Future Foundations #3

FUTURE FOUNDATIONS Newsletter of American Piledriving Equipment, Inc.

Fall 2012

Vol. 1 Issue 1

Flying APEs in the Midwest pg. 3 Super Quad Kong Installs Foundations for Riffgat Windfarm in the North Sea pg. 6

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American Piledriving Equipment, Inc. • 7032 South 196th Street • Kent, Washington 98032

M FOUN

Octakong wins PDCA Project of the Year Award pg. 10

CORPORATE OFFICE NORTHWEST US WESTERN CANADA 7032 South 196th St. Kent, Washington 98032 (253) 872-0141 (800) 248-8498 davey@apevibro.com kellyg@apevibro.com chrisw@apevibro.com MIDWEST US CENTRAL CANADA St. Peters, Missouri (636) 397-8400 (877) 296-8044 edc@apevibro.com WEST COAST Stockton, California (209) 942-2166 (888) 245-4401 stevec@apevibro.com MID-ATLANTIC Virginia Beach, Virginia (757) 518-9740 (866) 399-7500 jimmyd@apevibro.com GULF REGION Conroe, Texas (936) 271-1044 (800) 596-2877 Gonzales, Louisiana (225) 644-7626 joew@apevibro.com NORTHEAST US EASTERN CANADA Sayreville, New Jersey (732) 432-6604 (888) 217-7524 billz@apevibro.com paulk@apevibro.com SOUTHEAST Mulberry, Florida (863) 324-0378 (800) 570-3844 jimb@apevibro.com jimc@apevibro.com wallyb@apevibro.com THE CARIBBEAN, SOUTH AMERICA (863) 660-8716 (863) 324-0378 jimc@apevibro.com APE MEXICO & CENTRAL AMERICA (786) 991-6875 frankis@apevibro.com APE CHINA Shanghai, China +86 15800836528 APE HOLLAND Beilen, Netherlands +31 (0) 593 54 08 91

MID-ATLANTIC The Largest Marine Wick Drain Job In The World

US WICK DRAIN, a Leland NC based company, has just completed the largest marine barge installation wick drain project that has ever been completed anywhere in the world. This project is part of the first phase of construction for a new port facility at “Craney Island” in Norfolk Virginia. US WICK DRAIN, under direction of president Mark Palmatier, installed 12,150,000 lft. of wick drains in 6 months using APE wick drain installation machines.

Now that’s 6 months, with two rigs, 24 hours a day, 6 days a week! That’s a lot of wick drains. The longest wick drains were 150 ft. in length.

Great Lakes dredging dumped a drainage layer of sand in the proposed wick drain area with hopper barges. The wicks were then placed and more sand dumped on top of them.

In order to place the wick drains in the correct locations on the water, two barges had to be converted to have a grid all the way through the decks of the barges using steel pipe from the top deck all the way through the bottom.

Each barge had a wick drain machine / rig on the deck. The barges were surveyed into position and secured in position, and then each machine would work across the deck installing a wick drain in each provided hole.

APE Wick Installer, leads, crawler crane

Once these wick drains are installed and pre-loaded, the engineers predict they will have about 21 ft. of settlement. These wicked areas will support a series of dikes for the new Craney Island port.

If wick drains were not used the dikes would constantly be settling and would have to be maintained at a large cost.

This project gives US WICK

DRAIN the most marine experience in the wick drain industry. APE looks forward to working with US WICK DRAIN on the next phases of the Craney island port.

Jimmy Deemer: jimmyd@apevibro.com

... and the bird’s eye view.

Kuzik

Gough

Brumsey

Cress

Corbett

FUTURE FOUNDATIONS

MIDWEST When APEs fly

Originally published in Spring/Summer 2012 PIC: Piling Industry Canada Magazine. Reprinted with Permission.

Seeing is believing: APEs can fly!

Every construction job starts long before the mobilization of equipment, field personnel and materials. It starts with the end vision and a few experienced minds working on the Deemer

Yingling

way to get there. The resources that every construction veteran takes to work each day start to fill in the gaps and solve the puzzle of the project.

