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By Sherrill Gardner

Vibratory drivers have been used since the 1930s to drive and extract piles. Vibratory pile drivers have the capability of significantly decreasing pile installation time, especially in granular type soils. However, they have not been widely accepted because of the uncertainty in estimating the bearing capacity of the driven pile. When driving bearing piles, the industry standard method for obtaining load carrying capacity of a pile installed with a vibratory driver is to redrive with an impact hammer. The advantage of improved productivity is lost with the redrive procedure. Currently, there is no other method to predict the capacity of these bearing piles installed with a vibratory driver. The Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory (NCEL) is making progress towards being able to estimate the bearing capacity of these piles. This paper describes field testing and corresponding analytical modeling of the vibratory driver-pile-soil system. The following sections describe the development of the numerical model and techniques for collecting field data. A discussion of the prediction of the pile driving process based on field test data is followed by suggestions as to the additional work that should be done to further verify the model to a point where it can be used with confidence.

Jan 1, 1987

By A. Le Kouby

We present in this paper the results of a parametric study carried out in a calibration chamber on instrumented model piles. The aim is to point out group effect on piles within a group through their resulting shaft friction and tip resistance. The methodology relies on the study of the influence of adjacent piles on a "reference" pile. The soil used is a silica sand (Fontainebleau sand). The influence of parameters like pile spacing, number of piles and installation order are evaluated. The results show a positive effect on shaft friction of the group effect and a negative effect on tip resistance. Efficiency factors are defined in order to have a better view on the parameters influencing the response of the pile within a group.

Jan 1, 2006

By Dan Brown

Renewal and revitalization of transportation presents a challenge in the need for replacement, repair, and improvements of existing bridges, as well as increased construction of transit systems within existing transportation rights of way. Difficulties with conventional deep foundation systems occur because of the limited site access, adjacent structures, the need to maintain traffic, and other constraints on construction activity. Major projects are often performed in a design-build contract environment in which the schedule is aggressive, and where speed and reliability represent major considerations. Foundation designers are confronted with a need to solve problems with a construction-oriented mindset, where typical experience with lowest cost solutions may not reflect the most effective approach. This presentation presents an overview of the challenges that may affect design and construction of deep foundations in this environment and the methods that have successfully been employed on several large transportation projects in the U.S.

Jan 1, 1900

By Kyle Murphy, John S. McCartney

This paper focuses on the seasonal thermo-mechanical response of two energy foundations installed at the new Denver Housing Authority Senior Living Facility in Denver, Colorado. The two drilled shaft foundations, which have diameters of 36 inches and depths of 45 ft and are end bearing in the Denver shale formation, include a closedloop series of polyethylene tubes through which fluid is circulated to exchange heat with the surrounding ground. The tubes within the foundations are coupled together with the conventional ground source heat pump system for the building and were installed to evaluate the heat exchange response of the foundations as well as any thermomechanical soil-structure interaction effects. A series of vibrating wire strain gages and thermistors were installed at different depths in the foundation to record the thermomechanical strain and temperature at different depths. Also, pipe-plug thermocouples are used to measure the inlet and outlet temperature of the heat exchanger fluid entering each of the foundations, which is necessary to evaluate the total heat exchange for the foundations and the efficiency of the heat pump. This paper will describe the energy foundation construction processes, the strain distribution and ambient temperature profiles during building construction and the seasonal strain and temperature distributions during heating and cooling of the building. The data indicates that typical heat exchange associated with heating and cooling operations leads to strains which are within acceptable limits, and that the foundations can provide a clear option for absorbing the base heating and cooling load for the building.

