A.W.A. Contracting Co. Inc. (AWA) has completed preliminary foundation work for a new 4,700-acre master-planned development off the U.S. 1 corridor in northern Palm Coast, Fla. The St. Augustine, Fla.-based company lifted 270 pieces of sheet piling with a Link-Belt Cranes TCC-800 telecrawler rented from local Link-Belt Cranes distributor, Kelly Tractor.
The 80-ton TCC‑800 features a greaseless 120.1‑ft. full‑power boom, allowing the operator to quickly telescope the boom for picking sheet piling of various lengths. Its 10‑in. touchscreen Pulse 2.0 display offers fine metering that allows operators to reduce winch speeds, enabling smooth controlled handling of the piling, according to Link-Belt.
"The sheet piling we drove for this project ranged from 56 to 69 feet," said Artie Allen, owner and president of AWA. "The Link‑Belt fed an ABI pile driving machine that drove the piling down to a 56‑foot depth from ground level."
Nearly 5,000 residential units have been permitted for the project, and the TCC-800 and foundation equipment worked between an 88-ft.-long bridge that will connect multiple segments of the development between groves of existing pine forest.
"We demucked about 13 feet of topsoil and laid sand back down to convert this lower plane to a stabilized area for driving pile and eventually the road network that will form this neighborhood," said Allen.
Each piling weighed 14,000 lbs. and was smoothly picked and carried by the TCC-800 from a loading yard to a pile driving machine for eventual placement.
"We rented the crane initially for six weeks, but the production was such that we cut it down to a month," said Allen. "This won't be the last time we use one of these Link-Belts. I will get another one for the next job like this."
For more information, visit linkbelt.com.
