Pile cracking in eight stages

The Princess Alexia Viaduct rests on 249 soil displacement screw piles and another 40 screwed tubular steel piles. To create an optimal connection between piles and structure, Van der Jagt Group is removing the head of the 249 concrete piles. By now, seven rows of piles have already been cracked, according to contractor Dillan Heijnen. But the company is doing more. The multidisciplinary nature of the Van der Jagt Group also comes in handy on this project. “We are a flexible partner that moves effortlessly with the needs on each construction site,” he says.”

Van der Jagt Group's areas of expertise include sawing, drilling, demolition and pile cracking. “At its core, the project here at the Maasvlakte revolves around one specialty: pile cracking, but we also take care of all the drilling and sawing work that needs to be done,” says Heijnen. “The pile cracking is divided into eight phased shafts, with each shaft averaging thirty piles. The vast majority has now been completed. One phase is still scheduled for next spring.” 

Own equipment

All work is performed with its own equipment, including a 21-ton crane equipped with a hydraulic cracker. “In addition, a smaller excavator is almost always on hand for clean-up work and to cut the rebar free,” Heijnen explains. The goal is clear. “As little manual labor as possible, and to do as much as possible by machine and hydraulically, so that safety remains high and the pace consistent.” The latter was necessary because the schedule is quite tight and the execution quite laborious. “BAM Infra Nederland applies a tight deadline, partly because follow-up work takes place quickly after pile driving. In addition, the piles turned out differently in reality than previously estimated. This caused additional work and required flexibility during execution.”

Van der Jagt Groep is well entrusted with that. According to Heijnen, the company's strength lies in working in a client-oriented manner and thinking along with others in order to always deliver consistently high quality. “Open communication is central to us: it's better to honestly indicate that something is not working out than not to show up. That is appreciated, we notice in practice.”