CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY

BMCS I

G4 – PILE DRIVING
Content
1. Introduction
2. Pile Types
a. Effect on existing ground
i. Large Displacement Piles
ii. Small Displacement Piles
iii. Replacement Piles
b. Materials used for Piling
i. Timber Piles
ii. Steel Piles
iii. Concrete Piles
1. Pre Cast
2. Bored
iv. Advantages
v. Disadvantages
c. Bearing Methods
i. End Bearing Piles
ii. Frictional Bearing Piles
3. Pile Construction
a. Locating of Piles
b. Pile Driving
c. Bored Cast In-Situ Piles
4. Pile Testing
 1. Introduction

The foundation of a structure is defined as that part of the structure in direct contact with the
ground and which transmit the superstructure load to the ground. A properly designed
foundation will transfer and distribute the load to the ground without overstressing the soil.

Foundation Types

1. Shallow Foundation
2. Deep Foundation

A pile foundation is called as deep foundation and it will distribute the load in the vertical
direction.
F F

Deep foundations distribute load vertically

Shallow foundations distribute load laterally

Figure 1.0

So the piles are used in such case that the soil strength is not sufficient to bear the laterally
distributed load due to the superstructure.

2. Pile Types

The categorization of piles can be done considering few different parameters such as effect
on the existing ground, material used and bearing condition.

a. Effect on existing ground

i. Large Displacement Piles

When there is a large displacement of the surrounding soils due to the pile driving
process such type of piles called as large displacement piles. Normally precast
concrete piles and timber piles are included into this category.
 Figure 2.0

ii. Small Displacement Piles

If the Displacement of the surrounding soils due to the pile driving process, is small
(compared to the above mentioned pile type) that type of pile is called small
displacement piles.

So the cross sectional area of this type of piles are smaller. Normally steel piles are
considered as small displacement piles.

Steel Piles - I Sections Hollow Cylindrical steel Piles

Figure 3.0
iii. Replacement Piles

In replacement piles the existing soil will be removed and filled with concrete. Bored
Cast In-Situ piles are under this category.

Drilled Hole Replaced by Concrete

Properties of the surrounding soil will be decreased due to disturbance in drilling process

Figure 4.0
b. Materials Used for Piling

i. Timber Piles

Common types of timber that used for timber piles are,

 Hora
 Coconut
 Rubber

If the timber always inside the water, it can last for a longer period. Decaying
process will be increased if the timber goes dry and wet frequently. Piling should
be done under the water before the timber start going in decaying process.

Maximum deviation of the centre line position should not exceed 25 mm or 1

Figure 5.0

Protection of the Pile (Top and Bottom)

For the Bottom

Pointing the pile (not enough) Provide High Strength Steel

For the Top Figure 6.0

Provide Steel Band (to prevent brooming)

Provide Steel Cap (Helmet)

Figure 7.0
Advantages

 No Necking or Squeezing
 Can be used in under water conditions
 Materials in pile is not governed by handling or driving stresses

Disadvantages

 Can be subjected to decaying quickly if the pile comes over the water level
  Can be damage easily in the driving process (brooming, pile bottom can be
broken)
 Not suitable for large scale projects
 Cannot be driven in very long lengths
 Availability of suitable straight timber is less

ii. Steel Piles

Steels piles are normally driven piles and having various shapes of sections. They can
be Cylindrical, Square type or H – section type. Also they can be hollow sections or
solid ones. Normally hollow (open end) piles can be considered as small displacement
piles while solid or hollow (closed end) piles are considered as large displacement
piles.

Advantages

 No Necking or Bulging
 Construction operations not affected by ground water
 Materials in pile is not governed by handling or driving stresses

Disadvantages

 Can be easily subjected to corrosion

 Noise and vibration due to driving may be unacceptable
 Difficult to use when an inclined bed rock is present

iii. Concrete Piles

Reinforcement should satisfy the static design load and the load applied at the driving
process. It is important to make sure that the bed rock condition. Cover to the
reinforcement will be depending on the aggressiveness of the exposure condition,
concrete strength.

Minimum strength within 28 days = 25 kN/mm2

There are two types of concrete piles.

1. Pre Cast Concrete Piles

Pre cast concrete piles will be driven into the ground at the particular location by a
Simple Drop Hammer, Vulcan Drop Hammer, Single Acting Hammer, Hydraulic
Hammer, Diesel Hammer or Vibratory Hammer.

Advantages

 Not liable to ‘squeezing’ or ‘necking’

  Construction operations not affected by ground water
 Projection above ground level advantageous to marine structures
 Can be driven in very long lengths
 Can be designed to withstand high bending and tensile stresses

Disadvantages

 Noise and vibration due to driving may be unacceptable

 Displacement of soil during driving may lift adjacent piles or damage adjacent
structures
 Un-jointed types, cannot be varied in length to suit varying level of bearing
stratum
 May break during driving, necessitating replacement piles
 May suffer unseen damage which reduces carrying capacity

2. Bored Cast In-Situ Concrete Piles

Bored piles are used when we have a shallow bed rock. Bored piles are the most
common pile type that used in Sri Lanka. While boring we used a liquid called
‘Bentonite Slurry’ to facilitate the boring process ensuring the stability of the wall of
the bored pile.

