Welcome to vulcanhammer.info! Thanks for visiting today. The site is about Vulcan Iron Works Inc., its history and the pile driving equipment it manufactured. My great-great-grandfather founded Vulcan in 1852. Vulcan was a foundry for most of the nineteenth century, then in 1887 it produced the first #1 hammer. Pile driving equipment became its exclusive product by World War II. In the 1960’s our equipment was taken offshore for oil platform installation; this proved the greatest venture Vulcan undertook.
The company remained almost entirely in my family’s hands until 1996, when it was acquired by a partially owned subsidiary of the Cari Capital Company in 1996. The air/steam product line was in turn acquired by Vulcan Foundation Equipment in 2001, and they produced it until 2007. The following year the Vulcan product line was acquired by Pile Hammer Equipment.
What’s Here
A company with nearly a century and a half of history needs a big site. We’ve broken it down into several sections, and you can click on the subject to find out more:
- vulcanhammer.info Guide to Pile Driving Equipment, the indispensable reference for Vulcan hammer maintenance and repair.
- Vulcan Tips: helpful suggestions to keep your Vulcan hammer running right.
- Vulcan: the Company. Some interesting items about the company that don’t directly relate to its products.
- Vulcan: the Products. A general overview of the products Vulcan put out, with links to more information.
- Vulcan Hammers: Specifications and Information. A hammer-by-hammer information resource on Vulcan and some other hammers too
- Vulcan Diesel Hammers
- Vulcan Vibratory Hammers
- Vulcan: the First Hundred Years. A history of the company from its beginning to when it moved to Chattanooga, TN in 1960.
- Vulcan: the Offshore Experience. Documents the years when offshore dominated Vulcan’s product line and corporate life.
- Drivability and Vulcan Hammers, which discuss the geotechnical aspects of Vulcan hammers and driven piles in general
- Vulcan and Sheet Piling. Sheet piling came into use just after the development of the Warrington-Vulcan hammers. Includes information on the design and installation of these useful retaining walls
There’s a lot more; use the search feature to find it.
Get in Touch
Vulcan hammers are a durable product; some have been in service for more than a century. There is a wealth of information on this site about the various products that Vulcan manufactured and marketed in its 144 year history. If you can’t find what you’re looking for here–and that includes information on parts and service–click here to contact us online, or call me at (423) 488-8590.
Don Warrington
About the Webmaster
“With your knowledge of pile driving, I suspect that you could supervise a professor.” Dr. Michael W. O’Neill, Late Cullen Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Houston, letter to Don C. Warrington, 23 November 1994.
Don Warrington has had a long career in the foundation construction industry.
- Experience
- From 1852 to 1996, his family was the principal owner of Vulcan Iron Works Inc., and he was employed there in various capacities there from 1978 until 1999.
- Editor/Consultant, Pile Buck, Inc., 2000-2007. Edited the following two books:
- Co-Author, Soils in Construction, a geotechnical book aimed at contractors
- Adjunct faculty member (2001-2019, 2021-), Lecturer (2019-2021) at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga; Soil mechanics, Soil Mechanics Laboratory, Foundation Design, and Fluid Mechanics Laboratory
- Publisher of numerous books on geotechnical and marine engineering.
- Researcher with extensive publications.
- Currently consultant and designer for Pile Hammer Equipment/Vulcan Foundation Equipment, who now own, service, and market the Vulcan product line.
- Expert in several cases involving pile driving equipment.
- Education
- Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Texas A&M University
- Masters of Science Degree in Civil Engineering, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
- PhD in Computational Engineering, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
- Memberships and Registrations
- Registered Professional Engineer, States of Tennessee and Ohio
- Member, American Society of Civil Engineers, Tennessee Section, Chattanooga Branch
- Order of the Engineer
- Member, Deep Foundations Institute. Program Chairman, 1992 DFI Annual Meeting.
Our Companion Sites
- Positive Infinity, where we have downloads of general interest along with material of a non-technical nature
- vulcanhammer.net, our site for geotechnical and marine engineering documents, software and academic materials
- Chet Aero Marine, our tribute to the “Golden Age of Aviation,” with downloads about airport and airfield design and general engineering interest
vulcanhammer.info 