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Your First Stop for Piledriving Technology News

GMR-JV (Granite, Meyers, Rados) hit it big with the SR22 project in Southern California widening freeways and building bridges. That means PILRDRIVING and with Superintendent “Kevin Tipton” as the engine driving this piledriving machine, he has his work cut out for him with over 6,500 pile to drive. “I knew we needed some big guns to get this job done, so I called in APE” says Tipton. “We needed to hit this project hard and fast and I knew I could count on APE to meet my piledriving needs”. With four diesel hammers pounding away daily, GMR has been advancing this project right down the road and choosing APE as their Foundation Equipment Supplier was a great move! “Not only does APE supply the equipment, they supply the service to follow it up with” says Tipton as he watches another pile being driven. Another winning combination to the GMR-JV group and APE!

When Golden State Bridge of Northern California landed a job to drive 115′ long 67″ pipe pile in Morro Bay California, they called APE! Why? Because APE has the equipment and the knowledge to get the job done!
Using a APE 300 vibro to set these pile weighing 50 tons, Golden State Bridge followed it up with APE model D100-13 Diesel hammer to drive them home!
“This was a great combination on this project and it was just what Dr. APE ordered to make our project a success.” Along with 24″ pipe pile for the trestle pile and some 24″ pipe pile for the abutment pile driven with a D36-32, this was another job well done!

Manson Construction of Northern California is one of the leading Marine Contracors in the industry. Driving sheet pile into the Oakland Merit Sands can be difficult. That is why Manson chose to team up with APE. Using the APE 9.5 Hydraulic Impact Hammer Manson drove home the sheets without damaging them. Even the tough Oakland Merrit Sands can’t win against APE!

When the New S.F. Bay Bridge needed a Monster Vibro, they called APE! Arriving on site with the APE Super Kong with 420 tons of line pull and 566 Tons of centrifugal force, making the Super Kong the Monster of choice, KFM tackled the pile extraction with confidence! When you need to roll out the big guns APE is at the top of the list with the Super Kong!

Why do the contractors in Hawaii choose APE for their foundation equipment needs? Because APE is the one stop foundation shop. Healy Tibbit Builders from Honolulu, HI knows this and that is why they use APE.

“We do alot of work here on Ohau and we need equipment that works.” Says Bruce Richardson, Super for Healy Tibbits. “I like to know that when we need the service, I will get it and APE always comes through for me.”

Driving 16″ octagon pile for a parking structure Healy Tibbits uses a APE/Junttan HHK5a to get the job done. They are using the HHK5a because it meets the islands strict noise critera and is simple to operate.

“This is the quietest hammer I have ever used”, says Bruce, “We have used a number of different hydraulic hammers here on the islands and after we used the HHK5a we are convinced that we can drive our pile in even the strictest of sound environments in the world!”

APE California “Buck School” trains Pile Bucks in the most advanced training class availible to the local 34 in RioVista, CA. “These guys are tough and we make them even tougher and give them some knowledge to take away with them”.

The APE Model 750 with a 120,000 pound ram and a maximum stroking height of 6.25 feet has finished driving the 8-foot 3 inch diameter piles for the Stony Creek Bridge.

Special thanks goes to Jim Carter, owner of MCM. We thank him for having the faith in APE to build such a large hammer and make it work for his project.

The hammer has now been approved for Caltrans work. All pile drivng contractors around the world will benefit from having a third hammer choice behind IHC and Menck.

APE also takes their hats off to IHC and Menck. Both these companies have spent over 30 years developing their hammers. The IHC with its unique nitrogen charged ram and Menck with thier underwater technology are very difficult competitors for APE. We at APE have learned the hard way how difficult and expensive it is to make such a large hammer.

All of us at APE are happy to follow in their foot steps. Special thanks to Alone Church, King Evarts, Jim Kruh, Steve Cress and his outstanding crew and to all individuals that participated in this massive project and worked so hard. Victory comes with completion. All of you have made history.

APE’s Monster Model 750 hydraulic impact hammer, the largest impact hammer made in the USA, is set to drive the final pile on MCM’s Stony Creek Bridge this Saturday, November 8th, 2003. The critics said it could not be done. Menck and IHC were watching and waiting to see if APE equipment, with just two years of development, could outclass them and the wait is now over. APE has not only reached its goal, it has put the pile driving world on notice that contractors do have a third choice beyond Menck and IHC.

The 750 operates off the standard APE power unit so anyone owning an APE or like power unit has the necessary power to run the new 750.

The 750 has been driving 8-foot diameter cans since March of this year. The 750 can stroke up to 6.25 feet and has proved to the pile driving world that peak force is what drives a pile. For more information please contact Steve Cress, APE’s branch manager for California.

APE has supplied the largest pile hammer ever made in the USA to MCM Constructors to drive 8-foot diameter caissons for the Stoney Creek Bridge. The specifications called for a Menck hammer but MCM paid $200,000 up front to APE to design the giant hammer. The new APE Model 750 has a ram weight of 120,000 pounds and strokes 6.25 feet. The hammer has been fully tested by Caltrans.

MCM has been using an APE Model D100 diesel hammer to start the caissons. The big APE hammer is placed on the caisson only after the D100 reaches a blow count of more than 330 blows to the foot. Once the big hammer is put on the caisson, the blow count drops to under 30 blows per foot.

The APE Model 750 is being rented for $50,000 per month. It runs off the standard power unit used for the APE King Kong (Model 400 vibro).

MCM also owns an APE Model 150 and Model 200 plus a J&M manufactured ICE 44.