Releasable lowering and coupling assembly for pile driving

摘要

A pile lowering and coupling assembly having a plurality of latching arms pivotally secured to a follower pile that latch onto an annular catch secured to the skirt pile. A bias applied to the latching arms maintains the engagement of the follower and skirt piles by continuously urging the latching against the annular catch. Once coupled, both piles are lowered to the sea bed after which the skirt pile may be driven by applying a hammer to the free end of the follower pile which usually extends above the water surface. Once driven, the skirt pile and the follower pile are separated by removing the bias applied to the latching arms thus enabling the follower pile and the lowering and coupling assembly to be retrieved from the sea depths.