Building On Firm Foundations
Building on firm foundations
BSP is a world leader in the design and manufacture of hydraulic hammer and compaction equipment. Philip Yorke talked to Richard Melton about the latest challenges facing the industry and the new technology developed by BSP to increase its global market share.
Edward le Bas founded The British Steel Piling Company Ltd (BSP) in 1905 in order to promote the use of steel sheet piling in Britain. The company saw steady growth and by 1914 the earliest versions of the BSP steam/air piling hammers had appeared along with the specialist equipment for extracting piles. Always at the forefront of foundation equipment development, BSP initiated the worldwide move towards the adoption of hydraulic hammers and at the same time set the standards for their design and construction. BSP was the first UK company to launch hydraulic impact hammers onto the world market and they were also the inventors of the dynamic compaction process known as RIC (Rapid Impact Compaction)
Today the company is an integral part of the UK based Tex Holdings Group and is represented in 67 countries worldwide with more than 85% of the company’s products going to export markets.
Global demand for heavier rams
As a result of its on-going commitment to innovation and new product development, BSP has been at the forefront of Hydraulic hammer technology for more than 100 years. However, demand from international construction and development companies for new engineering technologies continues to grow. These demands reflect the increasing challenges presented by huge international projects such as surge barriers in the USA and deep port developments here in the UK.
Richard Melton, BSP’s International sales and marketing Director explains, “The single most important trend in our niche market in recent years has been the global demand for larger, heavier hammers which has raised the ram weight from around 10 tons to 40 tons today. These changing market forces have resulted in a move away from urban areas mainly due to noise considerations and as structures get bigger so does the need for ever heavier hydraulic hammers. Our core markets currently are the USA, Australia and the Middle East; however, India, China and Russia are steadily growing in importance for us”
“The greatest challenges facing our industry at present is the increase in legislation concerning issues such as pollution and noise levels. Furthermore, almost every order carries a different specification. Fortunately we have developed modular systems so that we can offer ‘designed-in flexibility’ in all our products. This makes them easier to adapt to meet different specifications and more cost-effective to operate. We also have an extensive global network of dealers offering technical support and spares, many of these dealers have their own workshop facilities and are trained by our own highly qualified engineering professionals”
BSP also believe that their after sales service is second to none and that its hammers are more reliable and versatile than those of their competitors as they are more efficient in operation and require less power. According to Melton, when it comes to longevity of service they are hard to beat, as some companies are continuing to operate BSP hydraulic hammers that are more than 30 years old!
Major port expansion relies on BSP hammers
One of Europe’s largest port redevelopments is taking place at the port of Felixtowe in South East England. The Felixtowe Port expansion is of great strategic importance in the European marketplace and is critical to secure additional deep water capacity for the UK market. Over 1,300m of quay will be constructed and served by 13 new ship-to-shore gantry cranes. BSP’s hydraulic piling hammers have been driving the huge piles needed for this deep water development. Equipment involved includes two crane- suspended CG300 hammers, each with a 20ton ram weight required to drive piles to a depth of almost 35metres.
Melton added. “The piles involved in the Felixtowe development are huge, ranging from 2 to 2.56 metres in diameter. This would normally require a jump up in crane size but as our equipment is lighter and more efficient, a smaller crane could do the same job, thus saving the contractor a considerable amount of money in the cost of the long-term crane hire”
Expanding marketplace
Another important new market for BSP is the fast growing wind turbine market. Wind farms are scheduled to be installed in large numbers both offshore and onshore worldwide and BSP believes that it can compete well with foreign contractors in this market.
In the USA BSP hammers are also hard at work in New Orleans in the aftermath of the Katrina hurricane disaster. Melton commented, “The US government is currently building a tidal surge barrier that is 2 miles long and requires 30 miles of deep piles to protect the city of New Orleans. This is a huge undertaking and our hammers were considered the most reliable and versatile for this job. Surge barriers like this are a growing feature of shoreline construction projects. By contrast on the other side of the world in Malaysia, our big 25ton hammers are employed in the construction of the new Penang Bridge project”
Putting customer services first
BSP has had more experience than most when it comes to providing after sales support programmes. The company can offer service arrangements on a worldwide basis in line with a customer’s individual requirements. BSP will also provide service engineers for the on-site commissioning of new equipment. Spares are available for all BSP products and can be despatched for next day delivery anywhere in the world. In order to guarantee the very highest standards and reliability, every piece of new plant produced by BSP goes through extensive trials on its ‘refusal’ pile test bed prior to despatch to the job site.