Hot Rolled Sheet Piling vs. Cold Rolled Sheet Piling

One of the oldest debates in the Heavy-Civil and Marine Construction industries has been the use of Hot Rolled Sheet Piling or Cold Formed Sheet Pile. Hot Rolled Sheet Piling typically have a ball and socket or larssen type interlock while Cold Rolled Sheet Pile have a bent plate type interlock. Each type of Sheet Pile offers advantages depending on your application. Here’s our list of the advantages of each type of sheet pile:

Hot Rolled Sheet Piling Advantages

• Interlocks Are More Durable

The interlocks on hot rolled sheet piling are more durable than cold formed sheet piling. This allows for driving and pulling the sheet pile multiple times before the interlocks are worn out.

• Better Suited For Hard Driving

Hot Rolled Sheet Piling have tighter and thicker interlocks than cold formed sheet piling. These interlocks have greater steel thickness than cold formed sheet piling and can handle the driving stresses of tough ground conditions. Due to the loose interlocks of cold formed sheet piling, they are not recommended in extremely hard driving conditions.

• Higher Recycled Steel Content

LEED requirements sometimes dictate the use of recycled materials. Hot Rolled Sheet Piling have almost 100% recycled content while Cold Formed Sheet Piling typically consist of 70% recycled material.

• More Water-Tight

Hot Rolled Sheet Piling perform better in seepage tests than cold formed sheet piling. This is because the hot rolled sheet piling interlocks have more and tighter points-of-contact when driven. Also, hot rolled sheet piling are produced from forged steel at very high temperatures which makes the interlocks tighter. However, both types of sheet pile interlocks tighten up over time as sediment builds up in the interlocks. Additionally, sealants can be added to both hot rolled sheet piling and cold formed sheet pile to increase water-tightness.

Cold Formed Sheet Pile Advantages

• More Readily Available

Cold Formed Sheet Piling are produced by more mills than hot rolled sheet piling. This increases the number of rolling dates to choose from. Typically cold formed sheet piling can be available within 2 weeks from the time ordered.

• Cost Effective

Due to cheaper manufacturing costs, cold formed sheet piling are 30% to 40% more economical than equivalent hot rolled sheet piling.

• Cheaper Transportation

Since there are more cold formed sheet pile manufacturers, there is a better chance that a mill will be located closer to your job than if you were to purchase hot rolled sheet piling. In addition, there are a larger variety of cold formed sheet pile sizes, allowing you to get a sheet pile with a section modulus closer to your design without having a substantial increase in weight.

• More Flexibility In Positioning Sheets

Cold formed interlocks allow the sheet pile to be rotated up to 25 degrees instead of the 7 to 10 degree rotation allowed with the ball and socket interlock. This can eliminate the need for expensive extruded pile connectors to round corners.

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