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APE’s Model 750 with an 120,000 lb ram and six foot six inch stroke (6 foot 6 inches) has successfully tested the questionable piers on the new bridge in Tampa Florida. One pier sank 11 feet while constructing the bridge. The big hammer was placed on the piers and struck the piers with six blows of varying drop height. Some piers moved as much as two inches. The 750 hydraulic system allowed the engineers to lift the ram and hold it into a freeze stroke position while engineers measured the exact drop height. Nylon hammer cushion was used and the striker plate was 38 inch thick forged steel made in USA. The 120,000 forged ram was made in Shanghai, China.

Good job to Steve Cress of APE California and to APE Florida.

Photo credit: Mohamad Hussein – GRL Engineers, Inc.

Attached some photos I took today here in Abu Dhabi. The contractor APCC is using our brand new J+M416 to drive temporary steel casings of 750 mm diameter and 18 m length in pre-bored soil at the prestegious Marina Mall Extension project. About 300 piles have to be made and I am glad to report that APCC is very happy with our vibro.

Jim Bushyeager, Florida Branch Manager for APE, assisted by APE’s California team headed by Steve Cress, have successfully tested questionable drilled shaft foundations in Florida. They used Steve Cress’s Monster pile hammer designed for driving super larger caissons in California for the San Francisco Bay Bridge.

A drilled shaft pier failed causing the bridge to collaspe in April of 2004. It took engineers until December of 2004 to come up with a solution- test them with a big pile hammer. For more details call APE Florida.

Fraser River Pile and Dredge installs 30 and 36 inch closed ended pipe piles through very spongy, highly liquid sedimentary soil to reach a tip elevation of approximately 80′ in a glacial till lens with an APE D30-32.

FRPD is a leading land and marine foundation contractor in British Columbia. With their many years of experience and steadfast commitment to customers and their own employees, Fraser River Pile and Dredge is a company that you can trust to deliver their expertise through innovative approaches utilizing all of their capabilities.

Please feel free to visit Fraser River Pile and Dredge’s website at http://www.frpd.com/

The CCC Group used the APE 200-6 and the Ape 200T vibros to drive the sheetpiles at the seawall in Corpus Christi to within a few feet of grade then they used the APE 7.5 hydraulic impact hammer to finish them off. There was some concern about the 7.5 making too much noise but Micheal Owens of CCC Group said that it was actually quieter than the vibros. For more information on this equipment call Joe Wright at 832-724-1044.

When Napp-Grecco Co. of Newark, NJ needed a powerful, reliable low headroom impact hammer to use with their excavator leader system, Hascal Stockstill called APE/J&M Northeast. The Marion Generating Station PSE&G job in Jersey City NJ required 45′-90′ pipe piles to be driven under low 138kV power lines 45′ high. These lines were de-energized and grounded to a short. The project engineer was concerned that a traditional crane boom could possibly touch the live wires higher up, due to mechanical issues, operator error, etc. At 7 1/2′, APE Model 7.5 Low Headroom Hydraulic Impact Hammer is the shortest on the market, making it the perfect choice for Napp-Grecco’s application. Says 1456 pile driving foreman Vic Ruckstuhl, “The APE 7.5 has been a great hammer for us. It’s the ideal hammer for our leader system.”

Napp-Grecco Co. is a nationally recognized pipeline and underground specialty contractor. Founded 50 years ago, Napp-Grecco’s reputation is based upon getting the most difficult jobs done in the pipeline, petrochemical, and utility construction fields.

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!

R. Alessi Equipment based right here in Mount Vernon, New York, will be the national distributor of the ROBOVIB, APE’s new robotic vibro. The ROBOVIB is mounted on an excavator and can articulate to pick and drive H piles and sheets. Alessi has always been APE’s excavator mounting specialist. APE technology and innovation linked with Alessi’s experience-a winning combination.

HF Darling of Williamsville, NY just got some good news… No they didn’t save a bunch of money by switching to Geico… What they did do was increase production on the new Geico office building in Buffalo, NY by switching to a new J&M Model 82 Hydraulic Impact Hammer. The J&M Model 82 uses the same chassis as the J&M 115 HIH, except the ram weight is reduced to 8,200 lbs. This gives the 82 HIH 32,800 ft/lbs of energy.

Darling was driving 10×42 H-Piles for this project. Since full energy was not needed, Darling was able to utilize the fully adjustable stroke control on the J&M 82 HIH and dial in the needed energy to match the parameters of this specific job.

This versatility allows all J&M hammers to be utilized on jobs with different pile types and capacities.

The Hoh River, on the peninsula of Washington State, drains an average of 152 inches of rain a year from the Hoh Temperate Rain Forest to the Pacific Ocean. Every year the river damages the roadway linking Port Angeles with Aberdeen with some years worse than others.

Pile Contractors has a very tight working window based upon Salmon runs and workable weather days and with their years of experience in foundations, they have the ingredients to make it happen. Three Model 200 Driver/Extractors-one of which they own-utilize 100% readily biodegradable vegetable hydraulic oil. The hammers are driving the sheets, soldier piles and log jam H-beam anchors with their Berminghammer single acting impact hammer driving the anchors to final tip elevation.

Many countries around the world will be following the performance of these log jams over the next few seasons with the hope that these measures will reduce maintenance in remote locations such as this while benefiting the habitat.

For more information on environmentally friendly equipment give APE a call.