Pile Construction and Testing

Techniques

Group Members
Tanveer Younas (2015-MS-CES-24)
Atta Muhammad (2013-MS-CES-27)

Contents
Introduction to Piles
Function of Piles
Types of Piles
Construction Techniques for Piling
Comparison of Different Piles
Problems in pile construction and remedial

measures
Testing Techniques in Piles
Conclusion

Introduction to Piles
Definition
A pile is a vertical structural element of a
deep foundation, driven deep into the ground at
the building site.
For Deep Foundations
Df/B > 4

Pile foundation- need and

functions
Pile foundation is required when the soil bearing
capacity is not sufficient for the structure to
withstand.
This is due to the soil condition or the order of
bottom layers, type of loads on foundations,
conditions at site and operational conditions.

Pile foundation- need and

functions (cont.)
Purpose of pile foundation is
To transmit the buildings loads to the
foundations and the ground soil layers
whether these loads vertical or inclined.
To install loose cohesion less soil through
displacement and vibration.
To control the settlements.
To increase the factor of safety for heavy
loads buildings

Types of Piles
Piles are classified on the basis of
i. Material of construction
ii. Type of soil
iii. Load transmitting characteristics
iv. Construction method
.W.r.t material of construction, piles are
.Timber Piles
.Steel Piles
.Concrete Piles

Types of Piles
Once

soil data is obtained from soil

exploration boreholes at different depths,
selection of pile foundation type depends upon
following factors.
Soil conditions
Nature of loads
Number of piles to be used
Cost of construction

Types of Piles (cont.)

There

are three types of piles based upon load

transfer mechanism
End bearing piles
Friction bearing piles
Combination of end bearing and friction
bearing piles.

Types of Piles (cont.)

Based upon construction techniques, piles
may be classified into
Driven piles
Cast-in-situ piles
Driven and cast-in-situ piles.

Pile installation methods

The

installation process and method of

installations are equally important factors as of
the design process of pile foundations. pile
installation methods are
Installation by pile hammer
Installation by mechanical auger
In order to avoid damages to the piles, during
design, installation Methods and installation
equipment should be carefully selected.

Pile driving methods

Methods of pile driving can be categorized as
follow:
Dropping weight
Explosion
Vibration
Jacking (restricted to micro-piling)
Jetting

Driven piles vs. jetted piles, a

comparison
In case of driven piles, hard soils may offer
sufficient resistance to penetration of pile making
the action of pile driving difficult.
In such situation, jetting may be used.
Pile jetting is a technique that is frequently
used in conjunction with, or separate from, pile
driving equipment for pile placement.
Pile jetting utilizes a carefully directed and
pressurized flow of water to assist in pile
placement

Driven piles vs. jetted piles, a

comparison (cont.)
Pile jetting
Liquefies the

soil at the pile tip during pile

placement
reduces the friction and interlocking between
adjactant sub-grade soil particles around the
jet.
Thus, decreases the bearing capacity of soil
underneath the pile tip, pile descends easily
under its own weight.

Problems in pile construction

and remedial measures
Different problems may occur during pile
construction.
Overbreak
Formation of cavities outside nominal
diameter of pile is known as over break.
It may occur in cohesion less soils below
water table
Reduced skin friction and end bearing.

Overbreak (cont.)
Measure:
It may be overcome by using temporary
casing or drilling under bentonite drilling fluid.

Overbreak

Base of Borehole
To

develop available end bearing, It is

essential that bottom of borehole is clean and
undisturbed.
In clayey soils
In sandy soils
Measure:
To avoid falling of debris, cover the
borehole properly before concreting.

Effect of water table

In dry drilling of borehole, ingress of small
quantity of water from sides of borehole
reduces
Skin friction
Bearing from bottom of borehole
Measure:
In this condition, concreting should be
carried out with tremmie pipe otherwise,
segregation of concrete may occur.

Design of Reinforcement
Major

problem in design of pile reinforcement

is its detailing.
A minimum spacing of 100mm is required
otherwise, concrete will not flow outside the
cage and proper cover could not be provided.
A few large diameter bars are preferred in
place of small diameter bars.
The problem is visible during concreting when
cage drags downward into the borehole.

Lowering of Reinforcement
Steel

cage should be lowered after providing

proper laps so that there is no slippage of cage
while lowering.
When weight of cage is more in deep piles,
cage should be welded at the laps before
lowering.

Lowering of Reinforcement

Steel cage properly welded and lapped before

lowering

Placing of Concrete
Concrete

is placed in borehole using tremmie

in order to avoid segregation
Concreting process should be continuous and
should be completed without any break
If slight delay occurs between batches then
cement slurry may come over surface causing
weakness of pile shaft.
If prolonged delay occurs between batches
then concrete may approach final setting time.

Extracting temporary casing

After

concreting, extraction of temporary

casing may cause problems particularly if
delays occur and partial separation of pile
shaft may occur.
This is due to
Use of dirty and dented casing
Delay in extracting
Use of poor workable mix

Extracting temporary casing

Faulty removal of casing

Problems in soft ground

In

soft ground having undrained shear strength

less than 15 KN/m2 causing squeezing of pile
section near the head because lateral pressure
of soil is more than the lateral pressure of
concrete.

