In recent years, Liebherr’s deep foundation equipment has become increasingly popular on the North American continent, especially in Canada. In the past months, a Liebherr piling rig, a model LRH 100, laid the foundation for a new bridge in Quebec.
The piling rig, owned by the Canadian company Centurion Fondation, was equipped with the large hydraulic hammer H 85/6. Its task was to install about 120 piles with a diameter of approximately 450 mm and total lengths between 30 and 36 metres.
A major challenge on the job was the narrow workspace that offered little leeway for the piling rig to move in any direction. Here, the innovative leader kinematics of the LRH 100 was a great advantage, allowing radii of up to 8.75 metres and inclinations of maximum 18 degrees in all directions. Thanks to this feature, the operator was able to change the position of the leader in all directions without moving the undercarriage.
A heavily frequented highway through the middle of the jobsite was a further complicating factor for the operator of the piling rig. When lifting the piles into the helmet of the hammer, the operator had to ensure that the traffic flow was not disturbed or halted.
High flexibility of the LRH 100
As the maximum pile length that can be lifted by the LRH 100 is 19 metres, it was necessary to extend the piles until the required length was achieved. This was done by using the rig to place the extensions on the already hammered pile and welding the parts together. During the welding process, the piling rig installed the next pile, ensuring maximum efficiency. Then, the LRH 100 returned to the welded pile and hammered it down to the final depth.
The installation of the last piles proved to be the most challenging. Since there was no more space available on site, the piling rig was placed on a self-constructed platform. Thanks to this approach, the LRH 100 was able to reach even the last piles without damaging the existing ones. In total, the rig installed approximately ten piles per day.
The LRH 100 – a powerful machine
The LRH 100 is based on the proven LB 20 carrier machine of the Liebherr LB series of rotary drilling rigs. It is equipped with a powerful and emission-optimized 270 kW/362 hp Liebherr diesel engine and can be transported in one piece with the hammer mounted. The compact design of the carrier machine, with three-metre transport width, allows for quick and cost-effective transportation. The LRH 100 from Liebherr also offers a wide range of powerful equipment. This assures that the excellent performance of the basic machine is ideally converted into high productivity.
The LRH 100 is the smallest model of the Liebherr series of pure piling rigs, who offer three larger models. Following the policy of “everything from a single source,” Liebherr also offers various other machines for special deep foundation tasks, including the LRB series of combined piling and drilling rigs, the LB series of pure rotary drilling rigs with maximum torques up to 510 kNm as well as the HS series of duty cycle crawler cranes. 