Pile Driver

A pile driver is a heavy tool used to drive piles of wood, steel or concrete into soil to build the deep foundations of piers, bridges and other structures, typically by raising a heavy weight between vertical guides above the pile and then releasing it to strike the pile downward. Multiple inventors are credited with early versions: Francesco di Giorgio Martini produced an early mechanically sound design in 1475, the engineer John Rennie built a steam-powered pile driver in 1801, and James Nasmyth patented a further steam-powered design in 1845, while the American Otis Tufts is credited with inventing the steam pile driver in the United States. The device remains fundamental to foundation engineering, with the raise-and-drop principle of its earliest designs still underlying hydraulic and diesel pile drivers used today.