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By Mohammadreza Khanmohammadi, Kazem Fakharian

"AbstractIn driven piles, the gradual dissipation of excess pore water pressure and consequently the soil setup significantly contribute to increasing the pile capacity with time. The question is risen that how the scale differences affect the stress state variations around the pile shaft and at the pile tip? Would the CPT predictions better correlate with End-Of-Drive (EOD) or Beginning of Restrike (BOR) conditions? On the other hand, are the proposed a and ß parameters for clayey soils mostly predicting the EOD or BOR situation? The main objective of this paper is to back calculate the a and ß parameters from CPT profiles, pile Dynamic Load Tests (DLT) at the EOD and BOR as well as Static Load Tests (SLT) and evaluate how they compare with those suggested in literature. Four precast 400 mm square concrete piles driven in North Azadegan Oilfield in Khuzestan Province were selected for the comparisons. CPT test results were available from the extensive geotechnical investigation at the study site. DLT tests using PDA were carried out at EOD, 1 day and 14-day BOR on all the 4 piles. All the piles were SLT tested as well. The UniCone software was used to estimate the tip and shaft resistances using 4 methods including the Dutch, Eslami & Fellenius, LCPC and Schmertmann. The results indicate that the a-method based on the proposed values in literature has predicted a shaft capacity of 90% of the 14-day BOR. This is while the ß-method has predicted a shaft capacity equivalent to 1-day BOR results only. Therefore, both methods have under-predicted the shaft capacities compared to real capacities measured after the significant soil setup in the study area. Two of the CPT methods have underestimated, one has overestimated and one has matched the estimated 60-day capacity."

Jan 1, 2014

By Peter J. Nicholson

Since the reintroduction of soil mixing to the United States over 10 years ago, the work installed by soil mixing technology has grown dramatically. From an annual turnover of less than ten million dollars per year the volume of soil mixing put in place has grown to an estimated $40 million per year in the year 2000. The majority of work done to date has involved walls, either for excavation support, permanent retaining structures or hydraulic cut-off walls. The other major use for soil mixing has been for mass stabilization of soils whether for isolation of contaminants or for retaining structures. This paper will discuss the uses of and costs of typical soil mix structures. BACKGROUND Soil mixing is defined as the in-situ combining of reagents, typically cement, with native soils, the purpose being to modify or improve the ground. This history of soil mixing covers only the use of cement slurry, aggregated with soil in-situ by mechanical mixing methods only. Soil mixing by use of high-pressure hydraulic means, also known as Jet Grouting, will not be discussed. In addition this will not cover ex-situ (above ground) mixing, or mixing dry reagents with soil. Only mixing applications for building, civil and heavy construction applications will be discussed, with only passing reference made to uses of soil mixing for environmental remediation work.

Jan 1, 2001

By Tracy Brettmann

Equipment ? Hollow Stem Auger ? Drill Bits ? Leads/Torque Arm ? Hydraulic Gearbox ? Hydraulic Power Unit ? Grout Pump ? Crawler Crane

Jan 1, 2004

By Philip Dubbeling

Conventional dynamic sheetpiling techniques are ill-suited to urban development because of the emission of excessive noise and ground vibrations. Drilled shafts and slurry walls alleviate some of these environmental concerns but add additional problems due to large bulky machines, reliance on dusty concrete plants and urban trucking grief. To solve these problems, pre-fabricated sheetpiles are hydraulically jacked-in by reaction principle using a compact and lightweight press-in machine, a so called the "Silent Piler". Through scientific analysis, definition and systemization of press-in machines and methods, new construction concepts such as the one-step approach, implant structures, functional design and life cycle design have been developed to comply with new basic construction principles.

