GROW project in the spotlight: Gentle Driving of Piles
Twist the cork and it becomes thinner
TKI Wind op Zee released an informative video about a promising new installation technique. The Gentle Driving of Piles (GDP) method aims to make the pile installation process faster, cheaper and more efficient than current methods. GDP is based on simultaneous application of low-frequency and high-frequency vibrators exciting two different modes of motion on the monopiles. By doing this, the monopile gets a little bit thinner. This makes it easier to drive the pile into the soil.
The traditionally used method of impact hammering leads to the opposite: monopiles expand a bit when hammered, leading to increased resistance to drive the pile into the ground. The GDP method is called “gentle” for its envisaged capability to reduce the driving loads and the emitted installation noise which is harmful for the environment, e.g. to mammals and fish. We expect that the advantages of the GDP method becomes even more profound by the anticipated increasing size of monopiles.
Get an impression of the technique here:
The TU Delft is coordinator of this project and supported in the execution by CAPE Holland and eleven GROW partners Boskalis, Deltares, DOT, Eneco, IHC, innogy, Seaway 7, Shell, SIF, TNO, and Van Oord.
