Pile Driving and Drilling

Pile driving is an important part of constructing foundations, including bridge piers and bents, and embankment walls. So I'm collecting videos and photos of various designs in action.

Roderick Eyres posted the comment: "What's the biggest, longest, and/or deepest pile or drilled shaft you guys have actually been a part of?" There are lots of interesting answers with information about the driver that would require research on my part. For example:
Ryan Lopez Bay Bridge 10' dia. 3" wall 380'+ driven with a Menck 500 and finished with a Menck 1500

Diesel hammer, Pileco D125, 4 liters

Vibration (air or hydro?)

Air, the sound of the air release is almost as obnoxious as the "bang."

Another air

Bonner Bridge

ICE model 32s video   You can hear it ring as well as bang.

Diesel video from the viewpoint of the operator.

Another diesel being held by a CSX rail crane
Paul StCroix Drove a lot of piles in my day esp Alberta with diesel hammer and vibrator hammer. Used drop hammer on the railroad around bridges mostly

Jason Newcomb posted a silent time-lapse of pulling and piling an H-beam. The comments indicate the head vibrates the beam to help the extraction. The Tappan Zee accident (look for pictures of a crumpled red boom) happened while pulling piles. The hydraulic clamps let loose and the boom whiplashed.

Robert Lane posted
Test pile.

Ehis Clement posted
Hot drop ABI impart

George Smith posted
GEOQUIP Orlando, Suppling a GPE D50-32 for a 24" pile job!

Perry Brumm posted
At the end of the day, 24 in and 6 to go. She's running as good as I can hope for. The Unit has been very good to me.
[I put a yellow rectangle around the weight that rides up and down in the guide. I believe this driver is the original design where two cables are used. One is attached to the top of the guide and holds the whole assembly up. The other is attached to the top of the weight. The crane raises the weight and then lets it drop onto the pile cap.  Note the clamshell bucket by the front of the truck and the mechanical boom-inclination meter.]

Eli Rowe posted two photos with the comment: "This was about 5 years ago in Texas."
Sean Stewart Nice looking offshore lead setup, what size hammer is that?
Eli Rowe Not sure the exact size but when it hit on fuel setting 3 it hit with 750000lbs per sq in.
Sean Stewart Is that a concrete pile!? Or is it the colors of the images messing with my eyes.
Eli Rowe Concrete 52in 1000lbs a ft that one was 179ft long.

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Eli Rowe posted three photos as comments.

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Screenshot (source)

Dennis Dorton posted two photos with the comment: "4100 ringer with 4100 deries2 tailing 185 foot 96 inch3 inch wall test pile 2000 pounds per foot driving with menck hammer."

Francisco Van de Minkelis I guess is near the Max capacity.

Noel Smith Yep ! That's my next Rig next month on a Kentucky dam job it will be on a ring on a barge love a 4100!!r

Ryan Lopez I been on the deck of that ol' leaner! Good rig in desperate need of a bigger barge under her though.

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Tyler James posted
Trump Tower
[Note that the three cranes in the foreground have attachments to turn augur drills, and the red crane in the background is lowering a caisson pipe into an already drilled hose. I assume the little crane by the river's edge off loads small things like those "white boxes" of of barges.]

Nikki An John posted this photo and a video
R.I work in Milton FL
[Unfortunately, I don't know what "R.I" work is. That is one of the reasons this is in DLD Reference instead of Industrial History.]

Shawn Kennedy posted
60's in Madison
Ehis Clement ABI TELESCOPIC LEADER BEST AND POWERFUL
Jason Irwin Sweet pic. Is that 24"
Shawn Kennedy Nah just a 16"
Jason Irwin How much auger? 60'? Doesn't it wobble real bad?
Shawn Kennedy 63' overall- A three piece auger.... with the bottom 3' being an interchangeable starter..... have to drill in low speed, high speed it wobbles real bad until you get enough in the ground.

Bob van Laar posted three photos with the comment: "Big job at Muiden the Netherlands."

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Rob McGrady posted
My 1977 Manitowoc 4100W with Birminghammer leads and Junttan hammer.... Bayonne Bridge in the background
Ben Stalvey Really sucks places like New York ect they won't let you run a old friction 4100 anymoreRob McGrady Yeah, still can in jersey.... for nowJeremy Beaird They can't keep the hydros out of trouble. 4100 conversions in the near future hopefully a great crane needs to keep living.Doug Sparkes American crane, Finnish hammer & power-pack, Canadian leads & kicker. Just a model of cooperation lol. Nice setup.

[Some comments about the number of lines that I don't understand.]

Perry Brumm posted
Installing H Beams as part of an underpinning job in Arlington Heights Illinois in 2006. All-American Foundation from Roselle Illinois was the prime contractor. My Unit 1020A with 4500 lb drop hammer.
[I wish the picture was better. I was getting the impression no one still drove piles by dropping a weight over and over onto the top of the pile. It is an interesting factoid that the weight was over 2 ton.]

Perry Brumm posted
Pounding the old school way. Driving HP 10X42 Soldier Beams for a retaining wall. 4500 lb drop hammer!
Todd Wise Koering ?Perry Brumm Yes, a 330 Sprawler. Factory third drum, heavy lift counterweight and swing out outriggers make for a very good small pile machine.David Waller Good looking machine. Most people don’t realize the capability of these smaller machines with a good operator in the seat.Todd Wise nothing like the feeling of friction brakes, can almost smell the clutches !