Jan 1, 2006

By Richard T. Stain

"In 2001, a pile trial site was established at Limelette in Belgium consisting of 25 displacement screw piles and 5 driven pre-cast piles. Interested parties were invited to participate in a pile prediction event, whereby they would submit predicted static load test behaviour in the form of load settlement plots. These predictions could be based on soil investigation results supplied by the organizers, or dynamic load test measurements.Following the submission deadline, the organisers released the results of static load tests for comparison.Of all the six participants, including Statnamic, the SIMBAT method was independently accredited with achieving the best predictions.This paper examines at the differences between SIMBAT and other systems, and presents the correlations from the Limelette trial.INTRODUCTIONThe Belgian Building Research Institute (BBRI) initiated an ambitious research programme involving the construction and testing of some 60 trial piles spread between two sites, a clay site at Sint Kateline Waver and a sandy site at the BBRI headquarters at Limelette. The project was financed largely by the Belgian Ministry of Economic affairs. (ref 1.) This paper refers only to the second site.At Limelette, six different types of displacement pile were installed: one driven pre-cast and five cast in place screw piles - Atlas, DeWaal, Fundex, Olivier and Omega. A detailed site investigation was carried out including in-situ and laboratory tests.An international pile capacity prediction event was publicised, participants being invited to predict static pile behaviour. Predictions could be based on:"

Jan 1, 2005

By Kul Bhushan

This paper presents the results of lateral load tests on 0.61-m to 1.27-m (24 to 50-inch) diameter drilled and cast-in-place piers in San Diego area residual/formational soils. The test piers were installed and tested in the following soils: Decomposed Granitic Rock (Ktd), Stadium Conglomerate (Tst), and Friars Formation (Tf). Lateral loads of up to 845 KN (190 kip) were applied to the piers in residual granitic soils, and loads up to 1780 KN (400 kip) were applied to the piers in Stadium Conglomerate and Friars Formation. The tests were conducted by jacking against adjacent piers and monitoring the lateral load and lateral deflection at the ground line. Test results indicate that ultimate lateral pile capacities of up to 1800 KN (400 kip) can be obtained for 0.61 m (24-inch) drilled piers with penetration of 3 to 6 m (10 to 20 ft) in the residual/formational soils tested. Lateral load analyses using p-y curves for very dense sand significantly overestimate the observed lateral deflections. For lateral load analyses using dense sand p-y curves, p-multipliers that increase the lateral soil stiffness (p-y curves) by 2 to 8 times are required to match the load-deflection behavior measured in the test piles. When applied to the dense sand p-y curves, the p-multipliers provide a more accurate prediction of load-deflection behavior in the residual/formational soils, and can result in shorter required pier penetration and significant savings in foundation cost.

Jan 1, 2002

By Donald A. Bruce

The paper reviews aspects of the construction and performance of prestressed ground anchors installed in soils and weak rocks. Attention is focused on good practice for drilling, tendon fabrication and handling, grouting, stressing and testing. Regional variations - not always logically justified - are described. The performance of anchors in a variety of geological conditions is illustrated with reference to recent full scale test programs. 1. Introduction In the United States there has been steady growth in the use of prestressed anchors in materials other than competent or hard rock, in the years since their introduction in the late 1960's. This expansion has to a large extent been driven by specialty geotechnical contractors who both imported foreign developments and conducted their own basic researches, in locally prevailing conditions. With such data and experience, these engineers have had the confidence to promote "alternative solutions" for difficult earth support problems to receptive designers and owners. In turn, being engaged in the details of design and performance monitoring has given these parties the close exposure necessary for the real transfer and understanding of the technological concepts, and this knowledge has generated positive feedback for the contractors.

Jan 1, 1991

By Mohammed Sakr

The use of helical piles as a deep foundation option has considerably increased in the recent years to support a variety of loads, from small loads for several applications such as residential housing, solar farms, utilities and retrofit projects, to large loads for many applications such as commercial, power transmission lines, oil facilities and industrial applications. Therefore, it is necessary to qualify and quantify their axial capacities and performance characteristics. This paper presents the first full-scale axial compression and tension (uplift) testing program executed on large capacity helical piles installed in cohesionless soils. A total of eleven pile load tests using either single or double-helix piles with shaft diameters that varied between 324 mm to 508 mm (12¾ in to 20 in) were carried out, including seven axial compression tests and four tension (uplift) tests. The results of the axial compressive and tensile pile load tests as well as field monitoring data of helical piles installed in dense sand are presented in this paper. Based on the results of this study it was found that helical piles have developed significant resistance to axial compressive loads up to about 2920 kN (656 kips) and tensile loads up to 2900 kN (652 kips).

