Underwater hydraulic hammerswere developed specially for driving piles in deep water
locations. The Menck MHU double-acting hammer range in Table 3.2 is designed specifically
for underwater work; the S hammer series is for water depth up to 400 m, the T series for 2 000 m
and the U series for deep water to 3000 m. The MHU 3000 S with a ram weight of 280 tonne
is the largest piling hammer ever constructed. A nitrogen shock absorber ring protectsthe hammer
Piling equipment and methods 85Table 3.1Characteristics of some single-acting piling hammersa
Maker Type Mass of ram Maximum Maximum
(kg) energy per blow striking rate
(kJ) (blows/min)
BSP International 3 – 21 ⁄ 2 ton 2540 34 50
Foundations 2–3 ton 3050 41 50
Limited (UK) 4 – 4 ton 4060 54 50
1 – 5 ton 5080 68 50
1 – 6 ton 6110 82 50
MKT (USA) MS-350 3500 42 40 – 50
MS-500 5000 59 40 – 50
MENCK (Germany) MRBS 850 8600 129 45
MRBS 1100 11 000 170 40
MRBS 1800 17 500 263 44
MRBS 3000 30 000 450 42
MRBS 5000 50 000 750 40
MRBS 8800 88 000 1320 36
MRBS 12500 125 000 2190 36
Vulcan (USA) 1 2270 20 60
306 2950 26 60
505 2270 34 46
506 2950 44 46
08 3630 35 50
010 4540 44 50
012 5443 53 50
508 3630 54 41
510 4540 68 41
512 5440 81 41
014 6350 57 59
016 7370 66 58
320 9070 81 55
330 13 610 122 54
520 9070 135 42
530 13 610 203 42
540 18 550 277 48
560 28 350 424 47
5100 45 360 678 48
5110 49 900 746 39
5150 68 060 1012 46
6300 136 100 2440 42
Note
a Note that the information given in Tables 3.1 to 3.6 does not necessarily represent the full range of equipment
by each maker.The makers listed in these tables should be contacted for full details and when making assessments
of performance for particular applications. Because of market changes, some equipment will be obsolescent, but
well-maintained used hammers not in current production may be available.