Innovative and Practical: New Features Introduced by RTG Rammtechnik GmbH Set Standards For Sheet Pile Wall Construction

Traditionally, large trade fairs such as Bauma in Munich offer an opportunity to present new developments in construction equipment technology to a wider professional audience. For years, RTG Rammtechnik GmbH, a company of the BAUER Maschinen Group, is impressively demonstrating its long-term commitment to innovation with a range of new features for the RG telescopic leaders.

Sheet pile assistant

With its patented sheet pile assistant integrated in the vibrator, RTG Rammtechnik is ushering in a new era of safety and efficiency for the construction of sheet pile walls. Previously, a sheet pile was attached to the vibrator with a chain, pulled upwards and then threaded into the grip by moving the vibrator downwards. During this process, the chain was loosened, with the sheet piles standing freely on the ground and potentially able to tip over before being threaded in. Thanks to the new assistance system, it is now possible to safely thread a sheet pile into the vibrator by fixing the sheet pile (single or double pile) in place between the ground and the assistant, thereby preventing it from tipping over. “Two factors play a role here: first, the increased safety on construction sites, and second, the time saved by eliminating laborious manual threading,” explains RTG Product Manager Jonas Guettel.

The system has already proven to be effective in practice through multiple applications, for example construction of an underground garage in the German city of Berlin last year, where an RG 19T with integrated sheet pile assistant was used. The task: securing a slope, and then later the excavation pit, using double U profiles with a length of 12 m. The fact that an RG without assistant was initially used for this project, before commissioning of an RG 19T with the new system, means that direct comparison was possible: threading in the sheet piles took just a fraction of the time that was previously required. The sheet pile walls only required slight preparation.

For a project in Karlsruhe, Germany, the sheet pile assistant also saved a great deal of time and money: double U sheet piles with a length of 18 m had to be positioned for a new building complex with multiple underground floors. “During this project, the RG was operated by a highly experienced operator who was visibly impressed by the massive amount of time saved,” reports Jonas Guettel.

Operation Remote Control and new auxiliary winch

In 2020, RTG presented its “Operation Remote Control,” a world first in the field of telescopic leaders. Using this new tool, which is available for all RTG equipment, the operator can control all functions externally – from set-up and drilling to impact driving. In the process, the B-Tronic is displayed on the attachable touch screen. “Using remote control, the entire set-up process can be carried out by a single person in just about 15 minutes,” explains Jonas Guettel. This makes one-man operation possible, resulting in considerable safety improvements, particularly on cramped construction sites. The sheet pile assistant can also be operated by remote control.

Thanks to the new auxiliary winch for RG telescopic leaders, working at heights, for example during assembly, is now a thing of the past. The fact that the auxiliary winch is hydraulically adjustable means that a range of positions can be achieved (three working positions and one transport position). With the new auxiliary winch, the load capacity can be optionally increased to 8 t, eliminating the need for additional lifting equipment.

“In all our new developments, we are careful to ensure that they are not only effective in practice but also intuitive to operate,” summarizes Jonas Guettel. “The feedback we have received so far from operators after the first applications – some of them relatively new and some of them highly experienced – demonstrates that our innovations offer real added value in terms of safety and efficiency for the construction of sheet pile walls.”