Jan 1, 2011

By Li Keqiang

This paper discusses the pile foundation of tall buildings in Shenzhen region. For 156 constructed tall buildings exceeding 18 storeys, about 86. 5 per cent of the sum. The two main types of foundation used are the semi?machine?bored/slurry drilled cast?in?situ pile and the excavation pile (hand ?dug caisson). The engineering geologiical condition in Shenzhen was analysed. In general, the bed rock level is not too deep. It belongs to hard rock, but the geologic structure is more complex and the tectonic fissures is plenty. According to experiences of the researches, tests, designs and constructions of pile foundation, we present the basic design principle of pile foundations for tall buildings as follows; (1) pile strength control to select the pile type and to choice the cross sectional dimen­sions, must be in compliance with the strength of the pile. (2) bearing stratum strongly weathered, moderartely weathered and slightly weathered rock may be used as the bearing stratum. (3) bearing pile bored /drilled cast-in-situ pile designed as an end bearing pile. (4) friction pile precast concrete pile, prestressed concrete tubular pile and driven cast-in-situ pile designe as a friction pile. In case, pile design is in compliance with these principles, it may be safe, economical and reasonable.

Jan 1, 1991

By G. Sauer

"More Skill is needed to avoid rather than to handle heavy ground loads." This finding, from a tunneling engineer of the nineteenth century, is still relevant today with all advanced sequential excavation and support methods available whether they are applied in the vertical or horizontal direction. Balanced contractual agreements and documents are important since they provide the spirit and climate at the site. This article aims to describe the means and measures for 'hand mined' shaft and tunnel support as they are available today. Some special construction elements and methods with a perspective in recent developments in order to avoid getting stuck in conservatism are presented as well. If we don't allow new methods, means and measures we may end up with the famous quote "Only women who have already proven they are able to give birth to a healthy baby are allowed to become pregnant!"

Jan 1, 2003

By Peter Jackson

The dewatering of the large construction pits required for major infrastructure projects often has a significant impact on the environment. This is particularly so in urban areas and where groundwater resources are of interest. These environmental impacts are inter alia, groundwater lowering and the consequent effects such as settlement and deterioration of timber foundations, together with the impact of the dewatering on the groundwater quality. In order to minimise the environmental impact of the dewatering, the quantity of water to be abstracted and the amount of groundwater lowering in the surrounding area must be minimised. This paper describes the measures that have been taken on the Copenhagen metro project to achieve the objective of minimal environmental impact whilst still carrying out a major dewatering scheme.

Jan 1, 2000

By Hessam Yazdani

In comparison to the conventional piled foundations, the piled-raft foundations provide a more economical solution to support high-rise buildings constructed on soft soils. In this type of foundations, the bearing capacity of the underlying soil is taken into account to support the superstructure loads and the piles are placed to control both the total and differential settlements of the superstructure. Currently, there is not a standard and worldwide acceptable approach to select the location of the piles and most of piled-raft foundations are designed based on the experience of designers. Therefore, particular attention should be given to the optimal design of this type of foundations in order to minimize the considerable construction costs involved. This paper examines the capability of the ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm to optimize the piled-raft foundations subjected to static and seismic loadings. The soil-pile interaction is considered by modeling the side and tip resistance components of the piles using the nonlinear Winkler-based p-y and t-z curves in the OpenSees program. The soil-raft interaction is taken into consideration using the Winkler springs beneath the raft. The objective of the optimization problem is to minimize the construction cost of the foundation by taking the configuration and number of the piles as design variables. The side and tip forces of the piles as well as the total and differential settlements of the foundation under the serviceability limit state are considered as the constraints for the optimization problem. Results show that in addition to the type of analysis (linear/nonlinear), the regard or disregard of the soil-pile interaction in the analysis can significantly change the optimal solution. The optimal solutions obtained match the engineering expectations and indicate the effectiveness and capability of the ACO algorithm to minimize the construction cost.

