Abstract:
The European Federation of Foundation Contractors (EFFC) and the Deep Foundations Institute (DFI)
jointly published Edition 1 of the ‘EFFC/DFI Guide to Support Fluids for Deep Foundations’ in April
2019. This Guide was prepared by a Task Group comprising experts on deep foundations from
contractors, materials suppliers, consultants and academics. The Guide builds on work carried out by
the Tremie Concrete Guide Task Group and presented in Edition 2 of the Tremie Guide. The Paper
discusses and describes the content of the Support Fluids Guide which presents the state of the art on
support fluid management, as well as the R&D work currently being carried out and funded by EFFC
and DFI sponsors through an ongoing Field Research Study (FRS) as well as a review of academic
research linked to the EFFC/DFI joint effort aimed at improving knowledge and guidance on support
fluids. The FRS and academic research will help to improve the understanding of relevant support fluid
properties including stability of excavations, interface layer formation, effect of filter cake and the
development of new sampling and testing methodology. The Paper also presents the initial findings from
the FRS program as well as a discussion on the challenging aspects of support fluid management with
emphasis on design, performance, testing, and the environment.