With so many different vibratory hammers available, many with specifications that are inaccurate or misleading it has become a headache to choose the right size vibratory hammer for your job. Many clients solve this problem by erring on the safe side and choosing the biggest machine they can get their hands on. Bigger hammers are more expensive to operate and require larger cranes.

A vibratory hammers most important parameters are the operating frequency and the amplitude. Generally speaking, for soils with a high clay content we recommend a hammer with a larger amplitude, while for sandy soils we recommend a hammer with a higher frequency. In urban areas we recommend a hammer with variable frequency that avoids resonance in the soil during start-up and shut down of the hammer. Some expert advice: don’t just compare hammers on these two specifications, focus instead on the hydraulic flow of the power pack to understand the hammer’s actual performance. The vibro can only meet the spec if it gets enough power. A company like ICE, who has been in the business of building vibratory hammers for 40 years， has developed a well balanced portfolio of hammers to suit these varying soil conditions. You can find an overview on our website.

The new owner of an ICE 1412C was awarded a project in Rui’an in Zhejiang Province， an area well known as a manufacturing hub of cheap export products. The job was at the bridge construction for the Ningbo - Wenzhou highway. The piles were to be driven in the river and the site conditions were silty soil. This type of soil is very soft and allows you to use a smaller sized hammer for the pile driving than in other soil types. However, extracting piles from this soil type is a completely opposite experience. The soil friction, especially after the piles have been loaded and have been in the soil for significant period, need a hammer with a larger centrifugal force than you’d expect in other soil conditions to extract the piles.

A simple hammer was used to drive the piles into the riverbed， but could now not extract the piles anymore as both the amplitude and frequency were insufficient to bring the pile into vibration. The client went on a search for a suitable hammer that could offer the right mix of large amplitude and medium frequency to get the piles out and selected the 1412C. A great choice for Rui’an! The 1412C, running at only 50% power, extracted the 24m long, 2000 mm diameter casings with great ease.

The 1412C is a world class performer. The hammer offers 300t of driving force and generates 35mm of amplitude, making it suitable for a wide range of soil conditions. The 1412C has been produced for decades and is a foundation engineers reliable companion. This machine doesn't breakdown and waste your time and resources, it doesn’t overheat because the hammer is cooled, it doesn’t get you behind schedule! If you would also like some help choosing the right equipment for your job, give us a call!