Abstract:
Driven piles are commonly used as deep foundations to support all types of structures in varied geologic and geotechnical conditions. Their design includes structural, geotechnical, and drivability considerations; and their construction involves driving, testing, and inspection. Conventionally, a designated number of Test Piles are installed (and typically dynamically tested) across the site for the purposes of confirming the design assumptions, assessing the contractor’ s means and methods, and establishing production piles’ length and driving blow counts criteria. Foundation acceptance is subsequently based on the piles meeting the driving criteria as recorded in the pile driving inspector’ s logs. Alternatively, in recent years the practice is being changed to performing 100% dynamic testing on all piles and acceptance of the foundation based on testing results. In some cases, both Test Piles and 100% testing of production piles are used. This presentation discusses the various procedures’ applicability and limitations, advantages and disadvantages, and best practices for efficient, economical, and reliable driven piles foundations.