Jan 1, 2013

By Jorge Beim

Helical Piles are increasingly being used to support and rehabilitate structures subjected to compressive axial loads. Traditionally, empirical correlations between installation torque and load capacity of helical screw piles are used as the field quality control. Load tests, however, are always recommended to validate the installation process and design methodology. This paper describes a test program performed on helical piles installed at the National Geotechnical Experimentation Site of the University of Massachusetts - Amherst campus (UMass-Amherst), well known for its deep varved clay deposit. Seven of these piles were submitted to Dynamic Load Tests using the Pile Driving Analyzer® (PDA), and also to Static Load Tests. Good agreements were obtained between the results of the dynamic and static load tests, encouraging the use of the former testing method as a viable alternative to the latter for determining the compressive load capacity of helical piles installed in cohesive soils. The results of the load tests were also compared to the predictions based on torque correlations, resulting in correlation coefficients which were higher than the ones traditionally used.

Jan 1, 2012

By Theodore R. Maynard

The history of foundation engineering in Chicago is a tale of innovation, made necessary in order to keep pace with structural technology which allowed taller buildings with heavier bearing loads, to accommodate a non-conducive geologic setting. The geology as it relates to foundation construction and underground construction in general is briefly described. A chronology of important events from the birth of Chicago to the present is presented. The impact of various construction techniques which were either initiated or refined to allow the growth of Chicago are discussed. Introduction The growth of Chicago resulting in today's high-rise high-density population center can be looked upon as a history of modern underground construction. The two major reasons which explain this are 1) It grew up during a period of rapid development in the Industrial Revolution and 2) Its natural geological setting needed a great deal of innovation for continuing growth.

Jan 1, 1991

By R. T. Stain

Dynamic methods of load testing piles using a drop hammer to generate the input force have been in use for many years. These systems are based on the wave equations developed at the Case Institute of Technology, Cleveland, Ohio in the late 1960's and are well documented. Such tests are generally restricted to preformed driven piles, the driving hammer being a convenient means of generating large input forces. In 1979 the CEBTP (France) was sponsored by the FNTP (Fédération Nationale des Travaux Publics) to undertake research into existing classical methods and to develop a test that would be equally applicable to bored cast in place piles. The result of this research programme is a methodology known as SIMBAT, and which was included in a series of class A prediction trials in Belgium in 1987 (Refs 1 & 2, Paquet 1987, 1988). The purpose of this paper is: a) to examine the type of 'dynamic'/'static? load test correlations that can be obtained. b) to highlight the differences between the classical' methods and the 'SIMBAT' technique.

Jan 1, 1989

By Fritz J. Klingler

From site demolition, to design, to construction, Detroit's new Tiger Stadium project is required to be completed within a short 2 ½ years from award of the design-build contract. Such extreme schedule requirements together with somewhat difficult ground conditions at the site, resulted in several challenges in the design and construction of the deep foundation system for the stadium. During the geotechnical investigation, an intermittent water bearing sand layer was encountered overlying the hardpan at the site. As a result, some concern developed regarding the potential for collapse of caisson bells within this layer, as well as the potential for flooding of the caissons during drilling. Although sand and/or ground water was encountered within about half of the caissons, standard drilling and belling methods were used, and adverse conditions were controlled in almost all cases through expeditious drilling, inspection and concreting of the caissons. This paper will present a summary of the ground conditions, design and specification requirements, and construction methods used to successfully install the caissons for this project.

