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The Source of Those “Primitive Pile Driving” Drawings

11 January 2026 by Don Warrington, posted in Drivability and Vulcan Hammers

Most people in our industry have seen the drawings shown above. They were featured (in much better quality, I must admit) in Chellis' Pile Foundations (1961), which was the book on the subject at the time and for many years afterward. Their source, however, has been something of a mystery, but now that mystery can … Continue reading The Source of Those “Primitive Pile Driving” Drawings

The Vulcan Drawing Cabinet

11 January 2026 by Don Warrington, posted in The Company

In its early years and down to about World War II, Vulcan was very much a "vertically integrated" company, including its own foundry and blacksmith for forgings. Sometimes that extended to the furniture itself, and above is a drawing of cabinets for drawings, probably with enough detail for you to build one yourself. Vulcan got … Continue reading The Vulcan Drawing Cabinet

Comments on “Nonlinear fictitious-soil pile model for pile high-strain dynamic analysis” and “Fictitious soil pile model for dynamic analysis of pipe piles under high strain conditions”

10 January 2026 by Don Warrington, posted in Drivability and Vulcan Hammers

It's my custom to review papers which cite my own work. This pair of papers, whose lead author is Tu Yuan from Zhejiang Sci-Tech University in Hangzhou, China, is interesting because it take an approach whose basic concept goes back a long way in pile dynamics and which needed some basic advancement. The two papers … Continue reading Comments on “Nonlinear fictitious-soil pile model for pile high-strain dynamic analysis” and “Fictitious soil pile model for dynamic analysis of pipe piles under high strain conditions”

Putting Dynamic Formulae to the Test: the Proctorsville Fort Project

8 January 20268 January 2026 by Don Warrington, posted in Drivability and Vulcan Hammers, Uncategorized

As we saw in the previous post, Sanders' Formula wasn't the last word in dynamic formulae, and neither were Weisbach's. Faced with this proliferation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers put together the document Pile Foundations and Pile-Driving Formulae, Circular No. 17, Office of the Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army. It was dated 28 November … Continue reading Putting Dynamic Formulae to the Test: the Proctorsville Fort Project

1923: “Assurances of Continuing Improvement” — AASHO Acquires Both a Trailblazing Leader and Its First Home Base in Washington, D.C.–Transportation History

2 January 2026 by Don Warrington, posted in The Company

http://transportationhistory.org/2026/01/02/1923-assurances-of-continuing-improvement-aasho-acquires-both-a-trailblazing-leader-and-its-first-home-base-in-washington-d-c/ While AASHO was settling into its new digs, Vulcan was under absentee (as far as the Warrington family was concerned) leadership. William H. Warrington had died two years earlier, George Warrington was in his last years in Washington, James N. Warrington was living in the Los Angeles area because of his health, and his … Continue reading 1923: “Assurances of Continuing Improvement” — AASHO Acquires Both a Trailblazing Leader and Its First Home Base in Washington, D.C.–Transportation History

GRLWEAP Accessory Specifications for the Vulcan #2 and 30C Hammers

1 July 2025 by Don Warrington, posted in Uncategorized

When WEAP86/87 was introduced, one of the major advances was the inclusion of a comprehensive hammer database. This has been continued and expanded in subsequent versions such as GRLWEAP 2003 and GRLWEAP 2010. One anomaly was that, although the Vulcan #2 and Vulcan 30C hammers were included in the database, the driving accessory information was … Continue reading GRLWEAP Accessory Specifications for the Vulcan #2 and 30C Hammers

Diesel Hammers: Vulcan Series II Diesel Hammers

13 June 2025 by Don Warrington, posted in Vulcan and Diesel Hammers

First, we need to review what we've learned from our previous posts on diesel hammers. First, the posts themselves: Diesel Hammers: Rated Striking Energy, and Should Diesel Hammers Be Derated? Diesel Hammers: Delmag, Nilens and the Method of Analysis Diesel Hammers: The Russian Hammers and Hemi-Headed Pile Drivers Diesel Hammers: Pileco Now we can discuss what we have … Continue reading Diesel Hammers: Vulcan Series II Diesel Hammers

Diesel Hammers: Pileco

11 June 2025 by Don Warrington, posted in Vulcan and Diesel Hammers

Above: Pileco D-8 diesel hammer on Vulcan Foundation Equipment's excavator mast, ready to drive below grade. Photo courtesy of Vulcan Foundation Equipment. Since we dealt with older European diesel hammers in the post Diesel Hammers: Delmag, Nilens and the Method of Analysis, let's turn to something more contemporary: Pileco diesel hammers, one of several organisations which … Continue reading Diesel Hammers: Pileco

Diesel Hammers: The Russian Hammers and Hemi-Headed Pile Drivers

9 June 20259 June 2025 by Don Warrington, posted in Vulcan and Diesel Hammers

At the start of this, it's probably worthwhile to repost the following: In the early 1970’s, when the Brezhnev era seemed most full of promise, an elderly Frenchman travelled from Moscow to Khabarovsk on the Trans-Siberian railway. After only a few hours at the eastern end of the line he boarded the train again for … Continue reading Diesel Hammers: The Russian Hammers and Hemi-Headed Pile Drivers