Jan 1, 2017

By Yoshinori Kurumada, Tatsuo Nagatsu, Keiji Uchida

"Cement deep mixing method has been utilized in the process of construction of an underwater tunnel in Singapore. The soil was improved by this method to prevent undesirable heaving of the soil below the excavated area. Quality control experiments approved the effectiveness of CDM method in increasing the strength of the soil and prevention of undesired heave of the ground. The process of the construction of this project and the quality control experiments results are discussed in this paper.INTRODUCTIONThe Marina Coastal Expressway is a 5.3 km long underwater highway tunnel with five lanes in each direction. It mostly comprises a twin box culvert structure (53.3 m exterior width and 10.89 m height) and was opened by the Land Transport Authority of Singapore (LTA).The contract zone C485 was the most challenging area of the construction; it involved a 700 m long underwater tunnel of which 400 m was built beneath the seabed at the mouth of the Singapore River. A double steel pipe sheet pile wall was built as a temporary cofferdam to keep water out of the excavation site, and the cut-and-cover method was used for excavation. In order to ensure a sufficient cross-sectional area for the flow of the Singapore River, the construction was divided into two phases focused on the left bank (Stage 1) and right bank (Stage 2).The Cement Deep Mixing (CDM) method was used to improve the ground, which comprised soft marine clay, to ensure safety during the excavation. The efficiency of this method in increasing the soil’s strength was approved previously. The design standard strength was quck = 800 kPa. Based on the study conducted after the construction, the average the Unconfined Compression Strength (UCS) of the soil stabilized by the CDM method was quf =3,000 kPa. This paper discusses the effect of the CDM soil improvement construction on the reduced displacement from the excavation and the quality control of the soil improvement."

Jan 1, 2015

By Giovanni Lombardi

In order to get a clear overview of the grouting works carried out, to avoid misinterpretations of the data and functions shown on the display of the grout monitoring device, it is recommended to keep the flow rate as constant as possible. Obviously, at the beginning of the process, the flow rate will increase from nil to the selected "basic" value. An important question frequently addressed is also how to reduce the flow rate in nearing the GIN limit so to finally reach the target intensity. Depending on the actual conditions, there are different manners to proceed. However, the following one appears to be the most convenient. It is represented on Figure 25. Being GIN the target intensity, two new limits at, let's say, 0.95 GIN and at 1.05 GIN as shown in the figure should be defined. The selected basic grout flow rate "q0", is kept as constant as possible all along the grouting process until the 0.95 GIN limit is reached. The flow is then reduced step wise to 2/3 q0, 1/3 q0 and zero at crossing each of the three limits. A similar rule can be used in respect to the maximum pressure, while for the maximum volume the process can be stopped at one time. Obviously the number of successive limits and thus the number of steps in reducing the pressure, as well as the width of the fringes defined in said way may be adapted to the local conditions.

Feb 10, 2003

By J. P. Powers

Methods for dewatering and the control of ground water for construction and mining are discussed, including open pumping; predrainage with deep wells, wellpoints or other systems; cutoff or exclusion of water by steel sheet piling, slurry concrete walls and slurry trenching, grouting, ground freezing, compressed air, slurry shields and earth pressure balance shields. Criteria are given for the selection among the methods for a given project. Unwanted side effects of dewatering are listed, with procedures for evaluating and avoiding them, by cutoff or artificial recharge.

Jan 1, 2010

Caissons hand dug to a depth of about 100 feet were used to underpin three important structures at an industrial site in the State of Utah. The caisson shafts extended through 30 to 40 feet of coarse, granular soils and 25 to 60 feet of sands and clays to bear on a very dense, coarse gravel and cobble stratum near the water table. The shafts were belled to 12 feet square at their bearing elevation. Bearing pressures of 20 ksf were assigned. The shafts were lagged with timber. The use of hand-dug caissons allowed continuous operation of the facility during underpinning. Settlements after underpinning have been minor and well within the estimated magnitudes. Instrumentation was placed in two of the caissons with varying degrees of success.