Squeezing of section in soft

ground

Testing techniques in piles

The

success of piling depends upon the load

carrying capacity and integrity of pile. If one
can somehow, find the load carrying capacity
and integrity of pile then the performance of
piling can be understood in a better way.

Testing techniques in piles (cont.)

These

days, with the invent of modern

computers different modern methods of pile
testing have been devised which give more
reliable information regarding the load
carrying capacity and integrity of pile.
Some methods of pile testing are being
enlisted here.

Testing techniques in piles (cont.)

Static

load method
Dynamic load method
Sonic integrity method

Testing techniques in piles (cont.)

Static

Load Method
Static load testing is the method by which the
load displacement characteristics of a pile can
be determined. All piles are suited to testing in
this way.
Description
In order to apply a known load to the test pile
some form of reaction is necessary

Static load Method

The

most commonly used methods are Kent

ledge or tension pile reaction, dependent upon
ground conditions. Other methodologies can
be adopted according to site requirements e.g.
in areas of restricted access or headroom.
Once adequate reaction has been provided, the
testing is carried out using a hydraulic jack
and calibrated digital load cell to a previously
agreed procedure.

Static load Method (cont.)

Time,

load, temperature and displacement data

are usually recorded.
Reaction loading frames and Kent ledge
assemblies allow tests of up to 4000kN to be
carried out. Measurement of pile response to
load is measured by digital load cells and
electronic linear variable displacement
transducers.

Static load Method (cont.)

Pile head measurement

Abingdon, Oxford

at

Kent ledge test-frame on site at

Belvedere, South London

Dynamic load Method

Dynamic

load testing is suitable for all types

of piles, but is mostly employed on pre-cast
concrete
This technique determines load bearing
characteristics of pile including skin friction
and end bearing.
Pile integrity, pile stresses, driving and load
displacement behavior can also be determined.

Dynamic load Method (cont.)

Description
In

order to dynamically test a pile, pile must

be restruck using a pile hammer.
Two strain transducers and accelerometers are
firmly attached to the face of pile near to head.
As pile is restruck, instrument measures the
force and acceleration of pile.This information
is relayed to pile driving analyser which gives
information about pile capacity to an
experienced test operator.

Dynamic load Method (cont.)

As

test takes a few minutes per pile so, a

number of piles may be tested in one visit.
The aim of method is to produce a model that
resembles as closely as possible to a model
which is truly replica of recorded data.
Once this has been achieved the model gives
bearing capacity, load settlement behavior
together with additional information as
required.

Dynamic load Method (cont.)

Pile prepared for testing on site

Pile driving analyzer for collection and

analysis of test data

Sonic integrity test

Integrity

testing is primarily used on

continuous flight auger (CFA) or RB
continuous helical displacement (CHD) and
other wet bored piling techniques.
The method is fast and reliable, allowing a
large number of piles to be tested in a single
site visit. The technique is used to determine
the reliability, morphology and quality of
construction of the piling method.

Sonic integrity test

Description
The

pile to be tested must be sufficiently cured,

free of latence and trimmed to sound concrete,
preferably to final cut-off level.
Using a small hand-held hammer, a series of
low strain acoustic shock waves are passed
down the pile. As it does so, the wave rebounds
where changes in impedance occur. This
rebound or echo is then recorded by a small
accelerometer, held against the pile head.

Sonic integrity test

The response is stored digitally and a

graphical representation displayed and plotted,
usually against time, for immediate inspection.

Sonic integrity testing equipment

Static & Dynamic testing of piles

A case-study
This

case study was done by S.Abe , G.Likins

and C.M. Morgano
Traditionally, static methods were used for
pile testing, which now-a-days are being
replaced by dynamic testing as this case study
depicts.
As a part of deep foundation institute program
in North Carolina, a demonstration of pile
driving and pile testing was performed.

Static & Dynamic testing of piles

A case-study
A

305mm prestressed pile of length 16.5m

was driven into sandy and clayey silts by a
conmaco 65E5 hammer to a final penetration
resistance of 5blows/inch.
Upon restrike, three days later resistance
increased to 10 blows/25mm indicating soil
setup. On a WEAP bearing graph,restrike
blow count indicated that capacity came out to
be 1735 KN (390 kips).

Static & Dynamic testing of piles

A case-study
Then

pile was tested dynamically using a pile

driving analyzer and results were further
analyzed by CAPWAP method.
This analysis indicated a capacity of 1870 KN
(420 kips).
After that a static test was performed using
ASTM D-1143, pile was loaded to maximum
load of 1840KN and had a davisson offset
limit load of 1820 KN.

Static & Dynamic testing of piles

A case-study

Conclusion
For

pile construction, an experienced engineer

is required who can tackle the problems at site
in the most effective way.
A good supervision at the site is required in
order to maintain better performance of piling.
A suitable test is to be devised as per site
conditions, sensitivity of the project and
economy available.