Sebastien Rheaume commented on the above posting
Leo Jones Damn yellow link belt

A video of using a 9000 lb drop hammer because their diesel hammer is broke and waiting for parts. After the hammer hits the pile with a "thunk," the pile rings.

Dennis Gigoux posted
Year :2000 Manteo, NC. ICE model 205S diesel pile hammer 30in concrete pile. Balfor Beaty

Dennis Gigoux posted
Brief job description with equipment Carousel Mall expansion, Syracuse,NY

One of four images posted by Dennis Gigoux

Hammer of the day Mitsubishi Diesel

It was in 1983 when I was sent to ICE's Houston Branch to be instructed on a water-cooled diesel hammer. Wow, from Double-acting to water cooled diesel pile hammers. Apparently the Houston branch had run up against too many hard pile jobs where the double acting hammers were just acting up. I met George Smith, Joe Wright, Jim Godwin and Hubert Minot. These men would end up being my go-to guys for the next several years as well as everyone else in the South, West & points beyond. Not only did they give me the technical know-how to start up these hammers on a job;they showed me how attitude could help things go right. I never did learn as much about pile driving as any one of them, but I did fake their swagger for a few years.

A video that captures the noise and exhaust with the comment: "Delmag D-19 on an ABI TM-20" When something is that monotonous, pan up and down so that we can see the "big picture" even though it is backlit. (source) The following comment on this posting indicates the ABI TM-20 is the vertical structure holding the hammer and pile and Delmag D-19 is the diesel hammer.

ICE 30S on ABI mast on excavator

Bab Van Laar posted four photos with the comment: "Big toys for big boys."

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[I've come to recognized that head as a vibration head. Note the hydraulic hoses that go to it to provide power.]

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Francisco Van De Minkelis commented on the above posting
It works good for Combinated quai walls , first vibrating tubes with 2 welded sleetpile locks in a template , later hammering the tubes to level and afterwards sheetpiles between the tubes with a vibro ( in the leads) and if necessary hammering the sheets also.

Francisco Van De Minkelis commented on his comment
Example. . .

From my small sampling of photos that I've seen, pile driving seems to be second to windmill farms in terms of causing crane accidents in America.

Sean Stewart posted, cropped
Found in another group. Happened in Tampa Florida today. Apparently the operator was airlifted out with life threatening injuries.
[The comments indicate it was being held with the jaws of a vibro hammer. But there should have been a line from a second hoist wrapped around the pile as a saftey line.]

Sean Stewart commented on his posting, cropped

Adrian Schexnayder posted three images. [The comments indicate the operator did die. And comments about low budgets and tight schedules being no excuse to not have a "safety choker" on the pile.]

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The history of pile driving from Vulcan's perspective. Robert MacKenna Used Vulcan & McKiernan-Terry hammers all my working days in NYC--today seeing the use of hydraulic hammers--principally the Junttan ( from Finland ) Another product we ceded to a foreign country to make to be sent into this Country-- they even produce a fine machine to handle it. (posting)

Screenshot at -0:10

I've heard of drop hammer, diesel hammer, and vibro hammer. This looks like another invention.

Maxwell Smith posted
Jetting pile for the St. Pete Pier
Robert MacKenna Internal jet?
[Is this the location?]
Maxwell Smith It's a two-leg water jet

One of two photos posted by Kerst De Jong
Vergona's 888 in NYC yesterday.
[The yellow thing hold the diesel engine that turns the augur shaft. We can see another section of the 3 or 4 foot shield that will be added. I don't know why there is a fire hose going up the boom.]

(new window) From an article about "pile jetting." Basically, the water injected at the end of the pile turns the soil under the pile into quicksand.

Finally, a video of an old fashioned raise-a-weight-and-drop-it driving.

And just a day later, I see another video of weight dropping. But this one is in slow motion.

Another drop-hammer video. Note at -0:11 that he has to use is left leg also.
Sean StewartGroup Admin 1964 American 595BC, doesn't get much older than this machine! Still going strong.
David Starkey Drove many a pile with one of those,got the knees to prove it..lol

Brad Scott commented on Sean's posting
Drop hammer is what I learned on and this old girl. 70’s model 318 link belt!!! Driver batter pipe for mooring piles.
[Comments indicate that you could drop from 10' high. But higher is not always faster because of the slower cycle time.]

TransMoutain
Innovative Shrouds will Reduce Pile Driving Noise

Jerry Evans posted
2250 getting it done. Finally running great.
Lynn Blackstock That old girl is reaching out there with that hammer. 2250 is a strong crane.Francisco Van de Minkelis I guess 20 ton for the hammer at 20 meters ??Jerry Evans Out there about 100 feet.Francisco Van de Minkelis WoW , The operator needs good eyes to put the hammer on that pile whitout touching.Jerry Evans South Capital Street Bridge over the Anacostia
[Comments include a video of the hydro hammer in action.]CaptBill VanVoorhis Hydro Hammers- just as clean when they leave the job as they are when they arrive - love em !

Video of a steam powered driver

Photos and videos of a hydraulic powered hammer

A description of pile driving equipment with 19 photos.