The rapid increase in the demand for infrastructural development has developed a surge in construction projects. In addition, increasing population growth & urbanization and international trade & tourism prompt heavy investments in the construction of various infrastructures. The necessity to construct piles for large infrastructure supports the growth of the pile-driving equipment demand. A pile driving equipment is a mechanical device utilized in driving piles or poles into the soil to provide foundation support for buildings and other structures. Before starting the construction of a building, the load-bearing capacity of the soil is analyzed at the site. It is essential to construct deep foundations when the soil is not stable to sustain heavy loads. Manufacturers are investing in developing technologies such as load testing, integrity testing, and sonic drilling to improve the efficiency of pile-driving equipment. There are different types of equipment used for pile driving in construction each of the types, the features and applications are discussed below.
Piling rig
Modern piling rigs have been designed to offer multiple piling possibilities and to obtain the highest productivity in piling jobs using: Vibrodrivers, Hydraulic Hammers and Hydraulic Press. The range of piling rig models offers a working area of 360° around the undercarriage. The mobility and freedom of movement, allow them to be easily positioned on the job site, thus saving considerable working time. It can be used for a wide range of applications, such as foundation reinforcement, cast-in piles, and installing diaphragm walls. Piling rigs in India come with different features that can be utilized to dig within the earth’s subsurface, making of water wells, oil wells or natural gas extraction wells, or install sub-surface fabrications. It is designed for multipurpose use and can be equipped with special kits for different foundation and geotechnical construction methods. In India, the piling rig is foreseeing demand for roads, metro rails and other infrastructure developments. From soft soil to hard rock, the new piling rig is suitable for all kinds of applications on a wide variety of strata. The piling rig also comes with a specially designed carrier that has been strengthened to give more stability to the rig and the main winch is mounted on the base carrier which supports it for reduced shocks. The models are equipped with a parallelogram system of articulation. The control system offers aids in monitoring of all working functions, diagnostic of the working systems to ensure the constant monitoring of the status of sensors and components, easy conversion in any drilling arrangement and friendly customization of working functions.
Rotary Drilling Rig
Rotary drilling rig models are widely used in small dia. & deep borehole construction in civil engineering, high main hoist lifting up and down speed, high verticality of the finished borehole, high working efficiency in civil construction. The latest models come with a large-displacement EFI engine with strong power, adopt power optimization control technology, adjust power distribution in real-time, fast response speed, higher fuel efficiency and more energy-saving. It is equipped with the newly upgraded sixth-generation Kelly bar of integral locking device, upgraded materials, and reinforced rings, etc., to make rock layers construction capacity improved. High standard design for mast and luffing boom to make it more strong and more durable. High configuration reducer with large torque to guarantee high efficiency, safer operation and wider working scope. Rotary Drilling Rig uses a sharp, rotating drill bit and downward pressure to cut or crush, through the subsurface. Impact energy is supplied to the drill bit from either an above-ground or down-hole impact hammer. This impact force aids in the drilling. They can be used in deeper depths and are capable of larger diameter holes. The newer models adopt power optimization control technology to realise power distribution in real time, excellent compound action response time; high fuel efficiency and low comprehensive fuel consumption. These newer rigs have opted for top drive technology. In top drive, the drill string is turned by mechanisms located in the top drive that is attached to the blocks. Infrared camera available for observing the main winch, manipulator can observe the state of steep rope at day and night inside the cab. Optional configuration according to customers’ requirements are available and has good compatibility with the standard machine.
Hydraulic impact pile hammer
Impact hammer is available to suit the particular requirements of a site. Most impact hammers will involve a piston or ram and an anvil block with a driving cap that spreads the blow to the pile head. The machines are usually supported by a heavy frame or chassis and normally need leg guides or sleeves set up to fit snugly to the pile section being driven to maintain a vertical position during operation. Alternatively, the hammers can be set up to be supported and aligned by a leader rig. It is very important that, because of the height and slenderness of these types of hammer, the hammer is prevented from rocking or swaying when delivering powerful blows to the piles. These are suitable for driving steel tube pipes, sheet piles, precast concrete and timber piles. The stroke and blow rates are adjustable to optimise the pile driving performance in all conditions. The ram weight can also be changed according to pile type requirements. All this means that one hammer serves efficiently a wide range of different pile driving operations. The hammers can be mounted on all kinds of pilling leaders or can be freely suspended. It is suitable to be used as a leader mounted on piling rigs and piling cranes as well as crane suspended.
Vibratory pile hammer
A vibratory pile hammer is used to drive piles in/out of the ground for constructing structures like bridges, harbours, roads, airports, canal works and so on. Vibro hammers are modern and popular machinery for pipe, sheet and wooden piles. It is used to drive sheet piles, pipes or other elements into the soil by vertical vibrations. The adjacent soil particles are put into motion and thus the soil is ‘loosened’. The dynamic weight of the hammer drives the elements into the soil. Apart from driving and extracting elements such as sheet piles and pipes, vibratory hammers are also used for soil densifying or vertical drainage across multiple projects in India. Vibratory hammers can drive and extract piles much faster. Beside this, they are small, very quiet and lightweight, and environmentally friendly. So they can drive piles much more quickly, extract old piles out of the ground, can be used underwater, are lightweight, protect the environment can be used in close proximity to residential areas without noise complaints, and are small and easy to ship.
Conclusion
Different types of pile driving equipment are used for driving vertical structural elements called piles or poles into the ground to create a foundation to support structures, buildings, and other construction projects. With the advent of rapid industrialization and modernization in operational processes, digital technologies play a crucial role. The companies are more inclined to offer digitally advanced piling equipment suited to the Indian terrain to the customers to gain a competitive edge in the market.