Jan 1, 2010

By Subhash B. Bhide

Deep foundations are affected by the presence of sulphates, chlorides, organic contents and water currents present in the soil. The sulphates in soil and ground water interfere first with setting of concrete. In long term, growing of sulphate crystals in concrete, crevices can spall the concrete. The chlorides mainly affect the steel. The organic content does not allow the concrete to set. It also reduces the compressive strength of concrete. The frequency and methods of sampling and testing for above corrosive elements are discussed. Presently available methods to avoid attack due to these corrosive elements are discussed. The stipulations by various codes are summarised. A method to assess the short term impact is elaborated with results of field studies. A tool developed to study the presence and effects of underground water currents on concrete is also discussed.

Jan 1, 1996

By Wang Lushuang

This thesis is devoted to the research of the interaction between pile and foundation soil by boundary element method (BEM for short). The interaction is simulated by the interaction between two different elastic mediums. The foundation soil is simulated by the two-dimensional elastic half-plane, and the pile by the two-dimensional elastic finite plane. Therefore, the calculating models made by the paper's author would come more closed to the actual conditions. The elastic behaviour of the interaction between pile and soil, and the whole course of pile ultimate load are analysed in the thesis, and the relevant applied computer programs "BEME", "BEMPA" are designed by the paper's author. The bearing power of single pile can be worked out by the program "BEMPA", it has compared with staic loading tests of pile, and the results are in conformity to actual conditions. So it can be drawn that the BEM for studying on interaction between pile and foundation soil made in the thesis is more simple, more precise and more practical in actual project.

Jan 1, 1991

By John Y. L Chen

This paper presents full-scale instrumented pile static compressive and tensile load tests to be conducted in the area of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Thousands of piles have been installed to support the existing piers and wharves in the Pearl Harbor area. Due to the absence of bedrock within practical depths, most of the piles use combined friction and end bearing. A new 925 feet (282 meters) long and 50 feet (12 meters) wide reinforced concrete wharf supported on pile foundation is planned. This paper will present results of soil investigation, laboratory testing, dynamic load tests during indictor pile driving and static pile load tests. The subsurface conditions consist of soft harbor sediment, young alluvium deposit, volcanic tuff rock formation and stiff old alluvium deposit. The load test piles consist of 20-inch (508 mm) square and 24-inch (610 mm) octagonal pre-stressed, pre-cast concrete pile and instrumented with embedded strain gauges. The length of the piles ranges from about 50 to 125 feet (15 to 38 meters). The test pile program consists of probing, driving indictor piles, dynamic load tests during indictor pile driving and static load tests. The standard loading procedure method was used during static pile load tests.

Jan 1, 2002

By Kyle M. Rollins

To improve our understanding of lateral resistance of pile groups, a series of lateral load tests were performed on a full-scale pile group using both static and dynamic loads. The pile group consisted of nine 0.6 m-diameter steel pipe piles driven into clay. During the static tests, the load was cycled fifteen times to evaluate the drop in lateral resistance that would occur due to repeated loading and the formation of a gap. The peak load typically decreased by about 15% from the initial cycle to the last cycle. The load carried by each pile was also measured and there was a significant drop in resistance for the piles in the trailing row relative to the leading row. The dynamic force was applied using the Statnamic loading system which produced a lateral force of 3500 kN (787 kips) in about 0.1 seconds. In two cases, dynamic loads were applied following application of 15 static load cycles. In these cases, the dynamic lateral resistance was about the same as the static resistance, likely due to gaps around the pile. In three other cases, the dynamic force was applied prior to the cyclic loading. In these cases, the dynamic resistance was 30 to 60% higher than the static resistance. Simplified analyses suggest that the difference in resistance could be attributed to damping produced by the soil surrounding the piles during the virgin loading.