Things not left to chance, but things not illustrated in the specs either. These are the things in every job dependent on talent, experience and knowledge.

In Calendonia Wisconsin, American Transmission Co. required installation of replacement transmission structures across the Wisconsin River via Pine Island and adjacent islands. Described in the engineer’s report as “generally vacant”, the area’s ground surface is “typically grass covered with dense trees”. There is no access to the islands, and the report further describes the topography as “varied”.

A span of 1750 ft. would be covered by installation of two 160 ft. H-Frame Steel structures and five light duty structures stepping down to accommodate the river crossing.

The larger structures would each require 2- 45 1/4” diameter steel caissons, driven to depth of 36 ft. The smaller

Goranson

Segura

Ziadie

structures would each be set on 2 caissons varying from 16-1/4” - 20” in diameter, driven into the ground to depths of 20 to 25 ft.

A familiar construction problem must have immediately occurred to the personnel involved in the project in the early planning phases: How to access?

ATC’s n policy includes a section, “Impact Reduction”.

It reads, “Reduce environmental impacts of construction, operation and maintenance through the use of innovative practices, cost-effective technologies, and, where appropriate, environmental mitigation and enhancement.” Per ATC’s commitment, they dismissed construction bridge access as too impactful, not to mention costly. Perhaps winter conditions could improve access by providing frozen terrain and lower water levels. Unfortunately the winter of 2012 did not comply.

Bushyeager

Wang

So how to access?

“Helicopter.”

As is most often the case in construction challenges, phones rang, e-mails flew, and the people tasked with making it work called on experience and contacts to find out, “Who done it, How they did it and How’d it go?” After several meetings with Erickson AirCrane, Portland, Ore., ATC’s project team and Henkels & McCoy decided a viable solution would be helicopter construction.

When the call came in from Henkels and McCoy, American Piledriving Equipment had a few Air Crane jobs under its belt. Says American Piledriving Equipment Midwest Branch Manager Ed Corbett, “We had worked Wright

White

Casavant

with several contractors on jobs where the only way in was a flying vibro (Vibratory pile driver/extractor). APE had developed what we call a “Helitemplate”, or skid, to hold and place the power unit while the vibratory pile driver is retrieved. The legs are on rams that are hydraulically powered to adjust for varying ground conditions often found in low access areas. A gantry attached to the top of the power unit provides a sleeve, or gate, for the caisson, operated with hydraulics to adjust placement, with manual adjustments for fine tuning.”

Selected for installation of the steel caissons in the mostly sandy soils found in the boring logs was an American Piledriving Equipment’s J&M 28-35. Mobilization was scheduled for the end of January.

“Damned good planning.”

Says Paul Ives, Henkels & McCoy’s Project Manager, “Once you mobilize that bird in, you want to get to work, you want to keep it at work until the job is done.”

Mats first. Henkels and McCoy marked the timber mats so the ground crew could line up the components as the set-up flew in. Next the helitemplate mounted power unit was dropped into place, lined up so the template would place the caisson, to be refined to acceptable tolerance by the hydraulic gantry. The caissons would be lifted into place and the air crane would fly off to retrieve the J&M 28-35 vibratory pile driver from the laydown site across the river. The Vibro was suspended from the helicopter on specially designed sling to

prevent spin, and then lowered and attached to ears premounted on the caisson. The vibro caissons were driven to variable depths with approx.

6-7 ft. of reveal protruding from natural ground line.

These were driven to within approx. 18” of the top of the helitemplate, while supported by the air crane above. Then the ship would detach to allow the J&M 28-35 to free drive the remaining required depth.

Alignment and proper spacing of the caissons were critical and numerous fine tuning adjustments for plumb and cant had to be in continuous monitor as driving initiated.

A capability called “PowerBeyond” facilitated use of all the hydraulics via a single power unit and eliminating the need for an auxiliary power unit. The Power Beyond option, available on all J&M power packs, uses the clamp manifold to additionally power an auxiliary hydraulic circuit containing its own hydraulic control valve bank while maintaining the use of the clamp circuit. Says American Piledriving Equipment Engineer Scott Gray, “The APE Helitemplate set-up needed to use the legs to get the template level as well as position the gantry. We did not want to bring in an additional power unit so the Power-Beyond allowed the Vibro, the clamp manifold, the hydraulics of the template, and the self-leveling feet of the skid to power from 1 circuit.”

