Vibration-Free Driven Tubular-Piles

To convert the railway-bridge across the Oude Maas between Dordrecht and Zwijndrecht into a vertical lifting bridge, a drastic adaptation of the existing piers is necessary. Extra piles have to be placed quite close to the present piers to bear the extra weight of lift-towers and bridge-sections. This article describes the special technology applied to drive steel tubular piles l800 mm. in diameter and 36 m. in length vibration-free into position. At the same time a method of pile-point-reinforcement has been applied to minimize the settlements.