MEET OUR TEAM

SCCI employs an award winning team; our team embodies the company founder’s core philosophy to always think outside the box, with a persistent focus of getting things done and deliver, no matter how challenging the circumstances. Our experience and proven performance in large diameter pile driving, whether horizontal or vertical, is a testament of the team members experience we employ. Each one of our team members has been recruited because of their vast and demonstrated skills and commitment to their profession. We are proud to have on our team the best design engineers in the industry that have been involved with all of our installations to date. From start to finish, we focus on seeing the job through to the satisfaction of our clients.

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The system is aimed at long and large diameter installations in difficult soils, and is suitable for installations such as fish-bearing creeks, pedestrian underpasses, or utility tunnels [e.g. connecting factories on both sides of an Interstate]. The actual installation times for such installations are measured in hours and days when using the HPD™ method, rather then weeks and / or months with pneumatic ramming devices.

The system incorporates a hydraulically charged, fully enclosed driving device with a compressed nitrogen chamber that is fired internally.  Also, by using specially designed seals for both the interior and exterior of the pipe, the system has proven itself capable of driving under and/or through the water table.  

Because of this feature it is even possible to construct outfalls through rough surfs with this system.

The system’s main advantage over other methods is the fact that the energy is transferred directly into the casing by means of an ultra-high-energy, low frequency impact with an immense high-velocity acceleration [up to 1800G’s], which causes the soil particles to be forcibly sheared. This is not the case with pipe-jacking systems that are assisted by low-energy, high frequency pneumatic rammers.  With those systems the soil particles are brought into suspension, causing a reduction in friction that in turn increases the effect of the jacking forces. Furthermore, those systems require huge thrust blocks, and their capacity is ultimately limited to the resistance mobilized by the thrust block. The HPD™ method does not require a thrust block or a ballast foundation since it moves the casing with the fully enclosed driving device.

Competing ramming installation systems on the market on large diameter casings in difficult soils typically require removal of the internal soil plug every time a casing is added to reduce friction, resistance and weight inside the pipe. Obviously this requirement affects the efficiency, and may cause an unstable condition at the face. The HPD™ method does not require these interim removals: the soil plug is removed upon completion of the drive by using a modified Tunnel Digging Machine [TDM] with a telescoping, 360 degree rotating boom with bucket. Through an internal conveyor belt, loaded at the front of the machine with the bucket, soil is discharged at the back onto a stacker conveyor belt. This discharge belt fills up multiple muck cars that are hauled out of the tunnel by a 5-ton battery-operated muck train running on 24-inch gauge rail.

During the extensive development period, wave-equation software, commonly applied by geotechnical engineers for deep foundation design, was modified for horizontal use. PDA [Pile Driving Analysis] systems, as marketed by PDI and Profound, were used to gather actual information at various test installations that confirmed the design calculations. This demonstrated that every large horizontal casing installation can be accurately engineered, eliminating guesswork and assuring success in any specific installation.

The engineering program will determine the driver size, and calculate the settings of stroke and the level of energy to be delivered to successfully perform the particular installation. Variables such as the weight of the casing and soil characteristics are taken into consideration. The program will also calculate the net driving time.

The HPD™ system has a built-in computer with printing capabilities that will document various important parameters of the installation, allowing instant comparison of the planned performance [as developed during the engineering phase] with the actual performance.

For more information regarding our services and / or available equipment, please use the form on our Contact Us page.