On the ground, the crew worked under the unfamiliar phenomenon of “rotor wash” and the pressure of 1 fleeting week for the air crane

mobilization. January in Wisconsin was a little kinder than usual in 2012, but proved cold to work in nonetheless.

Wind speed exceeded 70 mph stabilized. This was a crew that had never worked with the likes of a heli-installation.

Henkels and McCoy’s Chris Forsythe, Construction Manager, Scott Mueller, Transmission Line Superintendent, and Jim Jacobi, ATC Construction Coordinator, were the only three with previous experience. They had tried to explain the magnitude of the wash to the crews, but it was only to be experienced firsthand to get a real understanding. On the first flight

as the ship emerged in the distance with the power pack in suspension, the crews were overwhelmed with anticipation and pure awe at the enormous size of such a machine hovering directly above them.

The initial wall of wash was overwhelming to them; their talent mixed with adrenaline took control. After setting the first alignment of the power unit under the ship, 40 plus year old men looked like teenagers that had just stepped off a wet n’ wild roller coaster ride.

There were several safety matters that had to be addressed. There were adverse conditions with recent snow-

J&M 28-35 and the Helitemplate

GO APE! fall (crew wore certified ski goggles to protect the eyes), potential risks of flying debris (crew wore certified ski helmets for head protection), slick mats from the icing regarding footing (Crew wore ice cleat overshoes), extreme wind chills created by the wash (proper clothing layering, face masks, gloves), and extreme noise levels (crews utilized aviation style ear phones in conjunction with ear plugs to deter the extreme noise). Screaming and hand signals were the only means of communication between the crew once the air crane was in position.

Talent, experience and knowledge accommodates for new circumstances. Such was the case under a 16,500 lb. payload helicopter. From contractor to equipment supplier, air crane operator to the crew in the cold mud and rotor wash, the challenges of delivery, coordination, installation were met with quality work.

“We were impressed,” says the job General Foreman Scott Mueller, “The APE setup worked like we expected it to.

A total of 16 caissons were installed using the Ericson Air

Crane and APE helitemplate method. For the accessible installations, drilling equipment was used. All told, 16 caissons were installed for the 7 transmission structures.

With the foundations in place, the two pole Hstructure configuration were erected via a bolted flange type assembly. Erickson provided 3 lifts for installation of each. 1 lift each for the legs, and then the top H sections consistent with the remaining pole tops and the cross arm, were all flown out pre-assembled. These units were mated and bolted at the site by the ground crew working from aerial cranes. The smaller five structures were flown in single lifts.

“I’d like to thank the project team, Henkels & McCoy, helicopter crews and the airboat captain for their hard work,” said ATC Project Manager Doug Berton. “The project went in service two weeks early thanks to them.”

Ed Corbett: edc@apevibro.com

APE Midwest services Central Canada

NORTHEAST An APE is Spotted in Newfoundland, Canada

Trident Construction recently purchased a new APE D19-42 and leads to add to their piledriving capability.

Bill Ziadie recently visited their jobsite to set it up and watched the hammer run flawlessly. Trident is driving pipe piles as part of a Canadian Coast Guard pier reconstruction. APE has been enjoying an increased presence in Canada and looks forward to continued expansion of business with our Canadian friends.

Bill Ziadie: billz@apevibro.com

APE Northeast services Eastern Canada

FROM APE’s SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES...

APE Vibratory Hammers Building the New Seattle 520 Floating Bridge Great Video by our friends up North, the Pile Drivers 2404!

Via ‘Building America’s Future’ ...Pass the transportation Bill @apeincorporated: APE 600 Underwater Soil Compaction for HMZ Bridge Sees Phase I Success @apeincorporated: Check out the APE Sticker on the Carl Edwards Fastenal Car #99 of the Sprint Cup Series! Thanks Wayne!

