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By M. Dondelinger

This paper presents a comprehensive review of steel sheet piling including internationally manufactured hot rolled sections, their history, applications, installation and driving techniques. The discussion will cover both temporary and permanent installations; temporary piling used in construction of cofferdams with various bracing systems, deep foundation installations for buildings, bridges and tunnels, etc., and permanent piling used for highway, railroad and bridge construction as well as for riverbanks, piers, wharfs and docks, normally required for port facilities. In addition, cofferdams, as self-supporting gravity structures where interlock strength is of prime importance, will be discussed. The design and application of light, intermediate and heavy sections will be presented including heavy combined walls and information on Z-shaped, U-shaped and HZ sections and their corresponding interlocks. Emphasis is placed on new developments for design applications for deep foundations and waterfront structures within the "state of the art".

Jan 1, 2010

By Fawad S. Niazi

Ever since the use of the cone penetration test (CPT) in geotechnical practice, attempts have been made to correlate CPT parameters with pile capacity components of unit end bearing (qb) and unit shaft resistance (fp), thus deriving multiple CPT-based pile design methods. These methods focus on "capacity" only without consideration to complete axial pile load-displacement (Q-w) response. Estimated capacities from these methods also exhibit considerable scatter without any consensus on their consistency. In addition, load-displacement curves obtained from axial load tests on highly expensive and extensively instrumented piles can exhibit different shapes. Nevertheless, a single value from the curve so obtained dictates the design capacity. Currently, there are at least 42 different criteria defining capacity with considerable variation in the values obtained thereof. The Randolph elastic solution, which provides a framework for analytical evaluation of pile load-displacement response, requires the profiles of soil stiffness. The fundamental soil stiffness defined by the small-strain shear modulus (Gmax) can be obtained from shear wave velocity (Vs) readings via seismic piezocone tests (SCPTu). The secant stiffness (G), which softens from Gmax corresponding to operational load levels, can be obtained by generating stiffness reduction curves from back analysis of load tests. Then, using appropriate G values, the Q-w curve can be defined for conditions similar to the database from the pseudo strain (w/d). Thus, a complete framework for optimal integration of SCPTu data, Randolph elastic solution and back-analysis of field operational stiffness can be established for complete axial pile foundation analysis.

Jan 1, 2011

By A. R. Dover

The Richmond-San Rafael Bridge is a 6.92 kilometer (4.3 mile) long major toll bridge span that crosses the northern San Francisco Bay in a highly seismically active region. Tutor-Saliba / Koch / Tidewater JV was contracted by Caltrans to conduct a comprehensive seismic retrofit. The JV provided geotechnical planning and quality control services as described herein, under normal oversight by Caltrans. Part of the robust foundation retrofit design included the installation of 26 new, large diameter piles, including eleven 3.81 m (12.5 ft) diameter, cast-in-drilled-hole (CIDH) marine piles that were drilled 9.15 m (30 ft) into the bedrock beneath the Bay, where the water depth ranged up to about 21.3 m (70 ft). These reinforced concrete-filled composite piles have a steel shell permanent casing from the bridge substructure pile cap through the water column and 30.5 to 39.6 meters (100 ft to 130 ft) of marine sediments to the top of rock. This paper discusses construction, inspection (ranging from the QA employed in the planning of the CIDH pile installation methods and equipment to the actual construction inspection required for the routine installation of the shafts), problems that were encountered during construction, and the solutions that were developed and implemented. Inspection, particularly with the usual difficulties in the marine environment, coupled with the difficult and complex bedrock conditions was particularly challenging, and ranged from non-destructive testing to "in-water, inshell" diver inspection. Similarly, the complexities of dealing with both the steel casing "riser" and the associated drilled shaft (rock socket) portion of these composite foundation elements created some unusual issues. The paper also presents important lessons learned from the project.

