SO L UTION
R EVOL UT ION
Kochi, Japan-based Giken Group of
Companies has driven five decades of
success by finding innovative construction
solutions that benefit society
For over 50 years Japan’s Giken Group of Companies
(Giken Ltd.) has been making revolutionary advances
in piling technology. Their aim has been to use their in-novations
to create dynamic, positive change that en-hances
efficiency and delivers social benefits.
Following the devastation of the Second World War, Japan
had a lot of rebuilding to do. In fact, Japan’s major cities could
be compared to massive construction projects where people
lived side by side with heavy equipment, clouds of dust and
constant noise. This was the world in which Akio Kitamura,
founder of The Giken Group of Companies, started his career
as a builder and innovator.
Kitamura got his start in construction as an assistant
equipment operator with the Kochi Construction Centre
back in the 1960s. He learned much and was able to take this
forward with the founding of his first enterprise, The Kochi
COMPANY PROFILE
Giken Engineering Consulting Company, a firm he launched
in 1967. The company was busy, and Kitamura soon learned
that citizens of the city were very unhappy about the constant
noise of vibration hammers that were pounding foundations
into the ground as the country rapidly rebuilt. Following an
incident where one of his workers was assaulted by an angry
resident whose restaurant business was hampered by the
construction noise, Kitamura vowed to find a solution.
Solutions to the noise problem proved challenging. To
make progress, Kitamura enlisted the help of Yasuo Kakiuchi,
a construction professional with an engineering background.
Together the pair was able to create the world’s first silent
vibration free piling machine in 1973, with the Giken Silent
Piler making its local market debut two years later. In 1975, the
Silent Piler was introduced to the world at the International
Environmental Prevention Exhibition in Osaka. And, while
By Kelly Gray
COURTESY OF GIKEN
PILING CANADA 23