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By Robert J. Carle

This paper reviews a variety of highway structures which have been built using steel sheet piling as the permanent structural elements of bridge piers, abutments and wingwalls. Those structures built over the past 20 years in Europe include major highway bridges over railroads, highways and waterways in both urban and rural locations. Most highway structures built in the United States using steel sheet piling have been limited to secondary roads in rural locations. The main thrust of this paper is the presentation of various design concepts for highway structures which utilize steel sheet piling. The main purpose is to challenge the profession to move forward from this conceptual presentation and to develop the details necessary to provide safe, cost-effective structures which go well beyond the scope of those being built in the United States today.

Jan 1, 1989

By Ali Porbaha

In today's fast-track construction environment, owners are searching for non-conventional technologies to build their projects faster and safer while maintaining traffic flow during construction. To that end designers and contractors are providing solutions that incorporate many unique features to expedite construction processes. In addition to timely delivery of the finished highway products, there is an increasing interest in making the initial investment in applying innovative technologies and thereby minimizing costly maintenance of highway projects. Accordingly, the aim of this paper (along with the accompanying paper) is to examine innovative technologies, developed mostly in Europe, that accelerate construction of highway, runway and railway embankment foundations. For each technology, a basic concept, installation technique(s), and design considerations are discussed, along with the case history of a real-world project. The Geotextile Encased Columns (GEC), AuGeo, and Continuous Flight Auger (CFA) are presented in Part I. Deep Mixing (DM), Cut-Mix-Injection (FMI), Mass stabilization, and Combined soil Stabilization with Vertical columns (CSV) technologies are discussed in Part II.

Jan 1, 2002

By N. V. Nayak

Konkan Railway Project is one of the most ambitious railway construction projects in India, involving construction of a 760.km long, Broad Gauge (1676 mm), single track railway line, connecting Roha in Maharashtra State with Mangalore in Kamataka State. The railway line travels along the Western Coast of Indian subcontinent, through states of Maharashtra (382 km), Goa (105 km) and Karnataka (273 km) (Fig.1). The project alignment traverses through one of the most formidable terrains ever encountered, in the history of railway construction in India. In the State of Goa only, railway alignment is crossing 6 major rivers Terekhol, Chapora, Mandovi, Zuari, Sal and Talpona. Zuari Railway Bridge (1305.6 m), Mandovi Railway Bridges (I and II) (1182.7 m) rank as 2nd and 3rd long bridges, (first longest bridge being Sharavati Bridge (2.2 km} at Honavar) which have been constructed on Konkan Railway. All these three bridges have been constructed by M/s.Asia Foundations and Constructions Ltd. (AFCONS). This paper presents, case history of construction of pile/caisson foundations for Zuari and Mandovi Bridges.

Jan 1, 1996

By Julie Hampden, Tim Dardis, Per Reinhall

"Noise from impact pile driving can harm fish, marine mammals and other sensitive wildlife over large areas. Marine pile driving is highly regulated, and regulators require sound levels to be below certain thresholds to avoid harassment and injury to sensitive marine life. In many locations, timing restrictions, use of noise attenuation technologies and extensive monitoring for impacts to wildlife are also required. As a result, permitting can be laborious and time consuming, and project implementation and scheduling can be complicated. Underwater noise levels are measured with an underwater microphone (hydrophone), which converts noise pressure to voltage and is calibrated to express the noise pressure in Pascals (Pa). The pressure is often expressed using a logarithmic scale, in decibels (dB). Several specific metrics can be used to describe underwater noise. Three common metrics are the instantaneous peak sound pressure level (dBpeak), the root mean square pressure level (dBRMS) and the sound exposure level (dBSEL) referred to as the peak, RMS and SEL levels, respectively.During impact pile driving, the peak pressure represents the instantaneous maximum pressure, either overpressure or underpressure, observed during each pile strike. The RMS level is the square root of the mean of the square of the pressure during the duration of the impulse; it is the average pressure level of the pile strike from beginning to end. The cumulative SEL (SELcum) is calculated by summing the cumulative pressure squared and integrating over time of duration of the pile strike. SEL is used as an indication of the cumulative energy of a pile driving event, which may consist of one or many pile strikes.Regulatory agencies use these metrics to help characterize the noise pressure levels that can affect sensitive species. Some of the most frequently encountered biological thresholds in the Northwestern United States that are used by regulators to describe potential impacts to sensitive species are summarized in the following table. Agencies have defined thresholds for different types of injury, either hearing or bodily harm, and for temporary injury or disturbance."

