IN THIS ISSUE October 2010

Hammers in Chile 1

CEO's Message 1

Pile Productions in Louisiana 2

Port Expansion in Portugal 3

Envirocon 3

Strabag Niagara Falls 4

Secant Wall Sarnia 4

1-800-668-9432 www.berminghammer.com 1

Patrick Bermingham, CEO

CEO’S MESSAGE

B-32 AND B-6505HD EXCEL IN CHILE

EXPANSION MULTI-PURPOSEPIER NO. 2, LIRQUEN, RE-GION VIIIPropuerto Ltda. constructed a 68 meter-long,45-meter-wide extension to the north of Port No.2 for Port Lirquen S.A. Reinforced concretespans and longitudinal beams, as well as rein-forced concrete tile are supported by verticaland batter steel piles, 44” diameter, 16 mmthick, driven and anchored to the bottom rockthat constitutes the ocean floor. A B-6505 HDwas used to drive 81piles. This is the impacthammer with the largest capacity available inthe off-shore industry nation-wide.By utilizingthe great capacity and efficient delivery of en-ergy of this hammer, it was possible to drivepiles into the rock beyond 9 meters deep. Con-sequently, it was no longer necessary to anchorthe piles and, as a result, both the completiontime and cost of the project was reduced.

We value long term relationships. I ampleased to announce that we have re-cently repurchased the shares of ourcompany held by the private equity firmC.A. Bancorp Inc. The company is now100% employee-owned. This $11.5 mil-lion transaction was made possible bythe Bank of Montreal, which has sup-ported Bermingham for 113 years.Needless to say, we both value this

long-term relationship for the memories,the present and the future.

Likewise, we value our long term clientssuch as Propuerto, with whom we haveworked “since before my children wereborn”. We have both watched eachother’s company grow, shared ourdreams and watched each other’s chil-dren advance through life. Closer tohome, clients like Dufferin and Bot were

working with Bermingham in my father’sgeneration.

I would like to thank all of our cus-tomers, new and old, for your continuedconfidence and look forward to further strengthening our re-lationships in the years ahead.

“The impact hammer performed perfectly well, making itpossible to drive all the piles without down time or delay ofany nature, and to meet the established scheduling andcompletion of the project.”

– Rafael Valdes, General Manager, Propuerto Ltda.

PIER TERMINAL TERQUIM, MEJILLONES, REGION IIThe B-32 was used by Propuerto Ltda. to drive70 piles, both vertical and batter, for a 620meter-long access bridge that is supported bypiles and metal galleries on which a fire fightingplatform and loading dock is installed. The ac-cess bridge connects the beach area with the

mooring dock, which is constructed with a 38x28 meter, reinforced concrete loading platform.The bridge is part of the project to construct an800 meter-long terminal for grains liquids ofTerquim S.A., Mejillones.

“The B-32 achieved excellent resultsboth in the construction process, as well as in customer satisfactionduring the completion of this part of the project.”

– Rafael Valdes, General Manager, Propuerto Ltda.

Berminghammer impact hammers accomplish outstanding results on two projects in Chile to becompleted in late 2010. The hammers were sold by Frontier Endeavors Inc., Berminghammer’sDistributor for South America.

– Omar Francisco Segura, President,Frontier Endeavors, Inc.

2 BERMINGHAM FOUNDATION SOLUTIONS SINCE 1897

OUTSTANDING PILE PRODUCTION ON TWO LOUISIANA PROJECTS

Pile production with Berminghammer equip-ment exceeded everyone’s expectations on thenew floodwall being constructed at the east side of New Orleans, St. BernardsParish, Chalmette. The contractor is Chal-mette Levee Constructors (a joint venture ofKiewit Corp, Traylor Brothers Inc., and Mass-man Construction).

The floodwall, with an average height of 30-ft.over 6.4 miles (34,000 linear ft) of levee re-quired approximately 13,600 HP14X89 foun-dation piles – almost 1.5 million feet of piles –ranging from 105-ft. to 115-ft in length. Pileswere on a 2:1 batter in each direction every 5-ft of wall.

Bermingham supplied four custom built piledriving packages on a very aggressive deliveryrequest. The first equipment was shippedMarch 27, 2010 – only three weeks after itwas ordered – and the final package followedApril 3 with construction commencing a weeklater. Included in the packages were four piledriving sets, each consisting of a Berming-hammer B32 hammer with direct drive, hy-draulic starting, and special “Hammer Cat”,160-ft. of Berminghammer 32” box leads with

winch, custom hydraulic pile guides and spe-cial rigging for driving 2:1 batter piles.

By all standards, pile production on thisjob has exceeded everyone’s expectations.

