Pile foundation equipment drives piles into load-bearing soil layers when near-surface subgrade lacks sufficient bearing capacity. Types include impact hammers (percussion or vibration hammers for prefabricated piles), rotary drilling rigs (for large-diameter bored piles), and full-displacement drilling rigs (for cast-in-place full-displacement piles).
Prefabricated piles made of reinforced concrete, steel, or timber are installed using diesel hammers, hydraulic hammers, or vibration hammers. Cast-in-place piles are constructed on-site: a drilling rig creates the borehole, reinforcement cages are lowered in, and concrete is poured. Typical pile diameters: 300 mm to 3,000 mm, depths exceeding 60 meters.
Leading manufacturers include BAUER (BG series rotary drilling rigs), Junttan (impact hammers), Liebherr (LRB series), and ABI (Mäkler impact hammers). Equipment selection depends on soil conditions, bearing capacity requirements, surrounding structures (vibrations!), and costs.