the patent gave sole use of the Silent Piler to Kochi Giken
Engineering Consulting Company, a fact that could have
presented a strong business hand for the firm, Kitamura saw
the benefit the device could have for society, so he agreed to
allow the sale of the Silent Piler widely in Japan. By the 1980s
the Giken Silent Piler was in use globally with Sweden taking
the first European order in 1983.
The Silent Piler is a ‘reaction-based’ hydraulic pile-jacking,
non-vibratory machine that operates with a minimal noise
impact to install steel sheet and tubular piles. This technol-ogy
can be applied in both soft and hard ground conditions
and for the installation of U and Z profile sheet piles in
both singles and pairs. Unlike traditional impact hammer
and vibratory systems, Giken’s equipment utilizes force-ful
hydraulics to push the piles down into the ground in a
manner that greatly reduces noise pollution. These systems
are also compact which means piling contractors can more
easily access challenging sites.
With the Giken Silent Piler making positive advances in
construction, the company began opening international
offices to consolidate support for sales. The London, U.K.,
office opened in 1990, followed by another European location
launched in the Netherlands the next year.
Driving Giken still farther has been the company’s
‘Construction Revolution’ concept that is based on five core
principles: Environmental Protection, Aesthetics, Safety, The
Economy and Speed. Since 1993, Giken has advocated and
promoted this ‘Revolution’ to create a new standard that sur-passes
the conventions of the current construction industry.
According to the company, “The ‘Construction Revolution’
breaks the shackles of convention and leads to a great
paradigm-shift of the global construction industry.”
A good case-in-point has been the development of EcoPark
and EcoCycle, two examples from the 1990s of revolutionary
design approaches to a city planning challenge. EcoPark is
an earthquake-proof underground car parking facility that
uses a robotized system to place vehicles in a silo-like below
grade garage. EcoCycle offers a similar set up, but for bicy-cles.
Behind this is Kitamura’s philosophy that a culture of
a city should be above ground for the people to enjoy, while
the functionality of a city should be below ground and out of
COMPANY PROFILE
While other devices such as
concrete buttresses were washed
away in the post-earthquake
tsunami, the Giken implants
worked as designed.
COURTESY OF GIKEN
24 Q3 2018 www.pilingcanada.ca
/www.pilingcanada.ca
/www.pilingcanada.ca