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Your First Stop for Piledriving Technology News

American Piledriving Equipment, in conjunction with Thomas & Betts and Erickson Air Crane, recently completed a day long demonstration for the ASCE Exhibition in Birmingham, Alabama of a model Patented Heli-template System designed and developed by APE. The demo took place in Birmington, Alabama. Stormy weather during the demonstration offered the perfect environment to showcase versatile reliability the APE Heli-template offers. The system was demonstrated 3 times during the day for over 130 observers at a time.

The process starts with the mobilization of the crane pads. The heli-template is then placed on the mats for caisson placement. The caisson is brought in and loaded into the heli-template. While the helicopter is bringing in the driver/extractor, the heli-template plumbs the caisson for driving. The caisson is then driven to grade.

APE’s Special Application Team can help your next job. Contact any of APE’s satellite locations to see what we can do to help your next job.

In the foothills outside Boise Idaho, water management is very important. Summit Excavating is there to take on the challenging jobs.

With very high soil “N” values and very limited access with cranes the Model 200 Vibratory Driver/Extractor is put to work.

With the right piece of equipment anything is possible. The large CAT excavator gives Summit the ability to utilize the versatility of the patented two stage suppressor system on the 200 vibro, greatly minimizing the resonant vibration that is standard in single stage suppressors. With this feature, hydraulic cylinders on excavators and hydraulic cranes are protected from the stiff reaction of a single stage suppressor during start up, shut off and high end bearing soils.

For more information on how APE can fit your foundation needs, contact APE at any of our locations around the world.

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.

Flatiron Constructors Inc. are making excellent progress on the replacement of the John’s Pass Bridge. They are using a New APE 200-6 / 630 Power unit, which they purchased to drive Caissons and have been very happy with the performance of the new Vibro. They also have an APE 200T Vibro on site for the Sheet pile work and (2) D46-42 Diesel Pile Hammers for the Trestle work.

Flatiron also has purchased (2) D30-42 Diesel Hammers and a 200T for their joint venture project in Tampa, FL. On that jobsite they also have a J&M 44-50 on rental and a J&M Model 5050 Auger.
We at APE wish to thank all the great people at Flatiron for their continued business. It is a pleasure to work with such a professional organization.

The U.S. Navy / Seabees do their homework before they purchase anything. They knew they wanted the best piledriving equipment in the industry. That’s why they decided to purchase 2 brand new APE 150 vibratory hammer packages and 2 brand new APE D19-42 diesel hammers. APE Mid-Atlantic held a 1-day piledriving school for the Navy/ SeaBees at “Little Creek” Amfib Base in Virginia Beach, Virginia. We went over basic piledriving history, equipment operations and maintenance for both diesel impact hammers as well as vibratory hammers. it was a great turn out and a great learning experience! It gives APE and APE Mid-Atlantic a great honor to help our boys in uniform!

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!

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.

American Piledriving Equipment is showing up all over one of the busiest ports on the East Coast: The Port Of Savannah.

The latest contractor to call out the A.P.E. arsenal is Cape Romain Contractors. They chose the legendary Model 150-T for the expansion of Berth 8 and the overall enlargement of the port itself.

American Piledriving Equipment is proud to play a role in the growth of the Port Of Savannah, and honored that once again, Cape Romain Contractors has gone A.P.E.!

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.

The Mighty APE 9.5 Low Headroom Hydraulic Impact Hammer is the most powerful hammer in its class! Why is that? Because there are no other hammers in its class! With over 43,000ftlbs energy and only nine and a half feet tall the 9.5 hydraulic impact hammer is perfect for low headroom projects! Especially when you load it onto an APE ST75 low over head leader system. Running on a 245 Cat excavator and using the excavators hydraulics eliminates the need for a power unit which makes this package totally mobile! There is no hammer available like an APE low head room hammer which comes in many sizes to fit your most difficult situations. Just ask ACC West Coast and they will tell you the results!