American Piledriving Equipment Inc. is hiring: Accounts Payable / Payroll Manager in 7032 S 196th St, Kent, WA 98032 @apeincorporated: Congrats to instructor Ray Heaton on retirement, you have served your industry well!

APE HOLLAND Vibrates Foundations for Riffgat Windfarm in the North Sea with Super Quad Kong

In June, on the North Sea near the German island of Borkum, APE Holland started on a special offshore project: vibrating 30 steel piles (monopiles) on which 30 windmills would be be installed. The piles were driven with the Super Quad Kong (SQK), an innovative and modular vibra-

tions to reduce the noise, but it does imply that the piles have to be vibrated first,” said Kleine.

From the desire to have such piles driven without the use of impact hammers, APE Holland developed modular vibration techniques. “The noise of our hammer is much lower

Super Quad Kong after a hard days work. No Sweat.

tory driver/extractor consisting of four APE vibros, which are connected to four hypermodern powerpacks. By using the SQK vibratory hammer it was possible to drive these monopiles in a single run in the correct place on the seafloor.

Contractor Seaway Heavy Lifting choose the option of using a vibratory hammer.

“By choosing this innovative way of installation, APE Holland can comply to the strict environmental rules which apply in Germany,” explains Martijn Kleine, Sales Manager at APE Holland. “The damage to the environment by noise and vibrations remains within acceptable limits.”

By using traditional piling techniques with the conventional hydraulic hammers, the noise is at a level that it may cause major damage to marine life. “There are various solu-

than a traditional hammer and the vibration process is faster than traditional piledriving.”

The Super Quad Kong is specially developed for this offshore wind farm in the North Sea, where Seaway Heavy Lifting used their newest state of the art crane vessel “Oleg Strashnov”. The SQK comprises four model 600s, providing a total eccentric moment of 920 kg-m.

“After driving the first monopiles it was clear that our modular built vibratory hammer supplied sufficient power to show impressive results. For the first piles, we only used 50% of the total power of these hammers. With our SQK vibro we were able to drive these monopiles to a penetration of 31 meters in one run. The last 10 meters of the piles on the Riffgat field still had to be driven with an

impact hammer because, the owner of the field required a “blowcount”, indicating the bearing capacity of the pile, necessitating an impact hammer.”

After the vibratory hammer was taken off the pile, a Noise Mitigation System (NMS) was put around the pile, after which the IHC S-1800 hydrohammer was put on the pile.

Kleine: “The pile was moving a few seconds after the Super Quad Kong was switched on, but for the first 10 meters of hydrohammer, driving was labored. The first 25cm took 100 blows of 1200 kJ to get the pile moving again. After that, the blowcount went back to 25 blows for the 25 cm.”

The monopiles used for the Riffgat wind farm project weighed between the 480 and 720 ton each. The length of the piles were between 53 m and 70 m with a diameter of 4,7 m on the top of the pile and a diameter of 5,7 m up to 6,5 m at the pile tip.

In 2011, an eight vibro multi-vibro configuration, The Octakong, was used on the Hong Kong Macau Zhuhai Seaway project, for the

SKQ and power units

construction of two artificial islands. The success of the Octakong in China did build confidence in the APE Holland Super Quad Kong and help secure the contract.

APE Holland cooperated on this project with Allnamics (www.allnamics.eu), which carried out the drive-ability studies for the monopiles. The long and extensive experience in geotechnical engineering of Allnamics was of extreme value for the Octakong project and was demonstrated again on the Riffgat project.

Says Kleine: “Besides the vibratory hammer we also supplied the operational assistance for the equipment.”

APE Holland BV is the exclusive supplier in Europe and Russia of APE vibratory hammers and powerpacks. Sister company CAPE Holland BV designs and manufactures the modular systems with multiple vibratory hammers and power packs for APE Holland BV. Martijn Kleine: martijn@cape-holland.com

CHANGES AT APE Collins and Yingling Take the Reins

KENT, WA− Pat Hughes, Chairman and CEO of American Piledriving Equipment, Inc. (APE) announces the appointment of Dan Collins as President and Dave

Collins

Yingling as Vice President effective in June, 2012.

