IHC Hydrohammer® celebrates 25th jubilee

 

IHC Hydrohammer^® has been in business for 25 years. This is a special milestone in the history of this IHC Merwede business unit, and the occasion for festive celebrations last week with national and international business contacts and the workforce. The company can look forward to a prosperous future. Since it started operations in 1984 with four enthusiastic members of staff, it has grown into an enterprise with a workforce of 75. A global service network has been created and there is now an extensive fleet for sale and rent.

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In the early 1980s, Dutch shipbuilding went through a deep depression. Large companies scoured the horizon for ways of keeping their expensive machines and technologically advanced workforce at work. 1984 saw the establishment of the business unit for high-tech hydraulic piling hammers. Since then, IHC Hydrohammer^® has been increasingly successful, as a ‘technology innovator’, in its efforts to conquer the global market. Both offshore and on land. The demand for heavier and heavier piling hammers for the ever-expanding energy market (oil, gas and wind), and for large infrastructure and construction projects, is continuing to drive the steady expansion of IHC Hydrohammer^®.

Applications underground and under water
Many of the architectural accomplishments of IHC Hydrohammer^® are now globally famous. People don't realise that Canary Wharf in London, the departure hall of Schiphol airport, the 416-m Jim Mao Tower in Shanghai or the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai all depend on tens of thousands of piles that had to be driven into the ground. That's not surprising because, once the building is in place, the foundations are no longer visible. It's also difficult to imagine that piles can be driven into the seabed at depths of 900 metres. Even so, this really is necessary to anchor enormous offshore installations. The Hydrohammer® enclosed system makes pile-driving possible in very deep water. Not just vertically, but also at angles of 45°, and even horizontally. This means that it is possible, for example, to drive tunnel tubes with a diameter of 5 m through a slope, to break rocks and to install enormous foundation piles for wind turbines. All these Hydrohammer^® applications can be found throughout the world. In the construction and offshore industries, the Hydrohammer^® has had a reputation for years as a unique technological and inventive accomplishment.

Pioneering
25 years ago was mainly an era of pioneering. It could take months to determine, during extensive trials, which materials could cope best with the enormous forces generated by a piling hammer. This shouldn't be underestimated. The largest Hydrohammer^®, the S-2300, has a ram weight of 115 metric tons – that's about the weight of 115 cars – and it delivers no less than 2300 kJ of ram energy!

The synergy in the large and versatile IHC Merwede Group is visibly present. There is a natural link with the divisions for the Offshore & Marine and Dredging & Mining markets. People support each other in the fields of research and technological development. As well as in the area where the Dutch have always led the way: the production of innovative and reliable products. So there is every reason for IHC Hydrohammer^® to celebrate its 25th jubilee as a sound foundation for a promising future.

Profile IHC Merwede
IHC Merwede is focused on the continuous development of its design and construction activities for the specialised shipbuilding sector, in particular the dredging and offshore industries.
IHC Merwede is world market leader in the construction of specialist dredging equipment. IHC Merwede is also recognised as an outstanding builder of complex, custom-built vessels for offshore construction. The clients of IHC Merwede include major dredging companies, oil and gas exploration groups, offshore contractors and government authorities.
IHC Merwede has a staff of approximately 2,800 at its locations in the Netherlands. There are also branches in China, India, the Middle East, Nigeria, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

Note for the editor, not for publication

For more information on IHC Merwede please contact:

IHC Merwede B.V.
Mrs. Renée van Krimpen-Baudesson
T +31 184 411555
M +31 62 229 13 29
pr@spam-preventionihcmerwede.com

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