It was inevitable that a product line as long in duration as Vulcan's would attract attention outside of the deep foundations industry. In the course of developing the "Tools" program on various types of construction equipment and techniques, the Atlas Media Group (which did productions for The History Channel) contacted Vulcan. In July 2005 their … Continue reading Vulcan and the History Channel
The Vulcan steam hammer (the use of air came later) began when the company began to manufacture hammers under the patent of Thomas T. Loomis (U.S. Patent 160,781) in 1875. This hammer used many of the main features of the Nasmyth hammer (which had been developed in the UK) but used an improved valve gear. … Continue reading The First Pile Hammers
Vulcan Iron Works started out as a foundry, and from that evolved into a company primarily manufacturing pile driving equipment. Yet throughout its history it engaged in the manufacture of a wide variety of products, as the Special Products Division is evidence of. Sometimes things didn't go according to plan with these "special products," and … Continue reading Caldwell Steam Snow Plow
Vulcan's impetus towards pile driving equipment was driven in part by the involvement of the Warrington family in the marine field, both construction and ship building/operation. That commercialisation wasn't restricted to the pile driving equipment; before World War I, Vulcan was an active builder of dredging equipment, which combined its machinery design and manufacturing capabilities … Continue reading Vulcan and Dredges
For the first half century or so of its existence, Vulcan was a diversified company with several markets related to public and civil works. One of those was bridges, both road and railroad. Today it is customary to build bridges fixed as high as the navigation (or lack thereof) requires. But the combination of expense … Continue reading Vulcan and Bridges
Henry Warrington (1817-1904), Founder of Vulcan Iron Works Henry Warrington was originally from Manchester, England, and immigrated to the U.S. in 1842. He came to Chicago and worked as the shop foreman in the boiler shop of James W. Cobbs, whose plant was located at Canal and Kinzie Streets. In 1852, he founded what ultimately … Continue reading The Beginnings of Vulcan
Everyone has an experience in their life that they count the greatest. Corporations do, too. For Vulcan Iron Works, that experience was its involvement in offshore oil development. Come join us as we take a look at Vulcan's involvement offshore, which follows a fascinating (and very profitable) saga of American commercial history. You can click … Continue reading Vulcan: the Offshore Experience
Much of what we have presented about Vulcan's offshore adventure has been done in the past tense. This is a little misleading; Vulcan hammers are still used to install offshore platforms all over the world today, simple, reliable and economical as always. The sun still does not set on working Vulcan equipment. However, it is … Continue reading The Saga Continues
The concept of using sea water as the motive fluid for an underwater hydraulic hammer is an intriguing one. Doing so has two key advantages: Eliminates the use of hydraulic fluid, which can be environmentally hazardous (depends on the type); and Eliminates the need for a return line, irrespective of whether the pump/power pack is … Continue reading Sea Water Pile Hammer
Vulcan never developed an underwater hammer of its own for offshore use. Although today use of these hammers for deep water projects is routine, the road to viable offshore hammers was a long one, even for companies better situated than Vulcan to get there. The Ocean Pile Hammer Vulcan's first underwater hammer was the Mariner … Continue reading Vulcan, Underwater and Hydraulic Hammers
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