Jan 1, 2008

By Maurice Bottiau

"Abstract When addressing the performance of deep foundations, many parameters play a role, from adequate soil investigation to performance monitoring and testing. The correct understanding of pile construction, though, remains crucial. After a long period of empirical design and regulations, the last decades have been the ones of theoretical considerations and extensive codes writing. The interaction between technology and design, however, still plays a determinant role. The introduction of hydraulics and the exponential increase in available power on one hand, the miniaturization and the introduction of electronics in control and monitoring systems on the other hand have exerted a major influence on new foundation systems or the evolution and control of existing systems. It appears important to try to take execution related parameters and their control during execution more deeply into account when assessing the final result of the deep foundations and the achieved level of safety and reliability. In this contribution, we will try to analyze how systems, equipment and pile production monitoring and testing can influence the pile performance, and if/how this influence could/should be translated in adapted safety or installation factors. This analysis will run through different categories of piles: driven, augercast and displacement auger piles and bored piles. INTRODUCTIONThe global performance of a deep foundation depends on different aspects (Poulos, 2003):1. Ground investigation2. Design and analysis3. Construction4. Testing5. Performance monitoring6. Remediation and performance enhancementThis paper intends to address the importance of pile construction and the control of it on the final performance of the pile-group of piles. There has been an increasing interest for theoretical analysis over the last 20 years, followed by an increasing impact of regulation and codes. Without denying the importance of the latter, the author wants to point out how installation procedure and project specific parameters can largely influence the reliability of the deep foundation. In this context, detailed and prescriptive standards can miss their objective of intended improvement of accuracy and reliability, but even worse they can adversely impact engineering judgment. In today’s construction world, it is possible to gather installation information which can be of outmost importance for the final deep foundations performance. Therefore, the increase or decrease of installation reliability through adequate pile testing and performance monitoring should be emphasized and should be taken into account in the codes. This is the case already in most advanced codes, but in a limited and insufficiently refined way. After reviewing how codes deal with this issue today, we will show some recent examples of unexpected results due to pile installation. We will try to put these examples into a broader perspective by highlighting some reference and/or recent literature considerations. Finally we will try to summarize how pile testing and installation documentation can increase reliability and attempt to open the debate on how codes could/should allow for more engineering judgment."

Jan 1, 2014

By C. T. Christensen

The paper gives an outline of the design, installation and performance of a series of mooring and berthing dolphins for a major ferry berth outside the port of Elsinore, Denmark. The Dolphins are large cylindrical bottle shaped and open ended steel piles vibrated into the sandy seabed. They are subsequently equipped with prefabricated fender units. Vehicle access to the ferry is via a fixed ramp and a semi-submerged linkspan. Supplementary passenger access is via a covered gangway steel bridge from an existing gangway facility to a midship door in the ferry«

Jan 1, 1989

By Bolestaw A. Ktosihski

Preloading of bored pile bases by grouting is an effective way of reducing foundation costs. The bearing performance of a pile may be considerably improved. Various techniques and devices are used. Preloading of a pile base by a special grouting installation is preferred. The grouting device consisting of a U-shaped grouting tube with sleeves and a plastic membrane, separating the tube from the pile concrete, has well proven in Polish practice. The preloading may raise the pile design loads by as much as 30%, and increase their stiffness by 50%, in suitable conditions. The preloading equalizes the deformability of piles in a foundation or a structure. Examples of the base preloading use and load tests of base grouted piles are presented.

Jan 1, 2006

Jan 1, 2005

By Rudolph P. Frizzi

Quality control is essential for augered cast-in-place (ACIP) piles (also known as continuous flight auger (CFA) piles outside the United States) and drilled displacement (DD) piles since the pile is constructed below the ground surface out of the direct sight of the personnel constructing and inspecting the pile. ACIP piles are being successfully constructed to support high-rise structures, hospitals, arenas and stadiums, mass transit systems, and power and industrial facilities. The use of DD pile technology is also gaining ground in the United States, typically utilizing proprietary systems such as Omega (currently utilized by Richard Goettle Inc., and LG Barcus and Sons, Inc.), Berkel, and DeWal (currently utilized by Morris-Shea). Different types of ACIP/DD pile installation equipment are shown in Figures 1 and 2. ACIP piles are installed into granular and cohesive soils, and soft rock to lengths currently approaching 130 ft (39.5 m), with diameters up to 24 to 36 inches (610 to 915 mm), and sustaining design loads approaching 900 kips (4000 kN). Current DD pile installation equipment in the United States is capable of installing up to 79-ft-long (24 m) piles with diameters ranging from 12 to 18 inches (305 mm to 460 mm).

