WO2000048809A2

WO2000048809A2 - Water jet for concrete pile cutter

Info

Publication number: WO2000048809A2
Application number: PCT/CA1999/000149
Authority: WO
Inventors: Leon B. Trudeau
Original assignee: L.B.T. Enterprises Ltd.
Priority date: 1999-02-19
Filing date: 1999-02-19
Publication date: 2000-08-24
Also published as: AU2605699A; WO2000048809A3

Abstract

A water jet system (20) is used underwater with a pile cutter to wash away and erode soil surrounding a pile so that a cutter may cut off the pile at a level below the water bed. The water jet system (20) includes a set of tubing (21,22,23) assembled into a manifold that extends around the opening (14) in the cutter and around the pile, and other tubing elements that extend under the operating system for the cutter. Water is pumped into the tubing (21,22,23) through an appropriate inlet and is jetted from the system through a series of nozzles (54,55,56) formed in the underside of the water jet system (20). The system (20) mounts on the underside of the pile cutter.

Description

WATER JET FOR CONCRETE PILE CUTTER FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the cutting of support piles and more particularly to the cutting off of piles under water.

BACKGROUND

In certain environments, it is of importance to remove unused underwater piles. Such piles may be the remnants of former docks, bridges and other structures and may be a hazard to shipping and other watercraft. It is often required that the piles be removed to a certain level, e.g. 1 to 5 metres, below the bed level of the body of water. This means removal of the surrounding soil at least to the cut off level of the pile. This is a labour intensive and costly procedure.

The present invention is concerned with an apparatus that will remove the soil around underwater piles to provide access for a pile cutter to the pile at the desired depth of removal.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention there is provided a water jet system for underwater use with a pile cutter having a frame and pile cutting apparatus carried on the frame, the water jet system comprising: water tubing; tubing mounting means for mounting the tubing on a bottom side of the cutter frame, with the tubing about the periphery of the frame; a plurality of nozzles distributed along the tubing for ejecting fluid from the interior of the tubing in a downwards direction; and water supply means for delivering water under pressure to the interior of the tubing. The water jet apparatus thus produces water jets from the bottom of the pile cutter to wash away or erode the soil surrounding the piles so that the pile cutter can drop along the pile to the cut off level.

The tubing is conveniently arranged in a loop around a pile receiving opening in the cutter frame. Where required, lengths of the tubing are arranged below the cutter operating cylinders to provide an adequate size and shape of excavation to accommodate those parts of the cutter.

The invention will be more fully understood by reference to the following description of certain exemplary embodiments of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the exemplary embodiments of the invention:

Figure 1 is an isometric view of a cutter with a water jet system attached thereto;

Figure 2 is a top view of the water jet system incorporated in Figure

1 ;

Figure 3 is a side view of the water jet system of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a bottom view of the water jet system of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a cross section along line 5-5 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a cross section along line 6-6 of Figure 4;

Figure 7 is a bottom view of an alternative embodiment of the water jet system; and

Figure 8 is a section along line 8 - 8 of Figure 7. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 illustrates a pile cutter 10 having a peripheral frame 12 surrounding an opening 14 in the cutter. In use of the cutter, a pile extends through the opening to be cut off by a blade 16 that is driven across the opening by a set of hydraulic cylinders 18. A pile cutter of this general type is described in WO 92/01841 published 6 February, 1992. For use in underwater applications, where a pile is to be removed below the level of the subsurface bed, the cutter is equipped with a water jet system 20 mounted on the underside of the cutter to wash away and erode the soil around the pile.

As illustrated most particularly in Figures 2 through 6, the water jet system includes a tubing assembly of several lengths of tubing 21 , elbow fittings 22 and tees 23. The tubing is connected into a loop 24 on the underside of the frame that surrounds the opening 14 in the frame. A second loop 26 extends from the loop 24 under the hydraulic cylinders 18. A set of cross tubes 28 extends across the second loop 26. Two water inlets 30 are provided on the loop 26 so that large quantities of water can be injected into the complete manifold that includes the loops and the cross tubes.

