A Silent Revolution in Piling

When noise and vibration from piling became Japan’s “construction pollution” in the 1970s, Akio Kitamura decided to do the unthinkable — invent a pile driver that makes no noise at all.

His idea was simple yet revolutionary:

“Use the resistance of already-driven piles as the reaction force for pressing new ones.”

In 1975, the world’s first hydraulic press-in machine — the SILENT PILER KGK-100A — was born.
Quiet, compact, and vibration-free, it changed how cities could be built — from loud and destructive to clean and precise.

SILENT PILER – From Prototype to Revolution

* 1978 KGK-100H → first mass-produced unit (≈ 100 sold)
* 1981 KGK-80C → introduced the self-walking function — the rig could “walk” on installed piles without cranes
* 1987 FT70 (Full-Turn) → leader mast could rotate 360° for corner or confined work
* 1991 AT Series → first computer-controlled SILENT PILERS — automation began
* 1995 SA Series → added magnetic sensors and the Super Jet Reel system for water-assisted piling
* 1997 Crush Piler SC100 → first model for hard ground, combining augering with press-in
* 2014 F Series → modular design, digital control
* 2024 F302 → latest generation, lighter, smarter, and fully data-driven

 Giken Legacy & Interesting facts

Nearly 50 years later, more than 4,000 SILENT PILERS are operating in over 40 countries.

1976 — Japanese papers headlined “It’s So Quiet!” when the SILENT PILER first appeared on-site.
1986 — First export of a SILENT PILER to a foreign country – Sweden.
1994 — Start of joint research with the University of Cambridge on soil–pile interaction (ongoing today).
2023 — Opening of Red Hill 1967, GIKEN’s museum and innovation center, partly built from pressed-in steel piles.
Today — GIKEN participates in Japan’s STARDUST Program, researching press-in technologies for constructing bases on the lunar surface!

By letting the Earth itself provide the reaction force, GIKEN transformed piling into science — and silence into strength.

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