Hammering home its advantage

Menck overcame engineering and geotechnical challenges to develop a hammer specifically for wind farm construction

THE BACKGROUND

Following the UK government’s pledge to source at least 10% of all energy generation from renewable sources by 2010, the wind farm construction industry is becoming an ever more demanding market.

In 2005, in anticipation of this, MENCK began work on developing the MHU 1900S, the world’s most powerful underwater hammer currently available in a rental fleet.

THE DEVELOPMENT

MENCK engineers were instructed to construct a hammer suitable for use from small jack-up boats with limited crane capacity. The hammer was to weigh in at less than 300t but to have the highest energy rating possible.

The MHU 1900S was developed for shallow water applications to 400m and with wind farm construction specifically in mind. In achieving a weight of 292t, the hammer fits the standard 3.75m diameter monopiles that are common in offshore wind farm construction.

PROBLEM SOLVED

It was with this feature in mind that, in early 2006, contractor MT Højgaard came to MENCK with a request to hire the new MHU 1900S hammer for use on the Lynn and Inner Dowsing wind farm sites.

MENCK is no stranger when it comes to developing effective solutions for uncharted conditions, and this particular project presented several new engineering and geotechnical challenges.

Download a copy of this case study