December 4, 1991 On the same day that Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) officially came to an end and halted its longtime operations, that airline’s final flight took place. Captain Mark Pyle piloted the airplane Clipper Goodwill, a Pan Am Boeing 727-221ADV, for Flight 436 between the cities of Bridgetown, Barbados, and Miami, Florida. […]The … Continue reading The Final Flight of an Influential Airline — Transportation History
Weight of Vulcan Wood Pile Caps for Wave Equation Analysis
In the late 1980's Vulcan furnished GRL with extensive information on its hammers, cushion configurations and cap weights for what was then the WEAP86/WEAP87 program. Most of that was carried over into the GRLWEAP program. One item that is not well represented in the database are the weights for the wood caps. From a Vulcan … Continue reading Weight of Vulcan Wood Pile Caps for Wave Equation Analysis
Concrete Pile Head Response to Impact
Our newest research item is this one, which is an expansion of the work with steel piles earlier this year. Abstract is as follows: The application of semi-infinite pile theory to the behaviour of driven piles has been studied since Parola (1970). Most of the effort, however, has been concentrated on piles which do not … Continue reading Concrete Pile Head Response to Impact
Delmag on Driving Sheet Piles
It may seem odd on this site, but we present the Delmag Guide to Driving Sheet Piles, which Delmag (a one-time competitor of Vulcan's) put out many years ago. It's a nice and comprehensive guide to the subject for impact hammers; it's a subject that's not always well understood. Diesel hammers (in Europe at least, … Continue reading Delmag on Driving Sheet Piles
Sixty Years of Vulcan in Chattanooga
In the midst of all that's going on these days, one anniversary (for this site at least) doesn't need to pass unmentioned: this month sixty years ago, Vulcan moved its operation from Chicago to Chattanooga, after 108 years in the "Windy City." Everything around the operation went according to plan, from the plant construction to … Continue reading Sixty Years of Vulcan in Chattanooga
Driving Concrete Piles Wild
Driving piles wild, i.e., without any leader of any kind, is something that takes a great deal of skill and forethought by the contractor. Like piles driven with a stub leader, it is necessary at least to use some kind of template to insure that the pile is on location and in alignment, and also … Continue reading Driving Concrete Piles Wild
SPW 2006 Sheet Pile Software Video Tour
Below is a video tour of the SPW 2006 sheet pile software, the academic use software developed by Dr. Arnold Verruijt at the University of Delft. https://youtu.be/_-wld-TBRpY You can download the software here Here is the tutorial series on the software: Analyzing Sheet Pile Walls with SPW 2006: Part I, Introduction (with another place to download … Continue reading SPW 2006 Sheet Pile Software Video Tour
Using a Vulcan #2 for Residential Piling
Most residences do not require pile foundations, but some do, generally because of the combination of the size of the house and the geotechincal stratigraphy (read soft.) In Vulcan's history this is generally associated with the New Orleans area, but recently a Vulcan #2 was used to drive residential piling in Connecticut. The whole post … Continue reading Using a Vulcan #2 for Residential Piling
Leaving the Derrick Barge Behind
Above is a photo of one of Ingram Construction's barges in the wake (literally) of the crew boat carrying Vulcan's representative (probably Jess Perry) away after a field service trip. Vulcan developed its field service capabilities mostly in response to its customers in the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere, and that frequently entailed long field … Continue reading Leaving the Derrick Barge Behind
Colonnades Beach Hotel
One of the pleasures of having an office in West Palm Beach was the ability to take in the pleasures of a resort area like South Florida. One of those more pleasurable places was the Colonnades Beach Hotel on Singer Island; the photo above of the entrance dates from October 1966. I'm not sure how … Continue reading Colonnades Beach Hotel
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