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Your First Stop for Piledriving Technology News

Spearin Preston and Burrows has started the renovation of the Belt Parkway Bridge over the Paerdegat Basin in Brooklyn. They are using the NEW APE/J&M 416 vibro with a gun-drilled top (eliminates hoses) and are pulling wood piles with the exclusive APE woodpile clamp (affectionately nicknamed the “Woodhead”). The 416 is also driving 14 inch “H” piles using a 126B universal clamp.

Under a NY District Corps of Engineers contract, M.A. Bongiovanni is rebuilding a Hudson River bulkhead at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY. Bongiovanni utilized their APE 150T vibro to install the sheetpiles and caissons.

RCC Pile and Foundation Inc., a division of Railroad Construction Co. Inc. of Paterson NJ is pictured with the APE 200 Vibro driving PZ27 sheet pile. V.P.Gene Merlino has been a loyal APE customer even before working for RCC. He knows from experience that APE Northeast will provide the superior equipment, service and pricing he needs to remain competitive.

Foreman John Curley (pictured with yellow safety vest)states, “APE equipment hits the site ready to work. Out here I need reliability. APE outperforms everything else I’ve used.”

Kudos to Gene Merlino and crew for integrating pile driving into Railroad’s diverse construction operations.

APE has completed its full line of variable moment machines by adding the new 250VM to its fleet. Bill Ziadie, formally with PVE, had a hand in the final specifications. He wanted a machine that could deliver more power than any of its European rivals. Bill also wanted a machine that didn’t have all the “bells and whistles” that cause downtime but still has the necessary features that are needed by USA pile drivers. “We made it rugged like all APE equipment but dropped off all those goofy shut down systems that are found on European machines” says John White, owner of APE.

The power unit has the most advanced CAT Electronic engine available.

The APE 250VM has 4500 inch pounds of eccentric moment. It automatically switches in and out of phase during the “on” and “off” cycle. The unit comes with its own monitoring device developed by Profound Ltd based in Holland.

Note in the pictures the close proximity of a storm drainage pipe. The sheets were driven right up against the concrete pipe to allow excavation of the foundation of a new office building. Maximum peak partice velocity readings of less than 12mm/second were recorded at 15ft from the face of the sheet.

For more info call Bill Ziadie at 201 274-3214.

APE’s new Model 250 Variable Moment vibro with over 4500 inch pounds of eccentric moment, has just completed its third job. The new 250VM was used to drive sheets in Albany, New York.

The power unit features the new electronic CAT engine. APE also used its new soil monitoring device to detect soil vibrations. (Developed by Profound)

APE now offers a full line of variable moment machines. The small Model 120VM with 1600 inch pounds, the 170VM with 2600 inch pounds, and the super larger Model 250 shown in this article.

Call Bill Ziadie of APE Northeast for more details. He can be reached at 201-274-3214

Conti Enterprises uses the APE Model 200 Vibro to drive 40′ sheet pile for the Seaview Drive job in Secaucus, NJ. Pile driving superintendent Nestor Martinez says, “The 200 has always given us great production. Bottom line: the APE 200 Vibro helps Conti make money. That’s why we decided to buy one.”
The new vibro will be delivered to Secaucus in early December, 2003.

Mario Garcell, Conti foreman pictured in black APE shirt, states “APE equipment is reliable day after day. In this business downtime is not an option. If something happens with the equipment, APE’s response is immediate”.

Congratulations to all at Conti Enterprises who have made the pile driving division so successful.

When Creamer Environmental (of the J. Fletcher Creamer and Son, Inc. companies) of Hackensack, NJ was contracted to clean up a polluted industrial site in Atlantic Highlands NJ, they called APE Northeast for the APE Model 150 Vibro. Pile driving superintendent John Smestadt knew from previous rentals that the 150 is “a hard hitting hammer” and would be the tool of choice for 25′ steel sheet pile.
J. Fletcher Creamer and Son Inc. is a successful, well respected construction company that knows how perfectly APE equipment is suited for their pile driving work.

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.

Here are some pictures of the APE D46 in 37 inch leads driving 30″x 60 – 70′ square concrete piles for a bridge job in Iowa, Louisiana. The contractor is F. Miller & Sons from Lake Charles, Louisiana.

They started out with a standard APE D46-32 fitted with a standard “four position mechanical” fuel pump but they had some easy driving to start with and the number one fuel setting was still delivering to much fuel and to much stroke. We removed the standard pump and replaced it with our new hydraulic fuel pump which increased the blows per minute from 50 on the number one setting on the manual fuel pump to 58 blows per minute with the hydraulically controlled pump.

The contractor was able to throttle down the hammer below the number one fuel setting. He could get through the easy driving without choking or “over fueling” which creates black smoke and causes the hammer to stop running.

This actual job site report shows that APE’s new infinitely variable hydraulically controlled fuel pump delivers new capabilities to the APE diesel hammer.

The new fuel pump technology can fit any Delmag or APE diesel hammer. The new technology also allows the pile buck to visuallly see the regulating pin on front of the pump. See the photos for details. For more information call Joe Wright at APE Houston by dialing 832-724-1044. Call today for a free test of this new technology.

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.