Austrian civil engineering contractor Ragginger Rammtechnik specialises in earthworks and sheet piling. It has a variety of Liebherr machinery at its disposal including an R 956 VH-HD, a 72-tonne crawler excavator specifically made by Liebherr-France SAS in Colmar for Ragginger to drive sheet pile walls.

The R 956 has a high lift capacity and a 15-metre hook height to handle a variety of sheet piles and minimise the travel required. In addition, the VH-HD undercarriage with hydraulically adjustable gauge ensures excellent stability when removing piles, while at the same time allowing easier transportation by road.

The crawler excavator is equipped with a special long, height-adjustable boom suitable for this application. Liebherr says that the boom’s kinematics are ideal for piledriving work along sheet pile walls, ensuring a high working height close to the machine.

Also, the boom design minimises transport height for an excavator of this size – a key point for Ragginger, which needs to be mindful of the restrictions of moving construction machines by road, especially through tunnels.

Liebherr has increased the size of certain cylinders in the attachment to ensure best possible handling of sheet pile walls. The hydraulic system has been designed for use with the piling tool. The hydraulic cab elevation gives the operator the best possible view of the task in hand. With its versatile equipment, the R 956 VH-HD is even being used by the customer for demolition work with appropriate tools – pulveriser, concrete shear, sorting grapple or bucket.