The app, which is available now for download from the Apple Store, has been produced in-house and designed with the engineering and construction professionals in mind, taking the user intuitively through the process of pile design, to easily estimate dimensions of rotary bored or continuous flight auger (CFA) piles.

From a drop down-style menu, users simply select piling details (piling method, pile diameter and maximum drilling length), profile details (ground level, pile cut-off level and groundwater), soil layer thickness (made ground, river terrace deposits, London Clay formation) and London Clay undrained shear strength profile and L.C. Pile then does the calculations to produce estimated pile dimensions.

"L.C. Pile is just the first of a number of free specialist geotechnical apps that A-squared Studio will be launching," said Tony Suckling, co-founder and director of A-squared Studio, "and this has application in a number of situations, allowing, for example, project-specific questions regarding possible pile sizes and load capacities to be made fast and accurately."

The L.C. Pile app is available initially on the iOS platform, although plans are in place to extend this to other platforms as demand grows and new apps are added to the portfolio.