The ad above is another Offshore Technology Conference ad from the early 1970's. It was aimed at its industry: the oilfield was well endowed with hard-drinking, card-playing people, a simple fact that doesn't fit into some peoples' idealisation of the past. The onshore construction industry wasn't much different, although the higher risks--and rewards--of the oilfield … Continue reading From “Deal Yourself a Winner” to “A Pile Driver Talks About God”
I've had experience on both the practical and "academic" sides of offshore pile driving and installation, but I've seldom seen a blunter and more accurate summary of the topic in the published literature than what's above. Vulcan certainly experienced that during the offshore years. The entire paper can be obtained here. The complete abstract is … Continue reading “Offshore pile driving is a high-risk activity as delays can be financially punitive”
Like the 060 and even more the 040, the 3100 was a major step up for the company. Even though it became the "gateway" to the company's largest hammers, itself it was a dead end offshore for reasons that weren't fully appreciated at the time, at least not by Vulcan or some of its end … Continue reading Vulcan 3100 Hammer: Specifications and Information
The success of the 040 was soon left behind by the deeper and deeper water conventional platforms were being installed into. That in turn called for larger hammers, and Vulcan rose to the occasion with the 060. The first 060 was built for J. Ray McDermott and delivered in the summer of 1968, a summer … Continue reading Vulcan 060 and 360 Hammers: Specifications and Information
Vulcan's personnel brought back many colourful stories from the field. One of those came from Jesse Perry, Vulcan's senior field service representative. Offshore pile driving is a brutal, unforgiving business; offshore piles are tip elevation piles, and the expediency of "beating the pile to death" to get done in the high hourly barge rates was … Continue reading Vulcan 040 and 340 Hammers: Specifications and Information
Vulcan frequently produced an ad for the Offshore Technology Conference. Probably the best one was the "Stamp Ad." The "stamp of quality" theme had appeared in Vulcan's literature for many years before that, but Vulcan's graphic artist Carol Carr took it to a new level with this one in the early 1970's. It was unusual … Continue reading The Stamp of Quality…Everywhere
It’s here a last: Soils in Construction, the Sixth Edition, now available from Waveland Press. Many of you (and especially those who are familiar with the companion site vulcanhammer.info) are aware that I’ve spent much of my career in geotechnical engineering and deep foundations dealing with contractors. As such I am both sympathetic with their […] … Continue reading Soils in Construction (Sixth Edition) Now Available — vulcanhammer.net
Vulcan hammers appear often in geotechnical engineering textbooks and other reference material. It's rare that it would happen outside of that discipline, but happen it did. In 1960 the first edition of Mechanics of Materials by Archie Higdon, Edward H Ohlsen and William B. Stiles was published with the 1200A extractor photo shown above. The … Continue reading The Vulcan Extractor Photo that Made a Civil Engineering Textbook
The photo above shows an overview of driving accessories for Vulcan onshore hammers from the 1970's, from Vulcan Bulletin 68M. These apply both to the Warrington-Vulcan single-acting hammers and the Super-Vulcan differential-acting hammers. More information on driving accessories can be found here: Cushion Pot Dimensions Pipe Cap Dimensions Use of Micarta and Aluminium Cushion Material … Continue reading An Overview of Driving Accessories
vulcanhammer.info 