Jan 1, 2003

By Michael McVay

The use of augered cast-in-place piles has seen tremendous growth under commerical structures in the past twenty years. Problems with vibration, soil densification and/or heave associated with driven piles do not occur with properly installed augered piles. Augered cast-in-place piles were originally constructed (1950s) with diameters of .31 m (12 in.) and lengths up to 6.1 m (20 ft); however with the advent of better drilling equipment, diameters varying from .41m(16 in.)to .61 m (24 in.) and typical depths ranging from 18.3 m (60 ft) to 24.4 m (80 ft) are achievable. Reinforcement may vary from a single high strength rebar (Grade 60) at the top of the pile to a continuous steel cage depending on loading (compression, tension-uplift, and lateral). Typical axial design loads (compression) for a single augered cast-in-place pile are in the 445 kN (50 tons) to 890 kN (100 tons) range.

Jan 1, 1997

By Alfred H. Brand

New York City contains extensive deep deposits of glacial lake varved silt and clay, often overlain by organic soil. An 18 story building was proposed for Manhattan's upper East Side in one such area where bedrock is approximately 200 ft deep. Various pile and caisson alternatives were considered extending through the glacial lake soil to rock, but all proved beyond the project budget. Laboratory testing showed that the glacial lake deposits were preconsolidated. A test pile program using auger cast piles bearing in the glacial lake deposits proved that such piles could safely carry a load of 60 tons per unit. The auger cast pile scheme was estimated to be more economical than a deep pile alternative. A further benefit was that the vibration-free pile installation procedure posed less risk to adjacent structures which had been founded at shallow depth in fill above organic deposits and were stressed and cracked due to prior settlement. The project was designed with the anticipation that the glacial soils beneath the tips of the piles would produce a building settlement of 1 to 2 inches. The building was constructed in 2001 and 2002. It has been completed and is now occupied. Settlement data show that the building is performing as predicted. The auger cast pile scheme founded in a compressible stratum has proven to be successful and is a very unusual foundation alternative.

Jan 1, 2003

By Ray. K. Filip

The concept of installing a steel sheet pile retaining wall into the ground by "pressing" has resulted in the development of various equipment solutions over the last thirty years e.g. Taylor Woodrow ?Pile Master', Giken 'Silent Piler" & Tosa 'Still Worker?. Dawson Construction Plant Ltd (DCP), have recently advanced the pile pressing concept with the introduction of their 'Push-Pull' system. This advancement offers significant improvements in the quality of installation compared with traditional pressing solutions but also greater versatility, higher productivity and, most importantly, generates new opportunities through a wider range of applications for "silent piling'. This paper will focus primarily on the use of the Push-Pull concept in the construction of a unique "integral" bridge in Milton Keynes, England. Finally, the paper touches on the development of quiet, vibration-less pile extraction equipment, which allows steel to be considered the foundation material of choice for truly sustainable construction. It is no longer acceptable to leave unwanted piles in the ground.

