Every year, drill rigs and other heavy, specialty equipment used for deep foundation construction (Figure 1) overturn potentially causing injuries and fatalities, as well as damage to the surrounding sites. There are many safety hazards associated with working around this heavy equipment, including the “Focus Four. .
Chicago, Illinois In an incident in Chicago in 2021 (Figure 2), a 100-ton hydraulic drill rig toppled over knocking down power lines and striking a vehicle.. .
In construction, the foundation is the lowest part of a structure that creates stability by transferring loads from the structure to the ground. Deep. .
Contributing factors to these incidents include poor working platforms and improper use of the equipment. Poor Working Platforms Often, pressures exerted by drill rigs on soil subgrades exceed the loads that will be produced by the completed building. However, the working subgrade beneath heavy equipment (the working platform). .
The Deep Foundations Institute (DFI), the International Association of Foundation Drilling (ADSC) and the Pile Driving Contractors Association (PDCA) have established an Industry-Wide Working Platform Work Groupto improve design and safe construction practices for deep foundation installation. In 2017, DFI conducted an informal survey.
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