UP TO THE CHALLENGE
How innovative products from American Piledriving
Equipment are proving their worth in the Canadian North
By Mark Halsall
It’s called the Polar Penetrator. When it comes to piling
work in the Canadian North, it’s hard to think of another
piece of equipment that’s more aptly named.
The Polar Penetrator drill bit was invented by American
Piledriving Equipment (APE) and is part of the company’s
HD Driver system that’s uniquely suited to deep foundation
construction in cold, northerly locations.
“It’s a drill bit that executes typically in frozen tundra or
ground with permafrost or discontinuous frost, and I tell
you what, it’s a game-changer,” said Colin Grindle, Canadian
regional manager for APE. “We’ve been able to tackle any
project in any terrain with our HD system.”
A prime example is the Keeyask Camp project, a planned
community in Manitoba’s far north to support construction
of the Keeyask Dam installation for Manitoba Hydro.
In excess of 5,000 helical piles had to be put in at depths of
40-plus feet to support facility structures for the 3,000-person
work camp. During a bone-numbing winter in 2013-14, they
were all installed with excavator-mounted HD Drivers from
APE, which also supplied the seven-, nine- and 11-inch highstrength
steel HD piles used for the project.
“More than 5,000 piles were driven in temperatures as cold
as 55 below, but there wasn’t a failed pile, no injuries, not a
down day up there,” said Grindle. “It was a challenging project
to say the least, but it was a huge success.”
In addition to bitterly cold weather, soil conditions were
exceptionally tough, with a thick layer of seasonal frost, massive
boulders and Canadian Shield bedrock to contend with.
Pre-drilling was required and according to Grindle, the HD
Driving system with the Polar Penetrator and the down-hole
48 Q3 2016 www.pilingcanada.ca
/www.pilingcanada.ca
/www.pilingcanada.ca