Jan 1, 2017

By Jeffrey R. Hill

This paper discusses the use of micropiles for the rehabilitation of the following two structures: the Milwaukee Auditorium Theatre, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the Cupples Ballpark Lofts, in St. Louis, Missouri. The paper focuses on the similarities and differences of the remediation techniques used for each structure. The discussion highlights the method of attaching the micropiles to each respective structure. Generally the paper discusses the micropile installation at each project with supporting photos, figures and data. Load testing at each project is also discussed, including the comparison of load test results for each project. The paper will focus on the load testing program at the Milwaukee Auditorium Theatre where high capacity micropiles were designed and tested as friction piles founded in stiff clays and end bearing micropiles in dolomitic limestone. The results of the test were used to determine if the micropiles on the project would be installed as end bearing or friction bearing elements. Strain gauges were used in addition to conventional deflection vs. load data for the Milwaukee Auditorium Theatre project. Other aspects of the paper will include the differences in design methodology for end bearing micropiles in massive dolomitic limestone vs. design in softer, weathered limestone.

Jan 1, 2008

By Tracy Brettmann

The Highway 146 Bridge Expansion Project across the Clear Creek Channel in Houston, Texas was designed on driven precast concrete piles. However, during construction, the piles along one side of the bridge along the main channel encountered obstructions and couldn’t be installed. These obstructions turned out to be the remnants of a previous bridge foundation at this location, which was unknown to the designers since that bridge had been demolished 40 years ago. Those old foundations were massive 20 ft by 40 ft (6 m by 12 m) pile caps 11 ft (3.3 m) thick supported on precast concrete piles 37 to 55 ft (11 to 17 m) long. The foundation re-design for these locations involved installing a single 78 inch (2 m) diameter drilled shaft up to 125 ft (38 m) long to replace the originally planned driven pile supported pile cap. The drilled shafts would need to be installed within very tight tolerances since they were supporting a single bridge column directly above it. In addition to drilling through the obstructions, this work would need to be completed from barges in 30 ft (9 m) of water capable of dealing with both the current and tides affecting this area. The shafts were installed using a multi-step process. The first step involved coring a larger diameter 100 inch (2.5 m) hole through the reinforced concrete pile cap and removing the concrete inside. This was followed by the installation of a 72 ft (22 m) long permanent casing to and removing the soil and existing precast piles inside. Finally, the drilled shaft excavations were advanced to the completion depths (uncased) using bentonite slurry as the support fluid.

May 1, 2022

By Andrew Budek

Reinforced concrete piles are used to carry foundation loads through considerable depths of soil to provide superstructure stability under gravity loads and lateral forces. The creation of cast-in-place (or cast-in-drilled-hole, i.e., CIDH) piles begins with the auger-drilling of a hole of the appropriate depth, into which a cage of reinforcing steel is placed (the cage length is generally equal to the depth of the hole, a construction joint being used to connect the in-ground pile with the superstructure). The pile is then finished by casting with concrete, and the superstructure then appended. The superstructure may either be a column (denoting the structure a pile-column), a column and cap beam, or a footing. Typical pile-column configurations are shown in Fig. 1 (a CIDH pile used in a footing would be similar in overall configuration to Fig. 1(b), with H=0). CIDH piles are well-suited for alluvial soil profiles with a deep water table; such conditions generally allow the auguring of a clean and regular hole.

Jan 1, 2007

By Tony Amis

There is very limited information relating to the potential impact of temperature cycles, outside the variation that occurs naturally, on the behaviour of foundation piles. Such thermal loading occurs when piles are used as heat exchange elements within a Ground Sourced Heat Pump system, in addition to carrying building loads to competent strata. An investigation has been undertaken where a conventional load test has been extended to include a period in which the load is maintained and temperature cycles applied. Instrumentation was installed in the test pile, an adjacent borehole, two of the anchor piles and the heat sink pile in order to be able to develop an understanding of the temperature variation and associated strain changes within and between the various elements. Conventional electronic strain and temperature gauges have been used in conjunction with optical fibre sensors which also measure strain and temperature changes. The results have confirmed the validity of the assumption made in the thermo-dynamic design of the system, the compatibility of the differing measurement systems and differing installation methods for the optical fibres, and initial assessment suggests that the load-settlement response of the pile is not adversely affected by the temperature cycles applied.

