Diamond wire sawing for concrete in Cork

Wire sawing is a way of cutting concrete with a loop of steel cable threaded with diamond beads, driven round a set of pulleys so it draws through the section. Euro Concrete uses it on thick walls, bases, columns and large pipes where no blade can reach through or get alongside.

The wire is fed through holes cored at the corners of the cut, or wrapped around a free-standing element such as a pier or a pipe, and joined into a loop. A drive unit pulls the loop at speed and keeps it tight as the cut advances, while water runs onto the wire to cool it and carry the cuttings away. Because the wire bends to follow its path, the depth of cut is limited only by the length of wire, and awkward shapes are possible. It cuts the steel with the concrete, and the cut faces come out flat. Large sections are cut into blocks sized for the crane or machine lifting them out.

Euro Concrete matches the method to the thickness. A blade saw cuts to a depth set by the size of its blade, so a floor saw or a wall saw handles anything its blade can reach. Beyond that, a diamond wire saw takes over, because the wire loops around the section and has no blade depth to limit it.

A blade saw cuts from one side, or from both sides of a wall to double its reach, and each pass takes the blade a little deeper. On a thick base, a column or a heavily reinforced wall, the wire saw is the practical choice, since its depth is set by the length of wire threaded around the section. Core holes drilled through the concrete give the wire its path. Thickness is one of the questions Sean asks when you ring, alongside the material, the amount of steel and the access, because together they decide the method and the time on site.

Wet cutting is better for concrete, and Euro Concrete runs every saw, wire saw and core drill with water. The water cools the diamonds so they keep cutting cleanly, and it captures the fine dust at the cut instead of letting it into the air, where it can be breathed in.

Concrete, block and stone contain crystalline silica, and the fine dust from cutting them is a recognised hazard to the lungs, which is why dust control comes first on any cutting job. Dry cutting also overheats the diamond segments, glazing them so they stop cutting, or damaging the blade or wire outright. Wet cutting has its own work to plan: the water becomes slurry, a grey paste of fine cuttings that must not run into drains, onto finished floors or into watercourses. On an open site it is channelled and collected; inside a building it is contained and collected as the cut goes. Dry cutting with a vacuum shroud suits small hand-held jobs, not structural cutting.

A diamond wire saw is made of a multi-strand steel cable threaded with small diamond beads, held apart by springs or a moulded rubber or plastic coating, and driven by a powered drive unit with guide pulleys. Euro Concrete uses this kind of wire to cut reinforced concrete and masonry.

Each bead is a steel sleeve with diamond grit bonded to its outside, either sintered into a metal matrix or electroplated on. The beads do the cutting as the loop runs, and the spacing between them lets the wire flex around the pulleys and the corners of a cut. Beads are made for the material, so a wire for heavily reinforced concrete differs from one for stone. The drive unit pulls the wire and takes up the slack as the cut advances, and the pulleys steer it along the line and keep it clear of anything that should not be cut. The wire wears with use and is replaced once the beads are spent.

Euro Concrete prices wire sawing by the job, on the area of concrete to be cut, the amount of reinforcement, how many separate cuts there are and how the pieces will be lifted out. Ring Sean on 086 881 9848 with the size and thickness of the section, or send drawings, and we will price the cutting.

The wire cuts through the face of a section at a steady rate, so the square metres of cut face drive the time more than anything else, and dense steel slows it down. Each cut needs setting up before it starts: holes cored to thread the wire, the drive unit and pulleys fixed, and water brought to the cut. Several cuts on the same visit share that set-up. Lifting counts for a lot: a block cut free by wire can weigh tonnes and needs a crane, a telehandler or a demolition machine to break it smaller. Tight access or cutting at height adds time as well.

Yes. Euro Concrete Services does wire sawing throughout County Cork, out of its Cork city and Skibbereen bases, on construction sites, civil works, farms and commercial buildings. Ring Sean on 086 881 9848 with the site location and the dimensions of the section, and he will tell you when the wire saw and the coring kit can be on site.

The wire saw travels to any part of the county, whether the job is in the city centre, around Cobh and Carrigaline, inland at Mallow or Macroom, or down in Skibbereen and Schull. A wire cut needs cored holes to start from and a way to lift the pieces once they are free, so tell us what lifting equipment is on site, or whether we should allow for it, when you ring. Room around the section for the drive unit and the pulleys matters too.