This year, Vroom will have been in existence for 60 years. We will reveal our rich history here regularly, using images from back then illustrated with, not least, facts, figures and anecdotes from our past.
In 2002, the construction industry had to deal with a long-lasting strike and the building market shrank somewhat. So Vroom expected that turnover would remain below the level of 2001. Vroom still looked ahead with as much optimism as before, even as the economy took a downward turn.
On the afternoon of Wednesday, 23 July 2003, during work in Eindhoven, it seemed impossible to get the piling tube out. All options were assessed with the aim of saving the tube and the pile. Finally, around 6.00 p.m., the tube started moving again. Operator Gerrit Roelofs and his gang kept working on it stubbornly and, at length, the tube gradually came up. However, time passed and the evening wore on. Local residents began to complain about the nuisance caused by the noise. The police appeared on the scene at 7.00 p.m.; the first time they had been called to the site. After some soothing words, and with the expectation that everything would soon be resolved, our keepers of the peace were sent away. However, they weren’t to be fobbed off and came back at 8.00 p.m. A line had been crossed, and work had to stop. That was a pity, because the pipe was more or less out. After a discussion over the phone with Vroom and the main contractor it was decided to take the risk after all and save the pile and the tube. So long as it was all over quickly. ‘The law’ had called in reinforcements in the form of a number of vehicles and around twenty uniformed officers that roared up to the site. The pile drivers were all taken into custody and had to go with the officers to the main police station. Ultimately, Vroom got plenty media attention with this incident.
Steel tube piles, DPA screw piles and Hitachi GLS
Piling work in 2005 for the ZMOK school in the Konijnenstraat in the Jordaan, central Amsterdam. The work, driving around 100 steel tube piles, had to be carried out in the high-density residential Jordaan area on a site that was almost inaccessible for heavy-duty machinery. And the pile driving had to be carried out within a sheet-pile wall pit that was to be created by digging and inserting props. One disadvantage was that the work had to be carried out with small plant and equipment that would fit under the props. Vroom chose to follow a different path for an excavated building pit with props and worked with a large steel-tube stage. The work was then carried out using the new Liebherr 912, which was set up on double pontoons on the floor of the building pit. A few partitions over the pontoons made it possible to reach the level just above the props, thus clearing the way for the crane. This is how the pile driving in the building pit was generally carried out. And a second Vermeer rig was used for a few piles that were more difficult to reach.
In the immediate vicinity of the head office, on the Sluisweg in Oosthuizen, our Woltman 7528D saw active service in 2007, drilling holes for DPA screw piles for 24 apartments.
Our first piling rig was built to order of Vroom Funderingstechnieken (Vroom Foundation Technology) and delivered at the start of 2007. The very first Hitachi GLS was a good starting point for setting out all sorts of data in relation to technical drawings. The rest of the superstructure allowed Hillcon the opportunity of creating a design that could be adapted to future developments in engineering, in line with the applicable regulations and the CE standard.