Jan 1, 2008

By William Auyeung

Micro-piles are small-diameter, drilled and grouted reinforced piles used for both structural support and in situ earth reinforcement. They were conceived in Italy in 1952, but have become popular in Canada and the United State only since the mid-1980s. The Province of British Columbia completed a construction of a 265-km (165 miles) four-lane highway between Campbell River and Victoria in the year of 2000. The construction of Big Qualicum Bridge was part of the above mentioned provincial government project and this bridge was made of twin cast-in-place concrete parabolic arch structures. The overall length of the bridge is 261 metres (856 feet) and the width is 24.2 metres (80 feet). The massive thrust from each arch is resisted by groups of 46 drilled micro-piles that are about 230 mm (9 inches) in diameter with No. 18 high strength Dywidag threaded bars with double corrosion protection up to 15 metres (50 feet) long. This paper will describe the micro-pile design and installation methods. The performance of the micro-piles in full scale testing in tension and compression monitored with electronic strain gauges will be presented. The impact of drilling methods on the performance of the micro-piles will also be discussed.

Jan 1, 2004

By Aly M. Mohammad

Croton Point Avenue Bridge carries Croton Avenue over Metro-North main tracks at Harmon Rail Yard in Westchester County, New York. The new bridge is 1100 foot long and 36 foot wide nine span structure with three spans continuous units. The spans are steel multi-stringers, composite with concrete deck. The piers are solid wall piers and the foundations are spread footings. During the design of the bridge foundations it was determined that the relatively loose to medium dense sand layer is susceptible to liquefaction under a design earthquake with a seismic coefficient of 0.15g. Several foundation options were considered for the new bridge including both shallow and deep foundations. It was determined that the most cost effective alternative is to use spread footing foundations supported on densified soils. Vibratory probes were utilized to densify the loose to medium dense sand layer and reduce the risk of liquefaction. Densification test sections were performed to determine the optimum spacing for the vibro probes. The test sections included performing piezocone tests before and after the densification to compare the increase in relative density of the sand. In addition, ground surface settlement due to the vibro probes was measured and correlated to the increase of soil relative density. The paper will present the results of the ground improvement method utilized and correlate the spacing of the vibro probes and the increase in relative density and the results of the piezocone tests performed before and after the densification. It was found that the vibro probes are not as effective as thought at shallow depth below the ground surface. It is believed that the results and finding presented in this paper will benefit both the design and construction industries by providing a relatively cost effective means to improve the soils

Jan 1, 2007

By Edwin W. Hickey

This paper briefly discusses the geologic conditions in South Florida relative to the design, construction, and performance of deep foundations. The subsurface conditions in this area are unique in that the rock layers are highly porous and often very soft, and are sandwiched between layers of typically loose, uncemented quartz fine sands. Due to the high porosity of the Miami Limestone, 4-inch diameter rock coring is often required to obtain intact samples, and dewatering of excavations is sometimes difficult or impossible. The sand layers, typically tens of feet thick, are very loose to loose in relative density and have been the cause of unexpected large, deep foundation settlements. The engineering properties of the various geologic formations are discussed, along with typical deep foundation types used in the Miami area prior to and after 1980.

