Development of pile driving hammers in the recent 160 years is considered. It is established that only the equipment used for raising the impact body (ram) on a certain height was being changed, whereas the driving itself is performed through the free fall on the pile, e.g. the very driving technology has remained unchanged since almost 8 000 years. In this connection, an interesting relationship is discovered – a new way of powering the ram comes around every 40 years! Another established tendency is a periodical increase in the mass of the impact body. Authors propose a new way of powering the ram that will lead to radical changes in the hammer design and driving technology. First and foremost, the impact body is additionally activated when striking a blow, and does not only rely on earth gravity.