British engineer Alex Cartwright had just three months to convert paper designs of a new-generation, column-plunging frame into a working tool for the foundations of London’s 310-meter-tall Shard, which will be Europe’s tallest building. Stressful weeks spent detailing and procuring two of the novel frames paid off: The sophisticated equipment accurately placed huge underground steel columns to support the Shard core’s top-down construction, helping to trim months from the project schedule.

Last year, Shard piling subcontractor Stent Foundations Ltd., Basingstoke, used the frames to lower steel columns through cased boreholes, with sections up to 60 cm x 60 cm, into wet concrete of pile tops some 15 m below the surface.