Jan 1, 1999

By Frank Callanan

The Ameristar Casino expansion project included the design and construction of a 25-story hotel and 9-story parking structure expansion. The site is located in a floodplain on the banks of the Missouri River in Saint Charles, Missouri, where the underlying soils are potentially liquefiable. The geotechnical engineer performed subsurface exploration and analysis, which included site-specific seismic response and liquefaction, and provided geotechnical design recommendations. In the event of an earthquake, post-liquefaction settlement was calculated to be approximately 14 inches. Additional project constraints included wetlands protection, construction adjacent to the existing facility, flood protection and river bank stability. Because of the liquefaction issue, the geotechnical engineer consulted with a specialty geotechnical contractor on ground improvement methods. This consultation led to a proposal to eliminate deep foundations from the design and support the structures on shallow and mat foundations. The geotechnical engineer assisted the design team with foundation design analysis and value engineering assessments. Together with the project team, the geotechnical engineer used the data to evaluate foundation options and construction methods to overcome the site challenges and concluded that ground improvement was the optimum course of action. Because of the nature of the site constraints, a number of ground improvement methods were needed. The geotechnical engineer evaluated the methods proposed by the geotechnical contractor and provided the technical specifications for the ground improvement bid package, which included vibro-compaction, compaction grouting and micropiles. The ground improvement allowed for the use of shallow foundations (mat and spread footings), which provided the client with significant time and cost savings over the deep foundation alternatives.

Jan 1, 2009

By L. F. Miao

Studies were carried out to investigate the ultimate soil pressure acting on pile(s) undergoing lateral soil movement in soft clay. A special apparatus has been designed to apply a uniform rectangular profile of lateral soil movement on the rigid pile(s) with pinned head and tip conditions to obtain the ultimate soil pressure. The piles were 16 mm (5/8 in) in diameter. For the pile group tests, the behavior of different number of piles (2, 3, 4, 6 and 9), pile arrangements and center-to-center spacings (3 and 6 diameters) were investigated. In this paper, the group factors of 11 combinations of number of piles, pile arrangements and pile spacings are presented. The group factors are given for individual piles in a pile group as well as for the entire group. Generally, the group factors of individual piles in a group varied significantly according to pile spacing in both directions, and pile arrangement; the group factor of the whole group reduced with an increasing number of piles, and increased with increasing pile spacing. For a pile group with the same number of piles but different pile arrangement, no significant difference was found in the group factors for the entire group.

Jan 1, 2008

By Bernard H. Hertlein

All methods of deep foundation construction present challenges to the contractor and engineer that vary according to the method employed, and the geotechnical conditions in which it is being used. Augered-Cast-In-Place (ACIP) piles are generally regarded as one of the most challenging, because the construction method precludes the use of traditional shaft inspection and quality control techniques. Application of Nondestructive Test (NDT) methods can provide quality control for ACIP shafts that traditional methods cannot, but each NDT method has limitations. These make some NDT methods unsuitable for use on ACIP shafts, and may limit the effectiveness of others, depending on geotechnical conditions. To help contractors and engineers working with ACIP piles select the test method most appropriate to specific site conditions, this paper presents a summary of the major NDT methods currently available, and reviews their capabilities with respect to the unique conditions presented by ACIP pile construction. Case histories illustrate how a combination of careful method selection, skilled data interpretation, and experienced engineering judgment have resolved problems and ensured quality in foundation construction by discriminating between potentially serious defects, and those that are unlikely to be significant.

Jan 1, 1997

By K. Kawakami

In Japan, pile foundations have been used extensively for buildings, bridges and port facilities. A large number of steel pipe piles were first used in the 1960's and the amount of steel used in foundations increased by 1973 to one million tons. This report describes current practice in the actual use of large diameter and long steel pipe piles in Japan, related to their performance: including consideration of pile size, hammer types used for driving the results of field tests measuring stress occurring in the piles and the driving formulae currently being used in practice in Japan.

Jan 1, 2010