Core Recovery (CR) and Rock Quality Designation (RQD) of the bed rock present are
important to consider in determining the socketing length in this piling process.

Advantages

 Length can readily be varied to suit variation in level of bearing stratum

 In-situ loading tests can be made in large-diameter pile boreholes, or
penetration tests made in small boreholes
 Very large (up to 7.3m diameter) bases can be formed in favourable ground
 Drilling tools can break up boulders or other obstructions which cannot be
penetrated by any form of displacement pile
 Can be installed in very long lengths

Disadvantages

 Concrete in shaft liable to squeezing or necking in soft soils where

conventional types are used
 Special techniques needed for concreting in water-bearing soils
 Concrete cannot be inspected after installation
 Cannot be extended above ground level without special adaptation
 Low end-bearing resistance in cohesion less soils due to loosening by
conventional drilling operations
  Drilling a number of piles in group can cause loss of ground and settlement of
adjacent structures

c. Bearing Methods

i. End Bearing Piles

End bearing piles will be driven or cast into the bed rock (socketing) and the major
contribution in bearing the load will be given by the bed rock.

ii. Frictional Bearing Piles

Frictional bearing piles will not be driven until the bed rock is encountered, and the
almost all the load is bear by the surrounding soil due to frictional resistance.

3. Pile Construction

a. Locating of Piles

Locating of piles depends on the type of construction, superstructure load, bearing

capacity of a single pile and the site condition. There can be single pile sections and also
group pile sections. Normally a high-rise
Figurebuilding
8.0 can have single pile to support a
column while a bridge type of construction normally having pile groups.

Bearing capacity of a single pile will be the key factor in determining the number of piles
that we should have for a particular structure.
b. Pile Driving

Pile driving will be done using a hammer and the load applying process can be done by
dropping the hammer or vibrating it. There are various types of hammers such as
following;

 Simple Drop Hammer

 Vulcan Drop Hammer
 Single Acting Hammer
 Hydraulic Hammer
 Diesel Hammer
 Vibratory Hammer
 Muller Vibrator

Figure 9.0: Hydraulic Hammer Figure 10.0: Muller Vibrator

c. Bored Cast In-Situ Piles

Bored Cast In-Situ Piles is a replacement pile type. First boring of the pile will be done up
to the required depth and then the applying of reinforcement and concreting will be done.

Boring will be done using a steel boring tool and there are few types of boring methods.

Percussion Boring (This can be done using a Winch machine)

Figure 11.0: Winch Machine Figure 12.0: Boring Tool (Chisel)

Rotating Auger or Rotating Cutter Method

Figure 13.0
4. Pile Testing

There are some other problems or defects on piles such as

 Necking
 Bulging
 Cracking (the concrete of the pile is not continuous)
 Settling
 Less bearing capacity
These types of defects can be identified doing two different types of tests. They are,

1. PIT (Pile Integrity Test)

2. PDA (Pile Dynamic Analysis)

Pile Integrity Test (PIT)

PIT is conducted to check whether the integrity of the pile is in an acceptable condition. The
test is performed by applying an impact wave at the pile top using a hand hammer. PI Tester
shows the results as whether the pile has necking or bulging.

PI Tester

Reiforcement Signal Cable

Concrete Hammer High viscosity Gel

Bulging Reflected wave

Impact wave

Necking

Crack of the concrete

Pile

Figure 14.0

By reflecting the wave the deformation of the pile (whether there was a crack across the pile
or necking or bulging) can be identify by the PI Tester.

Necking

Bulging
Poor
Concrete

depth (m)
5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Figure 15.0
Pile Dynamic Analysis (PDA)

By doing Pile Dynamic Test we can identify specially about the settling problems and
bearing capacity problems. PDA is to determine the pile resistances that can be mobilized and
also examine the structural integrity of the pile.

Work by Hammer = Resistance x Displacement

ExWxH = design load x 0.0035 m

Where, E – Efficiency of the crane W – Load of the Hammer

H – Height 0.0035 – Max displacement allowable

tons
Force
500.0
Velocity

250.0

0.0
100 m/s

-250.0

Figure 16.0

When testing the pile, the impact of each hammer drop is sense by the sensors (the strain
sensor and the velocity sensor) fixed at 1.25 m deep from the top of the pile. And signals will
be sent to the ‘Pile Dynamic Analyzer’. From that PDA results gives as a graph using
software called CAPWAP.

Figure 17.0
A.K.S. de Alwis (B.Sc. Eng)