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Your First Stop for Piledriving Technology News

Nicholson Construction’s Midwest DIstrict Office Superintendent Isaac Parker went APE when he found out his company was awarded the Van Andel Institute job in Grand Rapids, MI. The job consistes of 20 inch diameter holes for a soldier pile lagging wall. The 600 holes vary from 23 feet to 43 feet in depth.

APE Northeast was recently contacted by Helen Godzic of Marcellus, NY. She was involved in a project in Syracuse where they were trying to determine if the driven pile foundation of a 3 story parking garage built in Syracuse at the end of the 1950’s could handle the additional load of the 2 story vertical expansion that the property owner wanted to build.

One of the problems faced in trying to determine pile capacity in an active parking garage was that the testing would have to be carried out on the ground floor of a parking garage that had only 10ft of headroom. Could testing be done in this confined space?

After ruling out a static load test because of cost, GRL was consulted and it was determined that dynamically testing the piles was the best alternative, if a suitable hammer could be procured. This was when APE was contacted, and we came up with a combination of our 7.5 Hydraulic Impact Hammer, mounted in one of our forklift adapters.

It was determined that 1 pile in two pile caps on opposite sides of the garage would be exposed. The piles were mandrell-driven shell piles filled with rebar and concrete. The tops of the piles were about 5 feet below grade, so the contractor built a follower that consisted of a bonnet that sat on top of the pipe, transitioning to an h-pile. Using a 16,000 lb forklift, the 7.5 was positioned onto the h-pile follower, and the test was carried out, producing results better than anyone could have anticipated.

APE takes pride in our ability to offer unique solutions to the unique problems of good people like Helen.

The powerful APE Model 200-6 Vibratory Driver/Extractor has recently been put to the test with three NJ contractors. J.T. Cleary Inc. of Montvale, NJ employed the 200-6 to drive piles for a mooring pier along the Hackensack River in South Kearny. (A Junttan HHK7a hydraulic impact hammer proved bearing capacity). Creamer Environmental is pictured driving sheet piles along the Passaic River in Harrison. Conti Enterprises is shown driving sheets in Long Branch. Cleary, Creamer, and Conti were all extremely impressed with the performance of the 200-6. With 6600 in/lbs eccentric moment, 240 tons driving force, 1600 cycles per minute, and APE’s patented 2 stage supressor virtually eliminating unwanted crane boom vibration, the APE 200-6 is the best choice for contractors needing a 6600 in/lb machine. The three satisfied APE customers listed above are proof positive, and we thank them for their continued patronage.

For more information call Paul Kuzik of APE/J&M NE at 201-400-8356.

Recently a Boston area contractor took delivery of an APE Model 200-6 to drive permanent cold rolled sheets as part of a sewage pump station interceptor replacement project. Due to the urgency of this project, the 200-6 was selected because of a desire to be absolutely sure that the hammer was capable of driving thru a layer of cobbles 15ft down. As you can see, the 200-6 had no difficulty in accomplishing its mission.

The remediation of an old gas station site in Gloversville, NY required the driving of sheets into the glacial till 30 feet down. This was accomplished previously using an APE D46-32 Diesel Hammer.

So when it was time to pull the sheets, the contractor tried and was unable to pull them using his J&M Model 25 Vibro. APE recommended the Model 200 Vibro.

Using their 110 ton Link Belt crane, the contractor was able to pull all of the sheets even though they could only partly pull into the 2nd stage of the patented APE 2-stage suppressor.

When the sheets were all pulled it was very apparent as to why the sheets were so difficult to pull.

J.H. Reid General Contractor of South Plainfield, NJ had to drive sheet piles adjacent to NJ Transit railroad tracks in South Orange, NJ. Errant vibrations were a concern so J.H. Reid called APE/J&M Northeast for the APE Model 250 Variable Moment Vibro, which is designed to minimize the potentially damaging vibrations that occur upon starting and stopping a standard vibro. Rated at 4500 inch pounds the APE 250 Variable Moment Vibro is the most powerful available. APE’s variable moment line also includes the APE 170 at 2200 inch pounds and the APE 120 rated at 1600 inch pounds. We have a variable moment vibro for almost any job.

Thank you J.H. Reid for the continued business.

For more information please call Paul Kuzik at 201-400-8356.

When Nick Graczyk called APE/J&M N.E. he was in a bind. While driving 7 ft. diameter cans deep into the muck of the Monongahela River at Charleroi Lock & Damn #4 they tore the caisson beam out of the bottom of their ICE 815. Nick called in a panic looking for a hammer asap. By the next day we had an APE 200 on the job. The 200 performed so well that after the 815 was repaired they chose to continue using the 200 and leave the 815 in the yard. We thank Brayman/Trumbull for going APE!

Traditionally, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has been very rigid with their pile driving criteria, with 20 blows to the inch standard regardless of the pile type or size.

With half of the bridges on the US Route 219 reconstruction in Bradford, PA designed on Monotubes, which cannot take the stresses of high blowcounts, the contractor enlisted the help of GRL. Together they approached PennDOT with a driving system using WEAP Analysis to show they could achieve the required bearing at less than 20 blows per inch, which would prevent overstressing the Monotubes.

The contractor submitted several J&M hydraulic hammers for approval and PennDOT accepted both the J&M Model 82 that they own, with a 8,200 lb ram rated at 32,800 ft/lbs as well as the J&M Model 70B, with a 7,000lbs ram rated at 21,000 ft/lbs.

APE/J&M supplied 2 rental 70B’s in addition to the contractor owned Model 82. Because the hydraulic hammers have an infinitely adjustable stroke inbetween the minumum and maximum, dynamic testing was used on all hammers to determine the optimal hammer stroke. This testing confirmed that the bearing was achievable at something other than 20 blows per inch, in this case 10 blows per inch, which enabled the contractor to drive the Monotubes without fear of destroying them because at 10 blows per inch, the compressive stresses were comfortably below the yield of the Monotube’s steel.

This is the 1st time a hydraulic hammer has been used on a PennDOT project. We look forward to many more.

APE has supplied the D19-42’s that are driving the 110 ft long 12″ H-Piles for the foundation of a new bridge over the Susquehanna River in Northeast PA. PennDOT spec’s are 20 blows to the inch, which is extreme duty for any impct hammer and the APE D19-42’s showed that they can tackle the toughest jobs around.

Toronto:

Recently Brooks Dean of Dean Construction called with an immediate need for a vibro to drive sheet piles into Toronto Harbor. Dean, among several other foundation contractors, have been involved in the ongoing revitalization and expansion of the Toronto waterfront. In this instance sheets are being driven to shore the waterfront for installation of a new ferry boat dock that will access the Toronto Public Airport located on a small island in Lake Ontario. A J&M 216 was sent in and made short work of the sheet piles.
This past January APE sent in a D19 the drive piles for an extension of the existing boardwalk which lines the beautiful waterfront area. Thanks again to Dean for coming to APE/J&M for their foundation needs.