As illustrated most particularly in Figures 2 and 3, the water jet system 20 includes a front bracket assembly 32. This includes a set of three square tubes 34 fixed to the front side of the loop 24, with the centre tube outside the loop and the others inside. A triangular plate 36 is mounted on the top of the three tubes. The tubes project above the tubing to act as a spacer between the tubing and the adjacent part of the cutter frame. They also project below the tubing to act as feet supporting the water jet system when set down on a surface.

The water jet systems also includes a set of side mounting plates 38, two on each side, which connect the water jet system to the frame of the cutter through the use of an appropriate set of bolts.

A centre bracket 40 includes a set of four square tubes 42 that project below the tubing assembly to act as legs. They are connected at their upper ends to a cross plate 44 which engages the underside of the cutter frame.

A rear bracket 46 at the outer end of the loop 26 has two upright square tubes 48 and a cross plate 50. As with the other brackets, the square tubes 48 project below the water tubing 22 to act as support legs. Like the front tubes 34, the tubes 48 project above the tubing to support a cross plate 50 which engages the undersides of the hydraulic cylinders. An upright cross plate 52 extends across the loop 26 transverse to the cross tubes 28 and is bolted to the back end of the frame 12.

As illustrated most particularly in Figure 4, a set of nozzles 54 is distributed along the bottom side of the tubing 22. Alternate nozzles 55 are formed radially in the tubing and oriented vertically downwardly as illustrated in Figure 6. The other nozzles 56 are recessed into the tubing, as illustrated in Figure 5, and are inclined from the vertical to eject water jets at an angle of about 16° from vertical to one side or the other of the tubing. Alternate ones of these nozzles 56 are oriented in opposite directions.

An alternative embodiment of the water jet system is illustrated in Figures 7 and 8. This embodiment is intended for use with a smaller version of the cutter. In this embodiment, the tubing assembly 60 is formed into two loops 62 and 64, with the larger loop 62 being positioned under the frame of the cutter and the smaller loop 64 being positioned under the two hydraulic cylinders that power the smaller cutter. This is illustrated in Figure 8 where the cutter is shown in broken line. The water inlet is associated with the smaller loop 64. It includes a tee 68 in one side of the smaller loop, oriented to slope upwardly slightly from the loop. This leads to a 90° elbow 70 connected to a length of supply tubing 72. The nozzles 74 in this second embodiment are all directed vertically.

In use of either embodiment of the water jet system, the tubing assembly is mounted on the underside of the cutter and a water supply line is connected to the tubing. When the cutter is lowered down into the water so that the pile extends through the opening in the cutter frame, water is injected into the manifold composed of the tubing and is jetted out of the nozzles on the underside of the water jet assembly. The water jets wash away loose soil and erode harder packed materials to clear away the soil to the desired depth so that the cutter has access to the pile at the appropriate depth.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have been described in the foregoing, it is to be understood that other embodiments are possible within the scope of the invention and are intended to be included herein. The invention is to be considered limited solely by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A water jet system for underwater use with a pile cutter having a frame and pile cutting apparatus carried on the frame, the water jet system comprising: water tubing; tubing mounting means for mounting the tubing on a bottom side of the cutter frame, with the tubing about the periphery of the frame; a plurality of nozzles distributed along the tubing for ejecting fluid from the interior of the tubing in a downwards direction; and water supply means for delivering water under pressure to the interior of the tubing.

2. A system according to claim 1 wherein the frame has an opening for receiving a pile therethrough and the tubing comprises a loop of tubing extending around the opening.

3. A system according to claim 2 wherein the cutter includes cutter operating means extending outwardly from the opening and the water jet system includes tubing extending below the cutter operating means.

4. A system according to claim 3 wherein the tubing extending below the cutter operating means comprises a second loop of tubing.

5. A system according to claim 4 wherein the tubing extending below the cutter operating means further comprises a plurality of tubing lengths extending across the additional loop of tubing.

6. A system according to any preceding claim wherein the nozzles comprise apertures in the tubing.

7. A system according to claim 6 wherein adjacent nozzles comprise means for ejecting fluid from the tubing at different angular orientations with respect to the tubing.