Jan 1, 2003

By Rouzbeh Vakili, Adel M. Hanna

"The application of piled raft foundations has significantly increased during the last few years. In this system, the raft and the pile group collectively transfer the applied building load to the underlying soil layers. Determination of load sharing between the raft and the piles derives the complexity of piled raft designs due to its multi-parameter nature. These parameters are but not limited to: soil density, pile length, pile spacing, raft geometry, and piles installation technique. This study is to examine experimentally the effect of sand density and pile installation techniques on the load sharing mechanism. Experimentally, tests were conducted on a square rigid raft with a single pile in sand under three different soil densities; 30%, 45%, and 60%. The experimental results are used to determine the pile and the raft shares in non-displacement and displacement piled raft systems. The results of this study reveal that soil density changes the load sharing of displacement piled raft; the pile share increases in higher soil density. However, this is not the case in non-displacement piled raft and load sharing is independent of soil density in working loads.IntroductionThe piled raft foundation is a combination of shallow and deep foundation which transfers the superstructure load to the soil by a complex soilstructure interaction. The interacting mechanism among foundation elements and their surrounding soil is illustrated schematically in Figure 1 and could be classified into two categories: (1) pile-soil-pile and (2) pile-soil-raft. The pile-soil-pile interaction is the same as the free standing pile group and is a function of pile spacing and pile installation method. Pile-soil-raft interaction, which only involves in piled raft foundation design, could be affected by: the length, spacing, and roughness of the pile, the rigidity and dimension of the cap, soil condition, and the pile installation method. Pile-soil-raft interaction could have favourable and unfavourable effects on bearing capacity and settlement, respectively. The pressure between the cap and the soil favourably increases the horizontal stress on the pile shaft and consequently increase the shaft resistance. Whereas, this pressure induces negative skin friction on the piles which increases the settlement. The pile-soil-raft interaction mainly controls the load sharing mechanism of piled raft foundation when pile spacing (S) is more than 3.5dp."

Jan 1, 2017

"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 Peter de Kort

Tunnels in urban areas generally require deep excavations in soils under the groundwater table. In The Netherlands uplift loads are generally taken by piles installed into dense sand layers, which are hard to penetrate. To avoid nuisance and damage to the environment, piles often need to be installed using vibration free methods, which also have the advantage of low noise levels during installation. Drilling piles and obtaining a high uplift resistance is a contradiction in itself. Franki has adopted several installation methods based on the injection of grout during drilling and/or post grouting to overcome the difficulty of hard layers. This report presents two projects, situated in Rotterdam and Sneek, where vertical tension piles in floors, subject to high uplift loads, have been used. It also explores a project in Zeebrugge (Belgium), where tension piles are installed at an inclination of 1:1 to anchor a diaphragm wall for a quay construction. Test results presented in this report show, that vibration free and soil displacing piles can be installed in very dense sand layers and that a high uplift resistance can be achieved. It is also shown, that a variety of installation methods is available, even in limited space.

Jan 1, 2008

By Bill Paparis

The thirty year old wharf structures at the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey?s Port Elizabeth Marine Terminal are being modernized for the next generation of Post-Panamax container ships, which require deeper water and larger container cranes. The terminal operator is upgrading the wharf in order to remain competitive, now and into the future. The upgrade coincides with the Army Corps of Engineers? $733 million project to deepen the main shipping channel in New York Harbor. This paper focuses on the structural modifications to accommodate berth deepening and to support the heavier loads of the new cranes. An overview is provided of the design and actual construction, including typical problems encountered when combining new and existing structures. The wharf improvements included: ? Installation of a steel king pile/sheet pile cutoff wall along the face of the wharf to permit increasing the depth from ?12.2 m + 0.61 m to ?15.2 m + 0.61 m ( ?40 ft + 2 ft to ?50 ft + 2 ft) ? Removal of the existing crane rail support beams and installation of new piles and beams to support the increased crane loads ? Replacement of the existing timber fender system with a new system capable of resisting the berthing energy of a 152,000 MT displacement vessel, and having dedicated sections for berthing barges ? Replacing the existing overhead, landside crane electric feeder system with a waterside, cable reel trench system. The work included upgrading the transformer capacity at the terminal for increased crane power demands This paper provides a case history for port administrators, terminal operators, engineers, and shipping lines challenged with upgrading aging terminals.

Jan 1, 2013

By Wolfgang G. Brunner

In the far north of Uttar Pradesh Province in the Indian Himalayas, the 280 MW Dhauliganga hydroelectric power plant is under construction by National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), a state- owned enterprise, and a joint venture of Kajima Corporation of Tokyo and Daewoo Corporation of Seoul. This project sets out to develop the lower section of the mountain cascade of the Dhauliganga River, a tributary of the Sarda River, with a 311 m gross head. The 1360 km2 mountainous catchment area is bounded in the north- east by the Chinese border and in the south- east by the Nepalese border. The dam project is located in a remote area north of the principal town of Darchula of the upper Sarda valley, which is one of the seismically most active regions of India. The 56 m high rock fill dam, which will be the first of its kind in India, is faced with concrete and has a 1 m thick, at its crown 270 m long and over 70 m deep cut- off wall of plastic concrete below its toe. The cut- off wall, with a total area of 7500 m2, is constructed by a combination of Bauer hydraulic grabs, assisted by chisels and a Bauer BC 40 cutter which enables the overlapping joint system to be installed, guarantees optimum verticality and enables the cut- off to be keyed into the bedrock formation.

