National Pile Croppers active in North America
The National Pile Croppers (NPC) Group is developing and supplying its own line of patented customer-focused foundation pile cropping solutions to a wide variety of customers in partnership with Canadian company, Pinnacle Drilling Products.
In 2022, Calgary-based Pinnacle Drilling Products was appointed NPC’s distributor for Canada. Both companies pride themselves on delivering innovative solutions to their construction and civil engineering clients, partnering with them to understand their needs, culture and business aspirations. This understanding facilitates the provision of exceptional service and advanced solutions to meet any challenge using world-class products, such as hydraulic pile croppers.
As part of Pinnacle’s drive to provide its customers with state-of-the-art solutions and products, the company identified the potential of NPC Group’s range of pile croppers. The partnership between the NPC Group and the professional and experienced industry distributor reinforces the group’s commitment to providing exceptional levels of customer focus in-market.
Since its appointment as an NPC Group distributor, Pinnacle Drilling Products has been very active and successful. To this end, it recently delivered and commissioned an NPC Quad 600 pile cropper for an international design-build specialty foundation company. The Quad 600 pile cropper was used on a project at an undisclosed government building. The project involved cropping 200 auger cast piles that were 18 inches in diameter. The foundation company was impressed with how easily the Quad 600 cropped piles without damaging the rebar.
The International Pile Croppers and NPC pile cropper works with a hydraulic connection between the excavator and the pile cropper via quick-release fittings on excavators (generally ranging from six tonnes to 30 tonnes). The excavator lifts the pile cropper over the pile and addresses the pile cut-off level where a complete horizontal fracture is made. The chisels penetrate in a horizontal direction up to the rebar to make the fracture. On bonded piles, the chisels will then penetrate further, and due to the shape of the chisels and the reaction forces of the rebar, the concrete will break into pieces and can easily be lifted off the pile.
In addition to supplying its equipment, the NPC Group has been working in unison with Pinnacle Drilling Products to make contractors and construction companies throughout North America aware of the benefits of hydraulic pile croppers. To this end, Pinnacle Drilling Products attended the Pile Driving Contractors Association conference in San Diego, Calif., in February.
Sims Crane & Equipment takes delivery of LR 1250.1 Unplugged
Crane rental and rigging service, Sims Crane & Equipment purchased a Liebherr LR 1250.1 Unplugged to add to their growing fleet. The battery-powered LR 1250.1 Unplugged is the first model of Liebherr’s Unplugged series sold on the U.S. East Coast. The crawler crane with an alternative drive system performs like the conventional version while putting off zero emissions. This battery-powered machine will join Sims Crane’s fleet of all-terrain, mobile, crawler and rough terrain cranes, including Liebherr’s LR 1250.1 and LR 1300 SX.
The models of the Unplugged series can perform either via battery (unplugged) or plugged in, offering identical performance to the conventional version. The battery can last up to approximately eight hours, based on individual workload. The machine also comes with an app that provides the status of the battery’s power. The unplugged series offers zero emissions and very little noise pollution, making this the ideal crane for Sims to work in more populated areas, including amusement parks, hospitals and residential areas.
Sims Cranes’ new LR 1250.1 Unplugged will be delivered with a 242 foot main boom and 311 foot luffing jib and aux tip. This addition will further aid their mission of providing turnkey crane and rigging solutions, completing each job safely and smoothly.
“We are honoured to partner with Liebherr and be on the forefront to serve a vastly growing need for alternative energy to Sims’ ever-growing customer base,” said Jackson Sims, owner and vice president of sales and market development at Sims Crane.
Registration is open for DFI’s SuperPile ’23 and 48th Annual Conference on Deep Foundations
Registration is open for SuperPile ’23, a piling design and construction conference hosted by the Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) in partnership with the International Association of Foundation Drilling. The annual SuperPile conference is taking place at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis from June 7 to 9.
This three-day event includes presentations and panel discussions on the latest developments in piling foundations, highlighting design approaches for foundation optimization, innovative approaches to foundation construction, as well as case studies and topics relevant to the southeast region.
Day 1 opens with a keynote lecture, “Georgia Geology and Deep Foundation History,” delivered by Willie NeSmith, P.E., of Berkel & Company Contractors. The lecture is followed by award lectures and invited speakers featuring the presentation of the Osterberg Memorial Lecture. There are also sessions on “super” innovations and electric power and decarbonization.
Day 2 is dedicated to parallel sessions on piling technology and testing and evaluation.
Other conference highlights include DFI technical committee meetings; exhibits featuring more than 75 manufacturers, suppliers and service providers; and the Women in Deep Foundations networking reception.
Visit www.dfi.org/SuperPile2023 to register as an attendee, exhibitor or sponsor.