A remarkable production achievement of37 piles installed by one crew on one shiftis the best to-date, but each crew issteadily realizing 22 to 25 piles per shift.

All foundation piling is expected to be com-plete by the end of October, 2010. In addition tothe success of the Bermingham custom leads,this project has proven that Berminghammerdiesel hammers outdrive any other hammer inthe soft Louisiana soils.

“The B32 hammers and leads fromBerminghammer are the perfect equip-ment for this challenging job. I’veworked with conventional lead systemsfor this kind of work on earlier jobs, butthere is simply no comparison to theproductive Berminghammer system.”

– Alan Baughman, Project Piling Superintend-ent

Two sets of the longest vertical travel leads(VTL) built by Berminghammer to-date con-tributed to increased production in the con-struction of one of the largest pumpingstations in the world being built in BelleChasse, Louisiana. The pumping station ispart of The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway WestClosure Complex, which is an important partof a program to reduce the risk of hurricaneand storm damage in the West Bank area nearNew Orleans.

USACE contracted Gulf Intracoastal Construc-tors – a joint venture between Kiewit Corpora-tion and Traylor Brothers Inc. – for the project.In addition to the pumping station, the complexincludes two navigable gates that can beclosed to prevent tidal surges from raising thewater levels on two inland waterways thatservice marine traffic in New Orleans.

Due to critical path work, the challenge was todeliver a high production pile driving systemcapable of driving 30” x 5/8” wall x 159-ft.long pipe piles, some vertical and others on3:1 batters.

Berminghammer offered the solution by deliv-ering two sets of 194-ft. long VTLs and B32hammers to fit the customer’s Manitowoc2250 cranes. The driving of foundation pilesfor the pumping station began in October 2009with a two-shift operation. Warren Waite, Sen-ior Sales Rep for Bermingham, reports, “Eventhough each pile had to be driven an addi-tional ten feet below surface with a follower,the piling work was finished well ahead ofschedule. “The Berminghammer system isnow being used to drive various concrete pilesand 14” H-piles with 2:1 batters on otherparts of the project.”

“The Berminghammer system con-tributed to production rates twice of what was estimated. As well, labourcosts per pile were roughly one half of what was budgeted.” – Ronnie Resmondo, Site Superintendent

BELLE CHASSE

CHALMETTE

Bermingham supplied equipment and expertise which contributed to production efficiencies on twoprojects in Louisiana for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

1-800-668-9432 www.berminghammer.com 3

ENVIROCON SLURRY BEAM VIBRO PROJ-ECT WISCONSIN

PORT EXPANSION IN PORTUGAL

Explaining Bermingham’s involvement, StefanoGabaldo, Director, European Sales, says,

“Atlas Copco suggested the Symmetrix sys-tem to install approximately 210 pipe piles,1,016 mm in diameter, for the harbour proj-ect. Determined to be the best choice,Bermingham’s customized crane attach-ment and drilling equipment were sug-gested and implemented in themethodology to perform the work.”

The following equipment was deliv-ered at the end of January 2010:• 45 m of L27 VTL complete vertical travel lead system• HHK - 14 Hydraulic kicker (spotter)• BHD40 Hydraulic drill• 33m of 450 mm drill string• 3 sets of quick disconnect• Cross over subassembly and shock

absorbers were fitted with Atlas Copco supplied Down the Hole Hammer Model QL200 and a 1000 mm symmetrix bit – a first for this large size

BCL’s Superintendant Brent Porteous did the ini-tial set-up of the equipment at the beginning ofMarch and the project commenced in May.

The project shifted very quickly into high gearafter BCL’s Niels Christensen guided the clientthru the initial learning curve. His technical ex-pertise, assistance and know-how with the useof DHH and the Symmetrix systems proved in-valuable to the client in achieving and surpass-ing the expected production.

“It highlights the importance of our after salesinvolvement and ability to troubleshoot and findsolutions” emphasizes Gabaldo, adding thatCPTP and Atlas Copco provided a great workingenvironment.

Clients the world over rely on Bermingham’s custom equipment, technical expertise and on-site as-sistance. That was the case with joint venture contractors CPTP and Etermar for a port expansionproject in Porto, Portugal.

Bermingham equipped a Terex HC 165 cranewith 78-ft of model L-23 leads and designed acustom slide for mounting a very powerfulHPSI 1600 Vibratory hammer. The vibro wasused to insert a 30” "slurry-beam" into thedense soil which, when extracted, facilitatedthe injection of an impermeable slurry. Theamplitude of the 1600's vibration was carefullycontrolled when the beam was inserted nearbuildings and buried utilities. The vibro ampli-tude was set throughout the job. The slurry-

beam was instrumented to ensure the verticalinsertion of the beam. The system performed well throughout thesummer months in temperatures in excess of95 degrees F thanks to an additional coolingcircuit for the vibro's hydraulics which operatedbelow 165 degress F. The combination of theBermingham leads and the HPSI 1600 Vibro resulted in 4-5 beam in-sertions per hour, which more than doubled theproduction-rates that had been expected.