Jan 1, 2002

By Armin W. Stuedlein, Seth C. Reddy

In this study, factors affecting the reliability of augered cast-in-place (ACIP) piles under axial compression at the serviceability limit state are addressed using a simple probabilistic hyperbolic model and a database of load tests on ACIP piles in cohesion less soils. The aleatory and model uncertainty in a selected load-displacement model is statistically characterized, and is used to simulate representative random samples from the bivariate random vector of model parameters. A first-order reliability method (FORM) was used to determine the effect of sample size on the stability and uncertainty of the reliability index. Sample sizes greater than about 40 provided relatively consistent estimates of the reliability index; however, its uncertainty continued to decrease with increasing sample sizes. Additionally, the effect of slenderness ratio on the reliability of the serviceability limit state design was characterized and found to exhibit a significant effect on the probability of exceeding a specified displacement.

Jan 1, 2013

By John A. Egan, Nathaniel Wagner, Micaela Largent, Jonathan P. Stewart, Debra Murphy, Jeremy Butkovich

The Millennium Tower is a 58-story reinforced concrete building that was constructed in San Francisco, California between 2005 and 2009. The Tower is founded on an embedded pile supported mat with pile tips bearing in dense marine deposits that overlie an over-consolidated marine clay layer known locally as Old Bay Clay. This clay layer experienced stress increases from Tower self-weight and from multiple episodes of de-watering between 2006 and 2018 at the Tower site and neighboring sites. Settlements of the Tower foundation have been measured since 2006 and lateral deflections of the Tower have been inferred and measured since 2009. Available information on this case history include geotechnical site conditions and data from a monitoring program that tracked foundation settlements, Tower tilt, groundwater levels at the Tower site, and ground inclinations over time. This presentation will discuss the ground deformation mechanisms that caused the observed movements, the degree to which the movements can be predicted, and lessons from this case history for the design of deep foundations for tall buildings in San Francisco and geologically similar regions.

Sep 8, 2021

By John S. McCartney

This paper focuses on the seasonal thermo-mechanical response of two energy foundations installed at the new Denver Housing Authority Senior Living Facility in Denver, Colorado. The two drilled shaft foundations, which have diameters of 36 inches and depths of 45 ft and are end bearing in the Denver shale formation, include a closed-loop series of polyethylene tubes through which fluid is circulated to exchange heat with the surrounding ground. The tubes within the foundations are coupled together with the conventional ground source heat pump system for the building and were installed to evaluate the heat exchange response of the foundations as well as any thermo-mechanical soil-structure interaction effects. A series of vibrating wire strain gages and thermistors were installed at different depths in the foundation to record the thermo-mechanical strain and temperature at different depths. Also, pipe-plug thermocouples are used to measure the inlet and outlet temperature of the heat exchanger fluid entering each of the foundations, which is necessary to evaluate the total heat exchange for the foundations and the efficiency of the heat pump. This paper will describe the energy foundation construction processes, the strain distribution and ambient temperature profiles during building construction and the seasonal strain and temperature distributions during heating and cooling of the building. The data indicates that typical heat exchange associated with heating and cooling operations leads to strains which are within acceptable limits, and that the foundations can provide a clear option for absorbing the base heating and cooling load for the building.