Also, join geotechnical professionals at DFI’s 48th Annual Conference on Deep Foundations (DFI48), held from Oct. 31 to Nov. 3, in Seattle, Wash. Registration is open to attend, exhibit and sponsor the conference at www.dfi.org. The conference theme is “Embracing Change,” and the technical program explores the trends in industry advancements, changing policies and standards, and incorporating resiliency in design and construction across the deep foundation industry.
DFI48 is the largest gathering of international practitioners specializing in cutting-edge technologies and risk management for deep foundations, ground improvement, earth retention and excavation support.
The conference also features keynote lectures, the Hal Hunt Lecture on Communications, paper competition presentations, the Manufacturers, Suppliers and Service Providers Committee’s expo sessions, the Awards Banquet, Student Activities Program and more than 150 exhibits featuring new and innovative products and services.
A highlight of the event is the presentation of the DFI Legends Awards, given every four years to honour three practitioners – an engineer, contractor, manufacturer and supplier – that have made significant contributions and advancements to research, design, construction, manufacturing and use of deep foundations.
Western Equipment Solutions and Champion Equipment Sales, LLC unify their teams once again
On March 6, Western Equipment Solutions (WES) announced the assets acquisition of Champion Equipment Sales, LLC (CES). Long-time partners Steve Wilson, president of WES, and Vincent Jue, principal and owner of CES, are excited to unite their teams again and expand the territories for Soilmec and Leffer equipment sales and service, all under WES’s name. With offices in Nisku, Alta., Salt Lake City, Utah, and now Paramount, Calif., this continued partnership creates a larger parts, sales and service force to assist both new and existing customers in the foundation drilling and ground engineering industry, blending the best of both companies to strengthen WES’s reach and processes.
“The joining of forces of WES and CES creates the best and most customer-centred ground engineering and foundations drilling equipment dealer in North America. I know that this combination of talented people and resources will serve our customers very well,” Wilson said.
With the full support of industry-leading manufacturers Soilmec, Leffer and others, WES will continue to strive to provide top-of-the-line equipment, parts and service to all customers throughout the acquisition, and plans to maintain the existing equipment manufacturers, employees, service processes and distribution network. Existing customers in the western United States and Western Canada will continue receiving the highest quality service and equipment. New customers will be pleased to experience the growth to come.
“I’m excited to continue to build at WES what I started at CES. Building out an experienced and capable team throughout the western U.S. and Western Canada to support all areas of the foundation drilling industry has always been a shared goal of our businesses and one that we look forward to working on together. The ever-expanding needs of our customers will benefit greatly from our combined team’s reach, expertise and capabilities in sourcing and servicing foundation drilling equipment and tooling,” said Sean Montgomery, sales and business development representative.
“We are motivated to bring our skills and service team to a larger territory. It will be great to work with past clients again and expand our line of products [within] the industry,” said Craig Berninger, sales manager.
John Wilson, general manager of WES, spearheaded the acquisition and will continue to push for growth, focusing on the integration of operations and personnel for the new organization. He says he looks forward to the changes and is “excited to take this opportunity to the next level.”
“We want to increase the service and support to the foundation drilling industry,” he said.
The development of the WES financing department has already drastically streamlined the process of getting equipment to customers seamlessly and efficiently. The unified territory, expanded product lines and knowledgeable staff will continue to thrive. To learn more about WES, go to www.westernequipmentsolutions.com.
GZA GeoEnvironmental acquires Equity Environmental Engineering LLC
GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc. (GZA), a multi-disciplinary firm providing geotechnical, environmental, ecological, water and construction management services, has acquired Equity Environmental Engineering LLC, a provider of integrated planning and environmental consulting services throughout metropolitan New York and the Mid-Atlantic.
“Equity’s strong capabilities are a natural extension of the five core services currently offered by GZA – environmental consulting, geotechnical engineering, natural resources consulting, water resources engineering and construction management – and will help GZA expand and deepen our ability to serve clients throughout the Mid-Atlantic,’’ said GZA President and CEO Patrick Sheehan. “Equity’s environmental planning expertise also dovetails strategically with GZA’s service focus and will enable us to be even more responsive to commercial, industrial and residential development clients with complex land use and zoning needs, particularly in the N.Y./N.J. Metro area.”
Equity staff currently based in Manhattan, N.Y., and Mount Olive, N.J., will join with staff in GZA’s Manhattan and Fairfield, N.J., offices. In addition to environmental, engineering and natural resources services, the combination of the companies will introduce in-house Mid-Atlantic planning services, a capability GZA also offers in its New England and Midwest markets.
Equity Founder and Principal Peter Jaran, P.E., LSRP said, “We’ve long admired and respected GZA and are pleased to join the GZA family. Our companies’ cultures align strongly: We both have an intense focus on innovation, advocating for and serving our clients as their business partners, and being known for technical excellence in all we do.”
“We welcome Peter and his team to GZA and look forward to being able to provide both Equity and GZA clients with our new combined and expanded capabilities,’’ Sheehan said.
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