Jan 1, 2006

By P. V. Chandramohan

"In ports, piled berths are designed and constructed for berthing of ships with a finite draught. Piles in a bridge foundation also have a large free stand above scoured level. The piles of these structures have to withstand large horizontal forces imparted by the impact of the approaching vessels or due to longitudinal and transverse action in a bridge. It is also imperative that these piles have to project out of the dredged / scoured bed. These piles are normally designed as slender compression members subjected to bending also. They are subjected to vertical load tests for assessing the soil resistance. Lateral load tests, as a rule, are also stipulated. IS and IRC codes stipulate a deflection criteria for lateral load test to arrive at the capacity. These tests are usually conducted on a working pile by jacking out two piles. At the time of the test, pile will be free headed. But in service, piles are fixed head. There is a large difference in deflections between a fixed head and a free headed pile. Besides, a free headed pile will be subjected to a much higher bending moment than the fixed head one. This will put the working test pile under risk of breaking during the test. The problem is analyzed with case studies. INTRODUCTION Vertical capacity of piles is assessed by static formulae. This formula is based on the soil properties obtained from random soil exploration and laboratory and in-situ testing. Since soil is not a homogeneous medium, properties can vary. The design parameters taken for computations may be different from the ones at the interface of the pile with the soil. The best way is to find out is by a load test. The code IRC:78-2014 has rightly stated that initial load test is part of the design process. This is true with the vertical load test. But there are certain problems with the purpose and inference of the lateral load test. In both the tests the criteria for acceptance is the quantum of movement of the point of application of the load. In the former, the movement is vertical and depends more on the compression of the soil than the compressive strain in concrete. But in the latter, this movement is partly on account of the flexural rigidity of the pile and partly due to the horizontal compressibility of the soil. The role of rigidity of the pile is more when compressibility of the soil is higher. Lateral load test is done by jacking one pile against another because it is difficult to get an independent horizontal reaction. Please see Fig.1 Photo."

Jan 1, 2015

By Mike Neill, O&apos

? Bypass soft soils near the surface ? Resist uplift loads ? Resist lateral loads ? Bypass scourable soils ? Bypass liquefyable soils ? Mitigate movement of expansive or frozen soils ? "Tune" foundations for vibrating machinery

Jan 1, 1998

By Arturo Ressi di Cervia

From the times when men in lacustrine environments drove wooden piles into the mud to elevate their dwellings, until the beginning of the twentieth century builders reacted to the conditions found in the location of their proposed structures by attempting to distribute their loads in ways that could be supported by the foundation's soils; or, if those were unsuitable, by moving the structure, whenever possible. While many major structures were built on stable ground (the pyramids were founded on rock), others were built on [ ]

Jan 1, 2000

By Leonello Sciacca

Deepening of harbours has become a priority, necessary to the ongoing operation of the wharves in the face of deeper draft merchant vessels and cruise ships. It is now standard practice in many areas to provide for harbours to be dredged to significant depths below mean sea level, in the order of 12.00 m (39 ft) for existing berths and 15.00 m (49 ft) for new wharf construction. The Ravenna Port Authority initiated a project to deepen the harbour bottom at selected wharves to a depth of 12.00 m (39 ft). In preference to reconstruction of the wharves with longer and heavier sheet piling or other equally disruptive reconstruction, they identified the structural reinforcement of the existing wharves by means of deep underwater tie rods as a possible alternative cost-effective solution. Having defined the design concept, effort was concentrated on developing the required technology. A technique, already in use for the installation of tie rods by means of robotics, was identified as potentially suitable for underwater use. It was decided to carry out the fine tuning and the evolution of the technology for a marine environment of the robot unit and of the related remote control software that controls the installation of the tie rods. An experimental test site was set up to refine the drilling, installation, grouting, monitoring and testing of underwater tie rods. The purpose was to confirm the feasibility of the proposed solution and the reliability of these tie rods for use in the reinforcement and construction of wharves. The paper also discusses the theoretical and experimental study of underwater tie rods dealing with the theoretical analysis of the interaction between tie rod and soil, aimed at identifying the correlation between the forces of applied traction and the corresponding measured elongations. A series of tests were carried out with positive results, both at the operating load of 300 kN (67 kips) and at the nominal maximum load of 630 kN (142 kips). The tests were carried out on seven tie rods, of which three were installed at a depth of 5.00 m (16 ft), principally to test the reliability of the operating and remote control systems in the presence of a significant hydrostatic pressure, and four were placed at a depth of 8.00 m (26 ft) to check the load bearing capability of the tie rods positioned at the depth called for by the current project.

Jan 1, 2011

By Derek J. Lennon

Ground conditions in central Glasgow generally comprise loose granular deposits overlying stiffer soils. CFA piling would normally be preferred for urban sites in these ground conditions, but flighting of the superficial deposits has on occasions resulted in building damage. Over the last five years rotary bored piling with vinyl polymer support fluid has proved to be an economic alternative to bentonite slurry. Two case histories in central Glasgow are described in this paper, one for piles founding in granular soils and one for piles founding into bedrock. A comparison is made between the methods required for disposal of the liquid waste from bentonite and vinyl polymer slurries.

