Dawson Universal Pile Extractor

Increasing pressure within the foundation industry to find means to extract previously driven steel piles without creating any noise or potentially damaging vibrations led to the development of the Universal Pile Extractor.

This compact, versatile and very powerful extractor consists of two hydraulic cylinders capable of generating up to 4,000 kN (450 ton) of pile extraction force through a set of hydraulically actuated taper-wedge jaws. These jaws are engineered so as to generate increasing clamping force in direct proportion to any increase in extraction force. The clamp has been cleverly designed to accommodate most steel 'H' and 'U'-Sheet pile sections without modification.

How it Works

Once a suitable load distribution ground frame has been constructed for the specific job the Universal Pile Extractor (UPE) is positioned over and around the pile to be extracted on the frame.

Two small hydraulic cylinders are activated so as to close the taper-wedge clamping system onto the pile. Once a predetermined clamping force has been reached the UPE Electronic Control System automatically begins the second "pile extraction" stage of the process, whereby the two massive 2,000kN extraction cylinders are actuated. These cylinders can extract the pile at a rate of up to 3 m/min (10 ft/min) - depending on resistance and power supply.

Once full stroke has been achieved, the clamping system automatically releases and the extraction cylinders retract to their original staring position ready to take the next bite.

Hydraulic power is supplied from a fully portable diesel engined power pack, which also houses the electronic control system. This control system can be operated with manual or full automatic control.