Mr. Collins joined APE in 1993 as controller, and later became a partner and CFO, a position he held until accepting the position as President.

Prior to coming aboard at APE, Dan was a partner in Collins Corporation, a regional heavy civil construction contractor. “We specialized in utilities, particularly deep sewer installations in the hilly sites in the region that others liked to avoid, because we were accustomed to using sheet pile shoring systems. We used one of the early APE vibros with a mini-suppressor system for low headroom piling installation inside what was then the Bethlehem Steel Mill in Seattle. It was the first of its kind, and I am happy report we have provided similar low headroom solutions for APE customers over and over again these many years.”

Dave Yingling also joined APE in 1993 as a service

technician and then moved into sales. Dave eventually became APE’s National Sales Manager and General Manager. It is from the position as General Manager he was promoted to Vice President. Prior to his employment with APE, Dave worked as a technician for International Construction Company (ICE) in Seattle Washington, then was transferred to the ICE branch in Houston, TX. After the formation of APE in 1991, ICE then transferred Dave back to Seattle to run the service department.

Pat Hughes, majority owner of APE since its founding, says, “We were fortunate to have Dan come aboard.

Since many of our customers were his former competitors, he knew the business from their perspective. Dave, of course, was born and raised in pile driving, and is a unique resource for both APE and the broader industry.”

These management changes follow changes in ownership after the retirement of John White, former President and co-founder of APE with Mr. Hughes. John will be a consultant to the company going forward and is pursuing other interests.

“It has been a great honor working with John, whose leadership has driven APE to the forefront of the deep foundations industry. Our outstanding reputation as a company dedicated to service and known for their presence on our customer’s jobsites traces its roots di-

rectly to John,” Collins said.

“We are proud to say that we have helped John fulfill his dreams: we have built the biggest hammers; we have driven the biggest piles on some of the biggest projects on Earth. We are determined to continue this legacy.”

Commenting on the appointment of Dave Yingling, Mr. Collins said, “Dave is hands on in every aspect of the business because he literally has done it all. Technically he is unmatched in the industry, and a technically expert team is what APE has always demanded of

Yingling

our employees. Dave’s appointment as Vice President shores up this commitment to our customers.”

Contact Dan Collins at: danc@apevibro.com Contact Dave Yingling at: davey@apevibro.com

SOUTHEAST

APE MEXICO

Scott Bridge We Love You Too

APE makes impact on Mexican Contratistas

Sometimes it’s just better to hear it straight from the customer.

Crew readies SuperKong

APE SE worked with Mark Guin of Scott Bridge regarding the CSXT Mobile River Bridge project in Alabama.

The APE Service team, especially Felton Wells, spent a good amount of time installing and starting up the equipment with the customer. Mark Guin had good things to say about the APE equipment Scott Bridge used on the job: “Thanks for all your help. It is great to work with folks like Penny and Wally.”

More photos and commentary from Mark can be found on the APE website, www. apevibro.com.

Wally Brumsey: wallyb@apevibro.com

APE CARIBBEAN & SOUTH AMERICA APE Sponsors and Exhibits at SEFE7

APE was proud to be in attendance as an exhibitor and Bronze Sponsor at the Seventh Seminar on Special Foundations Engineering & Geotechnics and First Foundation & Geotechnics Industry Show in Sao Paulo, Brazil. 2,600 attendees attended the event, which took place in June.

Jim Casavant, APE Sales Manager for the Caribbean

Attendees in Exhibit Area

and South America was in attendance and worked the exhibit.

Jim Casavant: jimc@apevibro.com

APE CENTRAL AMERICA Contact Franki Segura, frankis@apevibro.com

Franki Segura has been named the APE Sales Manager for Central America.

Franki’s experience in Mexico and with the Latin American market and the heavy construction industry will be a benefit to APE and to our customers in the region.

Se Habla Espanol.

APE has managed to catch the attention of Mexican Contractors, regardless of the long term presence of other manufacturers. Ever since its entry into the market in December 2010, APE has managed to provide the right equipment solutions for complex infrastructure such as: • The Construction of a Distribution Facility of a Natural Gas Terminal (APE D50 Diesel Impact Hammer).