Jan 1, 2004

By Scott M. Doehla

A proposed rehabilitation of a 200,000 sf, 75-foot high steel-frame building at the former U.S. Navy Yard in Brooklyn, New York required the review of existing foundation data and an investigation of the foundations with respect to their condition. The building was constructed in stages between 1856 and 1933, including several expansions and interior equipment with isolated foundations. The building has clear spans on the order of 50 feet and at one time supported cranes allowing transport of heavy equipment through the building. The proposed rehabilitation is to include a food manufacturing center and office space having multiple stories. Original construction drawings, available from the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation?s drawing archive, were reviewed to determine the foundation system supporting the structure. The original drawings provide a window into the methods utilized during late 19th and early 20th century pile foundation construction. The review revealed that the building is supported by pile foundations ranging from timber to concrete-filled steel pipe (depending on the year of construction). Annotations including pile driving records were available on some drawings indicating the design and as-built capacity (using the ENR formula for driving resistance). An investigation consisting of test borings was performed to identify the subsurface conditions underlying the building for evaluating theoretical capacity of the piles. A test pit investigation was performed against existing columns within the structure to expose the piles and pile caps for inspection pertaining to pile condition. The test pit investigation revealed methods utilized during original construction to integrate new columns with existing floor slabs, the use of below-grade brick arches to support a floor slab, and the condition of timber piles which were likely installed up to 120 years ago. The observations made within the test pits were compared with original drawings to evaluate the accuracy of these drawings.

Jan 1, 2008

By B. Francis

Literature provides only limited information regarding the behaviour of laterally loaded piles socketed into weak rock masses. A laboratory program, comprising a number of tests of scaled models of the pile/rock mass system has been conducted. A synthetic rock, known as Johnstone was used to simulate a naturally weathered and fractured siltstone. The load-deflection behaviour of the test piles was measured, and strain gauges were fixed to the model piles to assess the bending moments. The laboratory results are compared with the results from several theoretical models, some of which are in the form of commercial software packages. This study highlights the inadequacy of existing methods to adequately model the influence of rock joint orientation in geotechnical design. Additionally, numerical modelling of the pile/rock mass system was carried out using the discrete element program UDEC. The importance in modelling the system using discontinuum mechanics is highlighted, particularly to capture the anisotropy of the rock mass.

Jan 1, 2004

By Jim Bruce

This paper presents details of a slope stabilization scheme built in late 2003 at a 16m-high railway embankment in southern Ontario, Canada. The owner, faced with continuing maintenance and safety issues arising from numerous nuisance slides, and residential neighbors in close proximity to the slope, sought new proposals to replace a previous recommendation to cut down all trees and undertake a deep soil nailing scheme. A non-reticulated micropile array with surface cap beam was proposed and built on the south side of the embankment with no tree removal required. A detailed FLAC analysis was completed, using multiple iterations to arrive at the eventual, optimized micropile depth and spacing. Analysis predicted an 18% increase in the factor of safety. Short term inclinometer monitoring and performance evaluations in the months since construction so far corroborate the prediction.

Jan 1, 2004

By Maurice Bottiau

When dealing with displacement auger piling, some general and fundamental issues have to be considered, irrespective of the system. More than with other pile types, the interplay between the soil conditions and the design and execution is of outstanding importance. This paper intends to address these issues and to summarize some critical matters in terms of design, execution and control such as : ? Importance of a reliable soil investigation ; ? Summary of the design as it is addressed in Europe for this category of piles ; ? Criteria for a good choice and control of the correct asset of the piles ; ? Importance of the concreting phase; ? Relation between the power and the engine characteristics of the drilling equipment with the final bearing capacity. For each of these issues detailed examples will be given as well as results of load tests and in-situ control during execution.

Jan 1, 2003