Guidelines for Handling Strand Coils

Important Information

Video - Coil Handling Information

Video - How to Load a Dispenser

MPA Precast - Code of Practice for Safe Stressing of Prestressed Concrete Products

Storage

We recommend that strand coils are stored inside in a well ventilated area to prevent corrosion and rust. You can store the coils outside and most of our customers do this, but steel is steel and it will rust and so you should make sure you have a good stock rotation system in place so that the steel is used quickly. A little rust won't hurt but excessive rusting should be avoided. Coils must be stored on a firm flat and well drained floor. Two coils can be stacked on top of each other but make sure that they are balanced and secure.

Strap Removal

The coil should be carefully turned over so it is ‘eye to the side’. The outside wrapping and skids can then be removed but do not take off any of the straps inside the wrapping. The strand is wound under a lot of tension and if the inside straps are cut the coil will collapse and the steel with go everywhere! The straps that hold the coil in place should never be cut with a circular saw or an angle grinder. They can easily damage the surface of the steel and this can cause the steel to fail in use. Also never use an acetylene torch to cut off the straps as the heat will change the metallurgical properties of the steel and can cause the strand to fail in use. Always use a specially designed strap cutter or ‘tin snips’ to cut the straps. Once the coil has been
loaded into the dispenser the right way round you can then remove the rest of the strapping. But before you do so check again that the coil has been loaded into the dispenser the right way round - remember the arrow must point to the front and in the direction you will be pulling the steel!

Strand Decoiling

Before putting the coil into the dispenser look for the arrow on the coil which shows the direction the strand must be pulled. The arrow must always point towards the front of the dispenser! Failure to do so can result in the coil tangling when you are pulling it out.

Left-hand Lay or Right-hand Lay

Most of our strand is left-hand lay; however, if you are not sure you can tell the direction of the lay by looking at the way the strand has been twisted. See picture below.