"Premissas BásicasCaracterísticas do concreto centrifugado(Spun concrete characteristics)Aplicação em obras de engenharia de fundações(Application engineering works foundations)Logística de fabricação e transporte(Manufacturing logistics and transportation)Emendas x uso de aplicação(Amendments x use application)Geologia brasileira, da região costeira a presença de grandes bolsões de argila mole(Brazilian geology, coastal region the presence of large pockets of soft clay)Influencia do sistema de cravação(Influence of driving system)Transferência da Energia Aplicada(Applied Energy Transfer)Estacas longas(long piles)Controles executivos (diagrama de golpes, nega, repique elástico, ensaios de carregamentodinâmico, provas de carga).(Executive Controls (blows diagram, sets, elastic rebound, dynamic load tests, load tests).)ECD – aplicação da metodologia do DIETECD - application of the methodology DIETBrazil has a highly variable geology all along its coast that directly influence the choose of foundation type, being too employed the use of reinforced spun concrete piles initially ranged in diameter from 60 to 80 cm. Over the past 10 years with the advent of investment in marine works projects began to demand a new range of piles with diameters greater than 100 cm and in the absence of amendments.On land is also very remarkable the presence of regions with large layers of soft clay, in prime areas that have been explored. A classic example is the Barra da Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro that has suffered from the housing boom growing toward these regions. In these regions it has been very common driven lengths of about 40.0 meters, which basically go through thick layers of soft material or unconsolidated and they will find strength in depth with residual soil layers or even the bedrock.The spun concrete has great qualities for application in deep cuttings resulting from the production process, which gives a redistribution of fresh concrete mass collaborating with the particle size distribution effective loss of water that is thrown to the center stake being subsequently discarded. Consequently this contributes to a reduction in the factor a/c that is directly connected to increase strength.The fact that there is a sort of concrete helps to reduce voids in the mixture, which increases the durability characteristics. This condition made it possible to employ the spin technique on poles, which are directly linked to aggressive media in large urban centers.Another very attractive feature is that the centrifuge process can work with concrete with the lowest percentage of mortar and more gravel. This concrete mix directly contributes to increasing the specific modulus of elasticity, thus allowing a greater capacity to absorb the energy of the blows transferred with less deformation.Despite the great potential of land application of prefabricated spun concrete stakes there are only three factories and its limitation is the cost of transporting manufactured for the various regions, since all transportation is done by road.For its transportation is carried out exclusively by trucks, this limits the size of cuttings being produced commonly in length from 11.0 to 12.0 meters in length and smaller compositions. For use in long piles of works is resorted to amendments in the form of metal rings, concreted near the ends of the stakes, with the transfer through steel bars in CA-50 welded to the ring. Usually run in steel ASTM A-36. Later in the work these rings are welded with coated electrode.In the case of maritime stakes are very used to drowned splicing technique, which basically consists during the spin process leave one end with the armor of the apparent stake and work together two elements and make specific, with superior resistance to the prefabricated stake.This study in addition to briefly introduce the process of manufacturing, design and logistics presents a detailed study of applicat"

Jan 1, 2015

By A. Tejchman

On the site of building of a new flyover founded on piles the comprehensive "in situ" investigations were carried out. The subsoil conditions under each of 15 supports were very differentiated. Using of the static sounding results a new method for evaluation of bearing capacity and settlement of piles was proposed. The method is based on a special construction of the curve of load-settlement relationship. The verification of this method was made on the basis of loading of piles.

Jan 1, 2010

By P. M. Deshpande

An interactive short column system is evolved as alternative to deep foundation system in deep layers of marine clay, the interaction of encased stone column and marine clay carry load without causing conventional settlement. This paper presents concept of the system and its field application as foundation of culverts on marine clay layer of 15 to 17 M underlain by residual soil layer of 5 to 6 M, where conventional pile of 23 to 25 M would have been required.

Jan 1, 1996

By C. W. Sheng

In this paper conventional construction procedure is briefly described for the installation of stone columns in soft ground in China. A viewpoint concerning the mechanism of ground improvement by use of stone columns is presented for discussion. Based on the information obtained from field measurement and observation three important problems relating to the construction and design of stone columns are discussed. Finally, a case history is given to show that short stone columns floating within the weak soil layers may in some instance be used to improve the weak strata of great thickness.

Jan 1, 2010

By Yong Jingrong

Based on the results of several test socketed piles in Sichuan, the mechanism of the deformation for a loaded socketed piles is investigated, and the concept of the socketed effect is proposed. The bearing capacity and settlement of socketed pile are controlled directly by socketed effect, that is an important mark different from the other types of cast-in-situ piles. According to the analysis of this effect and factors interferring it, their roles are discussed with the results of test piles. In order to increase the bearing capacity of piles, the ways and methods enhancing socketed effect are recommended.

Jan 1, 1991