone, to heavily reinforced concrete and solid steel structures including concrete-encased steel pipes.
It's extremely flexible and versatile, which makes it a genuine solution for cutting underwater or in awkward, hard to reach locations.
Applications
- Cutting very large, thick sections of concrete such as piers, dams, power stations and manufacturing plants
- Cost effective removal of heavily reinforced sections such as bridge sections, machine bases and concrete-encased steel pipes
- Underwater cutting and other restricted or difficult work environments
- Objects simply too large for any other concrete cutting equipment
Is there a depth limit?
No. Wire cutting has no practical limit on depth of cut, which is exactly why it exists. It's ideal for removing large solid sections where other equipment either can't reach or can't achieve the width or depth required. Wall sawing can reach up to around 1000 mm; past that, the wire saw takes over and cuts significantly deeper.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a depth limit with wire cutting?
No. Wire cutting has no practical limit on depth, which is exactly why it exists. Wall sawing reaches around 1000 mm; past that the wire saw takes over and cuts significantly deeper.
Can wire sawing cut steel?
Yes. Diamond wire cuts through heavily reinforced concrete and solid steel structures, including concrete-encased steel pipes, which is why it gets used on bridge and plant demolition.
Can you cut underwater?
Wire sawing is one of the few methods that works underwater, which makes it suitable for piers, dam structures and other submerged or difficult environments.
What if we can't get to all sides of the section?
We drill small feed holes so the wire can be threaded through and around the material, then set the pulleys to establish the exact cut line.
Working somewhere awkward? Send a photo and a rough measurement. We'll tell you which method suits, what access we need and what it'll cost, usually the same day.
Related concrete cutting services
Concrete Wire Cutting is available throughout Ballarat, Ballan, Bacchus Marsh, Melton, Melbourne and right across Western Victoria. Request a quote or call 0432 089 194.
Let's cut through it.
Send through your drawings or a photo of the job and we'll come back with a fixed price and a date.