DRIVING SYSTEMS AND TYPES OF HAMMER
The choice of a suitable driving system is of fundamental importance to ensure successful pile installation with due regard to the safety of operatives and environmental disturbance.
IMPACT DRIVING
VIBRODRIVING
PRESSING
This is the best method for driving piles into difficult ground or final driving of piles to level in panel form. With a correctly selected and sized hammer it is the most effective way of completing deep penetration into hard soils in most conditions. The downside is that it can be noisy and not suitable for sensitive or restricted sites.
This is usually the fastest and most economical method of pile Installation but usually needs Ioose or cohesionless soil conditions for best results.Vibration and noise occurs but this can be kept to a minimum provided the right equipment is used and the site is not too sensitive.
Otherwise known as silent vibrationless hydraulic jacking. Machines of various types are now widely used. This method is very effective in clay soils but less so in dense cohesionless ground unless pre-augering or jetting techniques are used. This is the most effective method to use when installing sheet piles in sensitive locations where piling would have not been considered in the past.