Force Pile Driving: Tailored Deep Foundation Solutions
Industries change, which means so do their needs. As a deep foundation contractor, Force Pile Driving markets itself as a company that can customize optimal solutions for its customers’ ever-changing needs. The company serves a number of industries, including the energy and mining sectors, and Business Development Manager Luke Mather says each industry is focused on getting the best use of its land.
“They’re trying to optimize their designs for their bottom-line dollar,” Mather says. “For instance, the oil and gas industry is going toward central processing facilities that support more well pads. We may have seen 10 to 15 well pads on one site before, but now there are locations with hundreds of well pads. Both industries are trying to reduce their footprints – mining and oil and gas. There are more environmental concerns with land use and they are trying to get more value for their dollars, which is where our engineering optimization comes in. We’re often able to reduce 10 to 25 percent of the materials’ cost just based on optimization.”
But to optimize its customer’s operations, Force Pile Driving first has to optimize itself. From equipment to training, every operation Force Pile Driving carries out is designed specifically for the pile driving industry rather than a one-size-fits-all drilling operation. In June, the company moved into a new facility tailored to a pile driving contractor.
“Really it’s state-of-the-art and designed for a piling company,” General Manager Troy Park says. “In our shop we even have an area that is designed solely for in-house training with our new employees. We are probably one of the only piling companies that does all of our training in-house rather than working with a third-party.”
Mather and Park explain that application-specific training set the foundation for the reputation for innovation Force Pile Driving enjoys. The company has grown from four or five employees to more than 100 in this short time.
“We have an incredibly stable workforce,” Mather says. “We are an industry leader and provide a well-trained and competent workforce. Our in-house capabilities are incredibly robust and I know we are providing the best workforce in deep foundation work in the Western Hemisphere.”
From A to Z
Because Force Pile Driving has focused heavily on building an expert workforce, the company can offer deep foundation services from A to Z. Mather says the company is essentially a one-stop shop.
That is certainly the case at one of its newest projects for Canadian natural gas and oil producer Pengrowth. The company is in the first phase of a new SAGD plant and Force Pile Driving was contracted by an engineering firm to design and build a deep foundation solution for the Lindbergh Thermal Property. Pengrowth says the project is “the cornerstone of [its] strategy to become a sustainable energy producer.” Force Pile Driving will drill 8,000 piles for the project. The contractor is in the middle of PDA testing to ensure optimization of the design. It is mobilizing equipment to the site and expects to begin foundation work in late September that will continue for approximately one year.
“Everything to do with deep foundation will be taken care of by us – equipment mobilization, design, engineering and work onsite,” Mather says. “As our client, they’ve eliminated four or five vendors by utilizing us. Our biggest attribute is all the value-added services we provide. We’re not just a piling company. We’re a deep foundation company that covers all the bases, which makes us very competitive. If a client has to go to multiple vendors, that’s multiple markups that they have to cover. But we cover the whole gamut.”