Vibro hammers are best known for sheet piling applications in China, but are now also gaining foothold in bore pile applications. In China’s South-West provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou the soil conditions are often so soft that without the support of a steel pipe the bore hole would cave in before concrete is poured, resulting in site contamination and material waste.
 
Ten years ago Lingye Foundation Engineering Company was the first company to adopt the rotary drilling process in Yunnan Province, and as such played a leading role in the acceptance of this technology in this region. The company now operates 4 rotary drill rigs. Yunnan provinces geological characteristics, with quick-sand and lime caves ensured the method once introduced quickly gained acceptance.
 
Early 2013 the company started a high-rise foundation construction project on the banks of Lake Erhai in the outskirts of Dali City. Because the soil conditions on site are very soft, the bore piles were therefore susceptible to collapse, the Benoto method was chosen.
 
The projected required the installation of 100 bore piles, ranging in length ranges from 25-40m, with a diameter of 1.2-2m. Lingye considered several construction methodologies, such as using a casing oscillator before finally settling on the ICE vibratory hammer. One of the main advantages of the ICE hammer are the low noise and vibration emission to the environment, crucial in this case as in the immediate vicinity of the construction site there are some residential buildings with very poor foundation structure.
 
Shanghai ICE dispatched an 815C vibratory hammer with an 81TC caisson clamping system to the jobsite. The hammer was set to work driving the casings into the ground. After the rotary drill had emptied the soil out of the pile and concrete had been poured the hammer extracted the pile again and moved on to the next position. The hammer’s cooling feature guarantees the hydraulic oil temperature does not exceed 85ºC during operation, and enabled the hammer to operate continuously until the hammer reached the perimeter of the site where the neighboring buildings stood. These old buildings, it turned out, were built without proper foundation, and had already started leaning. Lingye decided not to risk disturbing these structures further and opted to purchase the 28RF Resonance Free hammer instead. At the perimeter of the Tibetan Plateau Lingye is pioneering the resonance free technology. Resonance Free technology is widely used in Europe, and Shanghai ICE is thrilled that the technology is now making its first inroads into the China market.
 
Lingye Foundation Engineering is a leading contractor in Yunnan province. The company strives for continuous growth in turnover and staff development. The management realizes this can only be achieved by adopting advanced construction methods and equipment thus staying ahead of the curve.