• The Expansion of the Container Terminal for Port of Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico (APE 200-6 Vibro).

• The Construction of a New Major Naucalpan-Ecatepec Ex-

Franki Segura: frankis@apevibro.com

Franki Segura: frankis@apevibro.com

GULFCOAST New 200-6 Gets Down

Stewart Construction of Harvey, Louisiana traded-in its ICE 66 vibro for the APE 200-6. Here is a photograph of the Stewart 200-6 on its first job driving 36” x 130’ long piles.

Stewart Construction is a premier inland marine contractor. It has been servicing the industries on the Mississippi River and various other inland waterways for the past 30 years.

Stewart Construction is well known for the high quality of its work. Its recent acquisition of the APE vibro reinforces the fact that APE is the top of the line for pile driving equipment.

Joe Wright: joew@apevibro.com

Segura

pressway across Mexico, City (APE 200 vibros).

• Construction of a New Marina in Los Cabos (APE 170 Variable Moment Vibro).

• The Construction of a Walmart in Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico (APE 150T).

• Construction of Shafts for Línea12 Underground Train Project in Mexico City (APE 150T).

• The Expansion of Port of Veracruz, Mexico (JM 66-80 & JM 416 vibros).

• The Construction of a Mining Facility, Baja California, Mexico (APE 400 vibro).

Feel the power...APE’s 200-6

The APE Gulf Branch is pleased to announce that Mike Cribbs, previously Service Manager for the Florida Branch, has been transferred to the Gulf Branch’s Louisiana facility.

Welcome aboard Mike, we know you will be a great addition to the Gulf Region.

WEST Local #34 Visits Stockton

It was all hands on deck as the as the West Coast Branch in Stockton, CA turned its attention toward training earlier this year. The Carpenters Training Committee and Local #34 sent its apprentices to the Stockton yard to gain familiarity with Powerpacks, Vibratory piledriver/extractors and Diesel Hammers.

This was a good opportunity for the pilebucks to cover a great deal of material in a short period of time and get some of those fundamentals of the equipment down, making them more valuable to the profession and knowledgeable in the field.

APE has been running the Piledriver School for years.

Many of the best Pilebucks in the industry cut their teeth on

Apprentices from the Local 34 get familiar with the operation and components of a diesel impact pile driver from APE’s Stockton Branch Manager Steve Cress.

APE equipment. After a day on vibros and power packs and a day on diesels, attendees come away armed with the knowledge of the equipment that can take years to gather.

APE believes that this commitment to learning with the crews of the future makes a stronger industry, and better crews.

The APE Training is avail-

100K drill was just the tool for the job.

Scotto Gray, one of the designers for the Drill, and Larry Mulnax of NW APE sales, visited the site on an equipment evaluation. It is not every day you walk onto a job site with a “prototype” piece of foundation equipment and the superintendant says, with a look a complete satisfaction in

his eye, “Don’t change a thing, this has got to be the best drill I have ever used”.

As the drill approached the 40’ mark, Jeff, the super on site described the material from 45’ to 85’ as a very stiff clay, resembling “bay mud”. This material was so sticky and heavy that it would not carry itself up the flight, so 10’ bites were taken, the flight brought out of

able to Journeymen and Apprentice programs. Contact your local APE branch.

Steve Cress: stevec@apevibro.com

NORTHWEST New Drill. Big Results

When Dewitt Construction had 60 big holes to drill in Hillsboro, Oregon, APE’s new

“Don’t change a thing, this has got to be the best drill I have ever used”

New 100K Drill gettin’ some love

the hole and clay removed by a mini-excavator. The drill has been running in APE 37” U leads which the customer liked so well they are buying the set.

The 60 holes were drilled, with a 5” grouting system used to pump grout at pressures averaging 1000-1500 psi.