Jan 1, 2006

By D. Kolymbas

A simple formula is introduced which allows the evaluation of dynamic pile tests. The following case is considered: The pile top is dynamically loaded by an impact. The velocity v of the pile top is recorded over the time. Let v1 and v2 be the first and the second maximum of this curve. Then, the pile bearing capacity (resulting from ideally plastic resistance at the pile wall and at the tip) can be set approximately equal to Z(v1- ½ v2), where Z is the impedance of the pile cross section. Due to the assumption of ideal plastic resistances, radiation damping needs not be taken into account. Material damping may be important in rate sensitive soils (such as clay, even if it is highly overconsolidated). A simple correction procedure for material damping is proposed.

Jan 1, 1989

By B. B. Broms

Embankment piles are common in the Scandinavian countries (Kjellman, 1940) and in Southeast Asia as support of fills, light structures, bridge abutments and deep excavations (Eide, 1968) as described in the following. Untreated timber piles are often used for light structures and shallow fills when the ground water level is high since they are inexpensive and readily available. When the applied loads are relatively high precast concrete piles and steel piles are preferred. DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS Embankment piles carry the load from a fill or a struc-ture either through skin friction along the sides of the piles (Fig. 1a) or through a precast concrete slab or through pile caps at the top of the piles (Fig. 1b). When the load is carried by skin friction it is often economical to use small diameter timber piles because of the large surface area (Asplund, 1939). For precast concrete or steel piles concrete caps are used to transfer the load to the piles due to the relatively high capacity of the piles since the skin friction resistance alone is not sufficient to transfer the load to the piles.

Jan 1, 2010

By Khamis Y. Haramy

Quality assurance and quality control of drilled shafts has become a concern due to difficulties in accurately locating construction anomalies and determining load bearing capacity of defected drilled shafts. Various non-destructive evaluation techniques have been developed to estimate the integrity of the concrete in drilled shafts. While these techniques have been widely accepted, variables and unknowns can affect the measurement results. Results are typically difficult to interpret, leading to unnecessary construction delays and possible litigation over shaft integrity. In addition, influences of surrounding ground materials, stress states under different load conditions, and crack and residual stress development during concrete curing further complicate determination of shaft performance. This paper focuses on the evaluation of load bearing capacity of defected drilled shafts under various conditions by numerical analysis and modeling.

Jan 1, 2007

By David C. Kraft

Helical piles and ground anchors were used to meet critical design and constructability requirements for an urban forest Canopy Walk at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, Atlanta, GA. The 12-foot wide pedestrian walkway path was to be nestled among the treetops of a forest, extending to 600 ft. in length, and soaring 40 ft. high above the forest floor. Of particular concern during construction was that the foundation system for the temporary steel shoring system had to be non-invasive to the subsoil, could not damage the forest floor, trees, root systems, or foliage, and upon completion of the concrete walkway pour, could be removed, again without disturbing the subsoil. Accubrace, Inc. designed and installed all the helical foundation types, as well as provided steel braces, typically used in Tilt-Up building construction, for the walkway project. The braces, some extending to 43 ft. in length, were used to provide lateral support against wind loads for the walkway form. In addition, the braces acted as secondary support for lateral loads during the placement of wet concrete along the 600 ft. length of the walkway. Helical foundation products installed included vertical compression piles, ground anchors for tension rods, and ground anchors for the braces. The installation of the piles and anchors was particularly challenging since the forest floor elevation varied as much as 50 ft. due to the presence of a ravine. Information is provided on the subsoil conditions, required loads, design, installation, and acceptance criteria for each helical product type installed for the project. The results of vertical and lateral load tests on the helical piles in the pre-construction phase, conducted in conformance to project specifications are presented. Photographs to illustrate the nature and complexity of the project are included. The concrete pour for the walkway was successfully completed on December 12, 2009, and the walkway was opened for visitors in May, 2010.

Jan 1, 2011