MEMBER PROFILE – ASSOCIATE
Hitting Refusal
At those times when piles can’t
be driven any deeper, DarkHorse
Industries provides an innovative
solution for trimming piles to
uniform grade
When piles hit refusal during deep foundation work,
this can cause a hitch that ultimately costs construction
contractors time and money. DarkHorse Industries
has come up with an innovative answer for cutting piles to
uniform grade safely and efficiently so that projects can get back on
track more quickly.
"Whenever piles hit refusal, it's typically not a budgeted part of
the job,” said Jonathan Walker, DarkHorse co-founder and CFO.
“Often it's unexpected, and it's incumbent on us to be able to get in
and get out and allow construction to proceed as close to schedule
as possible.”
The DarkHorse solution is based on customized, patentpending
excavator attachments that provide superior reach and
enhanced accessibility for pile cutting. The attachments are not
only able to securely grasp and precisely sever piles at specified
heights but they also leverage the rotate/tilt capabilities of an excavator
arm, which provides more operating flexibility to access piles
from atypical heights and angles.
“Our cutting machine and our cutting processes are differentiated
in ways that we feel are value-added for our customers,” said
Walker. “We have the ability to cut piles above and below grade.
Because of the tilt and pivot mechanisms on our cutting head, we
have the ability to cut piles that are at an angle and not square with
the ground, and we can cut piles that are close together.”
Walker, whose company is based in Baton Rouge, La., notes
the attachments are particularly useful in areas with varying topography
and erratic soil profiles, which includes many places along the
Gulf Coast.
“In those areas, you often have piles that hit refusal long
before they can get to their engineered depth,” he said. “You’ll have
a forest of concrete piles sticking above their desired grade, and our
job is to go in and trim them to that uniform grade so that a secure,
usable deep foundation can be poured on top of them."
When that call goes out, Walker says, DarkHorse is capable of
responding very quickly.
By Mark Halsall
The DarkHorse solution is based on
customized, patent-pending excavator
attachments that provide superior
reach and enhanced accessibility
for pile cutting
PILEDRIVER | 93