Design and installation of steel open end piles in weathered basalt

Luc Maertens*

* Manager Engineering Department Besix, Belgium, lmaertens@besix.com Associate Professor Catholic ni!ersit" Leu!en, luc.maertens@b#$.$uleu!en.ac.be

Abstract

%he Dabhol Po#er Compan" &DPC' is constructing (n)ia*s first Li+uefie) ,atural -as &L,-' %erminal on a remote strip of the #estern coast along the Arabian .ea about /012$m south of Mumbai. Designe) to han)le the largest L,- carriers, the %erminal*s marine facilities inclu)es a 3ett" that exten)s /4512m into open sea to reach a)e+uate )epth, a 6ett" hea) supporting the unloa)ing arms an) the control to#er, four berthing )olphins, four mooring )olphins, #al$#a" support )olphins, three na!igation )olphins an) one tug berth. 748 steel open2en) piles &)ia.4092mm' support all these structures an) are )ri!en into #eathere) basalt to support #or$ing compression loa)s up to 7111 $,. %ensile loa)s up to 9111 $, are supporte) b" 0/12mm )iameter soc$ets that are bore) beneath the pile tip in the un)erl"ing basalt.

%he subsoil consist of three subse+uent la"ers: /. .oft cla" la"er #ith a thic$ness !ar"ing bet#een 1 an) 02m.

9. ;eathere) Basalt #ith a thic$ness of / to 52m*s, an) a <=D !alue !ar"ing bet#een 1 to >1?. 8. .oun) Basalt #ith unconfine) compression strength !ar"ing bet#een 9> an) //5 MPa.

A significant problem consists of )efining a installation proce)ure for the piles, #hich reconcile the re+uirement to guarantee an a)e+uate bearing capacit" #ith a ris$ of )amaging the pile tip, an) the re+uirement of limiting the )eformation of the pile tip in such #a" that the installation of the soc$et through the steel open en) pile remains possible #ithout )amaging the bore hammer. An onshore test program #as performe) to sol!e this problem. %o confirm the fin)ings of the test program, D"namic Pile %ests #ere carrie) out on offshore piles. (n this #a" the bearing capacit" of the installe) piles #as controlle).

%his paper )iscusses the test program #hich #as carrie) out to )efine the installation con)itions &@ammer Energ" an) Penetration per blo#' in or)er to guarantee the bearing capacit" in compression an) tensile together. Aor compression piles, a penetration of / mm per blo# is re+uire) an) for tension piles 5 mm per blo# for /0 m piles an) 9,5 m per blo# for /> m piles is not to excee) / Description of the pro6ect. Dabhol L,- Pro6ect.

%he Marine ;or$s of the Dabhol L,- pro6ect #ere a#ar)e) b" Enron Engineering an) Construction Compan" to the Belgian Contractor BE.(B as a )esign an) built contract in December />>4. %he 6ett" consists of a concrete )ec$ that is supporte) b" prestresse) beams. %he beams are supporte) b" bents 812m apart. Certical an) ra$e) steel open2en) piles support the

bents. E!er" /912m is a construction 6oint an) in the centre of each section of /912m is a strong point bent. Berthing, mooring, na!igation an) #al$#a" support )olphins as #ell as the 6ett" hea) are slab2structures supporte) b" the same piles.

%#o t"pes of piles are use): piles )ia.409, th./02mm an) piles )ia.409, th./>2mm. All piles are pro!i)e) #ith toe reinforcement consisting of a /92mm thic$ steel plate #el)e) insi)e the pile tip. %he height of this reinforcement is 8D12mm. %he length of the piles !aries from 91 to 85 meters an) the steel gra)e is B01 &7/8 ,EmmF'.

%he marine structures are protecte) from the sea attac$ b" a brea$#ater of 98112m parallel to the shoreline. @o#e!er, )uring the first monsoon, the progress of the brea$#ater #ill not be sufficient to gi!e an a)e+uate protection. Aor this reason all structures are )esigne) to resist to #a!e loa)s #ith a significant height of >2m. Gther loa)s to consi)er are: a current of / mEsec, li!e loa)s on the )ec$s an) last but not least an earth+ua$e loa) #ith a groun) acceleration of 1./02g. Mooring an) berthing )olphins ha!e to resist to horiHontal forces of 0111 $,.