Last week I visited ICE clients in Shenzhen. Shenzhen impresses each time I visit, there are over 600 bore pile rigs in the area and while driving around the city you will see many of them. For harder soil layers down-the-hole-hammers  are popular.

More and more of these foundation projects are using ICE vibratory hammers to drive and extract casings to improve the installation speed and quality of the foundation piles. As a follower of our account, you will know this already. But did you know this motivation for choosing casings? Only during this visit did I learn that another main reason contractors choose steel casing method is to increase jobsite safety. The casing method adds stability to the site while the work is done, reducing the risk of destabilized equipment, or in worst case, tipped over equipment. 

The pile diameters for Shenzhen’s high-rise projects are large, with some requiring casings of 3000mm or greater. This means the 1412C is a popular model in this market. In the photos accompanying this article you will see a 12m long 3000mm diameter pile. The client has placed the hammer’s 900 Power Pack on the counterweight of the Sany SCC 1250 crawler crane, this makes the unit highly mobile and ensures the hydraulic hoses are out of the way and protected. In this position the power pack is less easily accessible for the operator, but the wireless remote control ensures easy handling within 50m range and the 900 power pack is fitted with an idle timer that switches off the engine when the hammer is idling so that fuel consumption is minimized during the day.

The 1412C receives good reviews from its users and owners. The operators are pleased about the hammer’s reliability and rapid service support from the ICE team. The hammer gets the job done without overheating. Owners are pleased with the low cost of ownership, with very limited parts and maintenance cost incurred. 

Another trend we see is the interest in RF equipment. Now that Shenzhen is becoming more densely built up, new construction sites come into conflict with neighboring buildings. Resonance is not tolerated by tenants of adjacent office towers, and work is quickly forced to a halt by these protestations. RF vibratory hammers, which work at frequencies above 2000 RPM, allow our clients to work without nuisance to the surroundings and therefore without interruption to the work. 

If you would like to benefit from our application experience, please give me a call, or leave a message in the comments below! We are looking forward to hearing from you.