Larry Mulanax: mulanaxl@apevibro.com

APE Northwest services Western Canada

American Piledriving Equipment, Inc. is a leading manufacturer of APE and J&M pile driving and deep foundation installation equipment, including vibratory hammers/extractors, diesel impact hammers, hydraulic impact hammers, helical pile drivers and materials, wick drain installation equipment, drilling equipment, hydraulic top drive augers, drill rigs, piledriving rigs, power units, lead systems. There are 8 APE locations in the USA, one in China, and distribution throughout the world.

PDCA Project of the Year to APE Octakong on cover of Piledriver!

The Pile Driving Contractors Association (PDCA) presented the Project of the Year Award to American Pile-

driving Equipment (APE) for its work on the Hong Kong Macau Zhuhai Bridge Project in China. APE designed and built the 8 Vibro piledriver known as the Octakong, which drove the 72’ diameter steel pipe piles in the South China Sea. These piles will form the perimeters for two artificial islands in the seaway that will connect Hong Kong with the cities of Macau and Zhuhai.

The award was presented to APE in Albuquerque, NM at the 16th Annual Conference

& Expo.

APE is thrilled to win this award for its work and innovation, particularly from

the PDCA, the preeminent industry Association dedicated to exclusively to piledriving.

GO APE! GO PDCA!

APE accepts award at PDCA Business meeting with PDCA President Buck Darling and Executive Director, Stevan Hall

APE CHINA APE 600 Underwater Soil Compaction for HMZ Bridge Sees Phase I Success

The “APE OctaKong” project revolutionized the way cofferdams could be driven at sea when it drove 120 piles at 72 ft. in diameter to grade in 6 months. The “Tandem 200-6 Special” project revolutionized the way cell walls could be driven when it drove 240 single cell sheet walls at 37 foot wide. Now another revolution is taking place; Underwater soil compaction.

In between the two manmade islands for the Hong Kong Macao Bridge will be a 5,000 m long immersed tube tunnel. To build the tunnel, pre-fabricated concrete sections will be lowered onto the sea floor. Once all the tunnel sections have been lowered into place the water will be pumped out and a tunnel will be created. However, before the tunnel sections can be lowered to the sea floor the ground must be hardened and flat. Traditional methods would required a large weight

to be repeatedly dropped onto the gravel below until the ground is hardened to the required level, but when compacting soil at sea the accuracy of dropping a weight can be slow and tricky. Therefore,

ocean floor the APE 600, using 550 tons of driving force, compacts the gravel to near perfect flatness. Much like ironing a wrinkled shirt, the sea floor is ironed out.

The only difference being

Final Adjustments before submersion

a method was created to use a 40 ton steel plate, that looks like a big clothing iron, connected to a single APE model 600 vibratory hammer. After the gravel is poured on the

that it is down 50 m underwater in complete darkness.

With special sensors and GPS devices, the APE 600′s location is known by operators of the ship above, even during

continually changing currents.

APE’s hammers are known to have underwater capabilities far superior to other vibratory hammer models in the market, but this job requires the hammer to stay underwater for 4-5 days at a time , 50 m below the surface, working 24 hours a day. This will be the most rigorous underwater job ever done using APE equipment and the engineering limits of the APE 600 again would be tested, especially because the project will be 18 months long. After 1 month of operation the project has been a complete success. The 600 was pulled out of the water after its fourth, 5 day dive and all indications show zero seawater entered the gearbox and all systems were normal. APE hopes to see more contractors using this method in the future for underwater soil compaction jobs.

David White: davidw@apevibro.com

UPCOMING EVENTS Small Diameter Geo-Support Seminar (ADSC) Herndon, VA - Nov 13-14, 2012 ADSC Annual Meeting Bonita Springs, FL - Feb 6-9, 2013 World of Concrete Las Vegas, NV - Feb 5-8, 2013 Piledriving Contractors Association (PDCA) Annual Conference & Expo 2013 Orlando, FL - 25-27 Apr 2013 DFI Superpile 2013 Minneapolis, MN - 15-16 May 2012 DFI’s 38th Annual Conference on Deep Foundations Phoenix, AZ - 25-26 Sep 2013 Conexpo 2014 Las Vegas, NV - 18-22 Mar 2014

Look, I told Ya, it’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

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