In 2009 Bermingham customer Ferraro Pile &Shoring of New York completed a potentially diffi-cult slurry-beam project for Envirocon, a large USremediation company. The project consisted of aquarter-mile slurry-wall in Marinette, Wisconsinwith a depth of 45-ft to 50-ft. The wall was used aspart of a containment strategy for the site owner.

The blow count of the materialwas in excess of 100.”

– Louis Fritz, Sales Engineer

“

If there’s a tight schedule and locationspecification, contractors such as StrabagSE, European tunneling experts, know they

can count on Bermingham people to get thejob done right. That’s why they enlistedBermingham’s assistance for the inlet struc-ture for the Sir Adam Beck Tunneling project inNiagara Falls.

Strabag needed a 2.8 m diameter shaft drilled through 83 m of rock to precisly inter-sect their tunnel. BCL hit the target within200mm with its 600-mm pilot hole, drilledusing down-the-hole-hammer and reverse cir-culation techniques.

Bermingham then engineered, manufactured and utilized a custom drill and drill mast toadvance a 2.74 m diameter hole through thebedrock using a roller cone rotary bit. The “topdown” drilling approach was successful be-cause the large diameter bit followed theguide/pilot hole directly to the adit roof forbreakthrough and cuttings that were depositedinto the adit room were mucked out by Strabagduring the tunneling operations.

BCL was the site General Contractor. "The holewas for air supply to support the tunneling and

hence the timing and scheduling was critical.Our approach to this job was to self-performall the work," says Barlow. “BCL and our clientwere not willing to have any scheduling risksby employing sub-contractors that would uti-lize conventional raise boring techniques thatare generally used on this type of project.”

Once the hole was complete, an 8-ft diameterliner was lowered and spliced to the base andsecured in place by grouting between the linerand the rock interface. Strabag also intends touse the access for water supply and a con-crete delivery point for the tunnel lining workwhich follows the TBM.

STRABAG NIAGARA FALLS

SARNIA SECANT WALL

BERMINGHAM FOUNDATION SOLUTIONS SINCE 1897Patrick Bermingham - CEO ext. 228Peter Smith - President ext. 222Louis Fritz - Sales Engineer ext. 227Michael Justason - Product Manager ext. 245Stefano Gabaldo - European Sales ext. 247Warren Waite, U.S. SalesKarl Christensen - Operations Manager ext. 242Milan Brestovacki - Technical Sales Coordinator ext. 229Dave Potosky - Senior Estimator ext. 216Todd Barlow - Project Manager ext. 217Ken Wiebe - Project Manager ext. 219Andrew Weltz - Project Manager ext. 218

HOW TO CONTACT US1-905-528-7924 /1-800-668-9432

Fax: 1-905-528-6187 or visitwww.berminghammer.com

EQUIPMENT DISTRIBUTORS Bermingham Foundation Solutions has over 20 agents and

distributors around the world providing sales support.

Bermingham’s experience and expertisewere instrumental in the installation ofa secant wall, consisting of eighty 1.0

m diameter caissons 27.0m deep, at theDevine Street Pumping Station in Sarnia. Theproject, which was completed in November2009, was initially conceived as a sheet pilecofferdam. A post tender review of the soilconditions determined that the initial parame-ters were incomplete. After a subsequent ge-otechnical investigation, the project shifted toa secant wall from sheet pile in an attempt tocounteract the geotechnical condition knownas basal heave.

Isherwood Associates was contracted byBermingham to design a circular cofferdam(17.0 m in diameter with caissons installed27.0 m deep) with the majority of its strengthin a “ring compression” – when a load fromone side of the secant wall is distributedevenly along the entire opposite wall.

“The challenge,” according to BerminghamProject Manager, Andrew Weltz, “was the factthat the caissons would have to be installedvertically as close to the intended location aspossible. The on-site General ContractorMcLean Taylor achieved this by creating aconcrete guide wall.” Weltz emphasized that

Bermingham’s project team: Jaime MacArthur,Superintendent, Steven Delaney, Front-endman, and Mark Petch, Drill Operator were very

attentive at ensuring the strict verticality of thecaisson wall and were instrumental in the pro-ject’s overall success.

Bermingham built a 27 m (90-ft) deep cofferdam.

A custom drill and drill mast engineeredand manufactured by Bermingham was

used on the project.