Pile Driving

[LovelyLadyLux]

This is a forwarded email so I have no idea the time frame it comes from or even from where however it caught my attention as it is something I'd never seen before but it gave me a sense of the determination some have to accomplish a task. It also struck me that I can't even envision most of us here in North America doing this (or even really thinking about this)......

This is the forwarded part of the email that came to me - (Horus and Grandad might have comments on the calculations):

My observations: I have yet to meet a 180 lb Pakistani. 130 may be closer to the true weight of a citizen who still lives there, perhaps up to 150 if he is living here. I do like the work-safe rated site though. Nice steel toed boots!

If your not an engineer some of the calculations may escape you, but don’t worry the video explains all the calculations in one go !!

Something to cheer up the Engineer in you.

Just to put you in the picture and keep you up to date with the latest developments.

Below is a link to a short video of a Pakistani pile driving construction technique!

The chant is also catchy!

Now, let's analyse the Engineering here:

6 men x 180 lbs = 1080 lbs static force.

Jumping up and down will create a 3 times dynamic effect = 3240 lbs/jump = 1.6 ton thumps if the pile is tapered to 2 in x 2 in, cross section at the tip = 4 sq. in. So, dynamic pressure/thump at pile tip = 3240/4 = 800 psi.

"Add a man" feature will increase to 950 psi, so buy the option!

Increase the chant and dynamic force goes up to 5 times to bring max. pressure / thump to 1600 psi for a 7 man team.

Quite good, and will penetrate hard clay and sandy soil (but not hard or rocky ground!) Pretty ingenious.

Oh, the foreman is the guy on the tambourine.

phpBB [video]

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/ ... Kypg?rel=0

[Grandad]

That is so funny

But their productivity is very low, they were not jumping in unison and some were not jumping at all. If they could jump in unison and just about two feet up, that stake would have gone in in two or three jumps. There mass on impact with the board would be much greater, after all, don't we all know that by gravity a mass will be drawn to the surface of the earth at an acceleration of 32feet/sec/sec

Or one 14lb sledge hammer could replace all the men on the board.

[Horus]

It would also help if the plank did not absorb most of the energy by flexing as they jumped up and down on it. It would also have more effect if the plank was a lot heavier to start with as the downward force exerted by the jumping men would be amplified by the additional weight of a thicker plank, however this would be cancelled out by the necessity to employ additional men in order to raise the heavier plank to the top again, so it may be argued that the extra men would be put to better use as additional weight dancing on the plank and not just standing about waiting to raise the heavier plank. (is all this making sense?)

[Mad Dilys]

Do these teams also have a section for concrete mixing like the Egyptians?

I do have photos somewhere showing the 4 men operating one shovel technique..............