view. Both EcoPark and EcoCycle allow for greater harmony
within the urban environment and conform to Giken’s core
principles. Both projects also demonstrated Giken’s abili-ties
to create complex underground structures that meet the
challenges of Japan’s unique geology.
Working to further develop its Press-in technology, Giken
joined forces with Cambridge University in 1993. This initiative
has led to the launch of the International Press-in Association
(2007), a group tasked with research and development of the
technique that has gained wide-global acceptance.
Internationally, Giken has been able to grow its global
market though an expanding network of sales offices. Already
mentioned are the European branches that opened in 1990
and 1991. By 1996, Singapore had come on board and the U.S.
joined the team in 1999, with an office in Orlando, Fla.
It was during this period in the 1990s that Giken
announced it had sold its 2,000th Silent Piler machine. It also
announced a major addition to the product line-up with the
Crush Piler (1997), a Press-in piler that featured a simulta-neous
auger to tackle hard subsurface jobs hampered with
boulders and rock layers.
A major test of Giken’s engineering came during Japan’s
earthquake of 2011. Using its Press-in method, Giken had
created a number of implant structures designed to with-stand
strong ocean forces following an earthquake. While
other devices such as concrete buttresses were washed away
in the post-earthquake tsunami, the Giken implants worked
as designed.
Today, Giken has built and delivered in excess of 3,500
Silent and Crush Pilers. This success has generated real value
for stakeholders of the company that is now listed on the
Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Revolutionary thinking
Giken reports that its growth has been steady and mea-sured.
The mission to challenge traditional methods has
been consistent all along the road from 1967 to 1975 to
2018. An example of this thinking can be seen in how Giken
looks at permanent structures. The traditional approach is
to see functionality as never changing. Giken suggests, “In
this decade, when the progress of technology development
and cultural development is significant, we need to change
our way of thinking regarding the ‘permanent structure’ that
makes its purpose, location and functionality unchange-able.
This endorses the need for society to demand a new
approach to construction.
COMPANY PROFILE
“In order for us to sustain our society, we need to adjust
ourselves according to changes of time and development of
culture. It will require us to flexibly manage the life cycle of
functional structures such as changes in function of infra-structures,
restoration of natural environment and re-cycle
of construction material.
“The issue of how to demolish and re-use or recycle struc-tures
at the end of their life should be ‘engineered’ into every
structure. This is the key to sustainable development and
total design, incorporating flexible functional changes and
end-of-life recycling processes.”
Behind this thinking is a desire to discover solutions.
Certainly, the provision of solutions to engineering challenges
is what impels Giken forward. For example, in New York City,
the 114-year old subway was hammered by Hurricane Sandy
in 2012. Repairs have been fraught with challenges. To get
on the right side of these challenges the New York Transport
Authority approved the use of Giken’s Hard Ground Press-in
Method to get around problems such as rock and buried
metal, and limit damage to existing below grade infrastruc-ture.
The reports have been so positive on Giken’s Press-in
pilers in New York’s subway repair that expectations are that
these devices will make themselves better known across
the U.S.
The path from a Kochi work site and an angry sushi chef
that resulted in the development of the first Silent Piler has
been a long one. However, the socially positive philosophies
of Kitamura and the engineering prowess that sought those
first solutions is one that promises to maintain the drive to
innovate and push The Giken Group of Companies to even
greater heights. Expect much from this company in its next
50 years.
COURTESY OF JUDLAU CONTRACTING
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