Releaseable steel cable anchor and method for withdrawing the same

Abstract

A releaseable steel cable anchor comprises a steel cable assembly encased within a thermoplastic resin which bonds the cable assembly to an anchor body embedded within the ground. Typically, the cable assembly is buried in a hole filled with a hardening material such as cement or mortar, which forms the anchor body. Either electrical heating wire or an elongated receptacle to receive a combustible material is provided along substantially the entire length of the resin encasing the cable assembly in order to melt and/or combust the resin material encasing the steel cables, whereupon the steel cables may be readily withdrawn from the anchor assembly. A method for withdrawing the steel cable anchor from its embedded position in the ground comprises the steps of debonding, by melting or combustion, the encasing thermoplastic resin by either igniting a combustible material disposed within or adjacent the resin, or by passing electrical energy through a heating wire disposed along substantially the entire length of the encasing resin. A withdrawing force is then applied to the cable.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.