Dock pile driver
Fixed Type Dock
There are floating and fixed type dock. The floating type is advantaged in low cost and fast construction, but considering aesthetic and durability, it is not so good as fixed type. Especially in cold region, the freezing on floating dock in winter is an inevitable problem.
Piling fixed dock can be used for long time after one construction and just needs for few maintenance in the future.
Dock Pile Materials
Piling fixed dock can use timber, concrete, steel and composite material piles.
Dock Pile Driver
The piling equipment can be both impact or vibratory pile driver.
Impact Pile Driver
The impact pile driver uses impact force to drive the pile into the soil gradually. The working efficiency is low but the cost is also low.
The vibratory pile driver is mounted in excavator with better efficiency. The high frequency vibration from the pile driver will liquefy the soil instantaneously. And by the down force from excavator boom, it only takes few minutes to press one pile into the soil.
But high frequency vibratory pile driver also has disadvantage in big vibration and noise to neighborhoods including animals and plants.
Other Dock Pile Driver
In recent years, there is a new developed silent piler without any vibration and noise during construction, but it is very expensive, not economical choice for small dock project.
Generally speaking, vibratory pile driver is the best choice for dock piling.
Vibratory pile driver can be divided into two types, vertical grip and side grip.
The vertical grip type clamps the top of the pile, however the side grip type can clamp any position of the pile. The vertical grip type requests larger construction space. Although side grip type has advantage in construction space, it needs more powerful excavator for driving.
How to choose the suitable type depends on the construction space, the dimension of the pile, and the resistance of the soil.