Pile driver

A pile driver is a mechanical device used to drive piles (poles) into soil to provide foundation support for buildings or other structures. The term is also used in reference to members of the construction crew that work with pile-driving rigs.

One traditional type of pile driver includes a heavy weight placed between guides so that it is able to freely slide up and down in a single line. It is placed above a pile (pole). The weight is raised, which may involve the use of hydraulics, steam, diesel, or manual labour. When the weight reaches its highest point it is then released and smashes on to the pile in order to drive it into the ground.

There are a number of claims to the invention of the pile driver. A mechanically sound drawing of a pile driver appeared as early as 1475 in Francesco di Giorgio Martini's treatise Trattato di Architectura. Also, several other prominent inventors — James Nasmyth (son of Alexander Nasmyth), who invented a steam-powered pile driver in 1845, watchmaker James Valoué,Count Giovan Battista Gazzola, and Leonardo da Vinci — have all been credited with inventing the device. However, there is evidence that a comparable device was used in the construction of Crannogs at Oakbank and Loch Tay in Scotland as early as 5000 years ago. In 1801 John Rennie came up with a steam piledriver in Britain.Otis Tufts is credited with inventing the steam pile driver in the United States.

Ancient pile driving equipment used manual or animal labor to lift heavy weights, usually by means of pulleys, to drop the weight onto the end of the pile. Modern piledriving equipment uses various methods to raise the weight and guide the pile.

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