“We were lucky to find a small gas-powered Ditch Witch
SK350 unit with a crawler. We were lucky because these mini
skid steers are hard to find. Even on the Ditch Witch website,
this product isn’t very well promoted.”
Castle also experimented with different drive head sizes,
ultimately settling on a suitable one from Eskridge that was
about 36 inches wide and capable of 2,500-foot-pounds.
A hydraulic jib also had to be built for the unit, as well as a
frame-cage that would envelope the unit and to which the
helicopter could attach.
Castle affectionately named the unit Spud.
In preparation for their trip to the Athabasca River, Castle
and his crew first had to learn safety practices for helicopter
passengers. After an initial hour-long orientation, they spent
a further hour-and-a-half practising disembarking on a sandbar
near Fort McMurray.
“What we had to be the most cautious about was the
materials we carried. Everything had to be secured,” said
Castle, “because we couldn’t risk anything flying above our
heads and damaging the helicopter blades.”
Getting to the actual site also involved several carefully
planned legs. The day before the scheduled screw pile installation,
a logging crew with chainsaws was sent to make a
clearing to prepare a makeshift landing pad. Castle and his
crew were then helicoptered in along with their equipment.
Spud, the purpose-built miniature piling rig, was helicoptered
in last.
Castle and his team installed four piles per shore, three in
a row parallel to the river, and one just adjacent. The screw
HIGH STRENGTH CTS® HOLLOW RE-BARS IN DRILLED SHAFTS
WITH
HIGH STRENGTH HOT ROLLED THREAD BAR (HRTB™)
FIVE REASONS TO USE CTS® HOLLOW RE-BARS IN DRILLED SHAFTS
1. To replace PVC entry tubes for CSL and TIP
2. To use for BASE POST-GROUTING
3. To replace Re-Bars
4. The larger size of CTS® Hollow RE-Bars makes the cages lighter and more rigid
5. Safer handling during installation
www.contechsystems.com Toll-free: 1-888-818-4826, or 1-888-494-3989
The registered trademarks are owned by Con-Tech Systems Ltd.
TECHNOLOGY UPDATE
PILING CANADA 27
/www.contechsystems.com
/
