Quality and Durability of Piles

Piles must be in good condition with the following resistive quality:

1. To resist crushing under vertical loading
2. To resist crushing during the process of driving.
3. To resist handling stresses.
4. To resist tension from uplift forces, heaving of soil or rebound in the process of driving.
5. To resist horizontal and eccentric forces that may cause bending when applied on it.
6. To resist curvature bending and column action for the portions not receiving lateral support from the
ground when freely standing in air, water or a very liquid mud.

Pile Selection
In selecting pile as to use and types, the following requirement must be considered:
1. Availability of supply 7. Length of poles
2. Expected life span 8. Carrying capacity
3. Deterioration condition 9. Proximity of structure
4. Types of underground 10. Cost
5. Methods of placing
6. Characteristics of structure and loading

Comparatively, installation cost of different types of foundation varies depending upon the following considerations:
1. Soil conditions to be penetrated 5. Availability of pile materials
2. Require pile length 6. Site accessibility
3. Desired load capacity 7. Site conditions
4. Geographic area and labor costs 8. Contractor availability

Economic comparison should be based on the total cost of the entire foundation instead of the cost of the pile alone.

Wood Pile Length and Diameter
Length of pile in meter Diameter of Butt (cm) Minimum Tip
Min Max Dia. cm.
Under 12 meters 30 45 20
13 to 18 meters 32 45 18
Over 18 meters 35 50 15

Deterioration and protection of Wooden Piles
Wooden piles may deteriorate or decay due to insect attack, marine borers, mechanical wear and fire. Timber
piles are durable when driven below the normal water level. However, even if treated with creosote chemical, the life
span of timber piles above the water level will only last for a period about 40 years.

Considerations in selecting wood piles
1. Local Conditions
2. Severity of service
3. Types of expected economic life of the structure
4. Ease of repair
5. Cost

Pile Driving
Before driving the piles, adequate knowledge and preparations had been done such as gathering of data,
underground exploration and soil tests.
The decision to use pile must have been based from the result of structural design analysis including the following
information:
1. Timber pile must be free from sharp, short or reverse bend.
2. The taper of the pile must be uniform from the bottom of the tip.
3. The butt of the pile must be square or chamfered to fit into the pile cap.
4. Timber pile cannot resist high stresses due to hard driving necessary to penetrate highly resistive layer of
soil.
5. Timber piles could be driven without damage against soils with very high resistance and rarely specified to
receive driving load in excess of 298 kilo Newton (30 tons) but usually restricted to 250kN hammer or less.
6. The pile cushion is attached to the hammer base to reduce the impact stress and at the same time prolong
the life span of the hammer.
7. Driving sequence of pile must be given close attention for it might affect the penetration of the pile in to the
ground.
8. Driving piles near a retaining wall will likely to cause displacement and damage to the adjoining structure
due to vibration of the soil.
9. Over driving will indicate bending of the piles, hammer bouncing, cutting of driving plate into the pile and
separation of the wood annual growth rings which finally result to head-broom.
10. Careless driving procedure like unusually hard compaction of the cushion, block tilting of the head cap,
non axial blows and uneven pile head causes damages to the pile.

Hammer cushion is classified into two different types:
1. Soft type cushion
2. Hard type cushion


Significant influence on the wave stresses that is being developed in the process of pile driving such as:
a. Affects the driving characteristics of the pile
b. Depth to which it could be driven
c. The load carrying capacity

The selection of the type and dimensions of cushion block and the hammer that drives satisfactory result has the
following main objective:
a. To assure maximum driving force on the pile equal to its maximum capacity without overstressing the pile.
b. As much as possible, to transmit the hammers maximum energy to the pile.








PENETRATION RESISTANCE AND SOIL PROPERTIES BASED FROM THE STANDARD TEST PENETRATION
Sand Clay
Fairly Reliable Rather Unreliable
Number of Blows Relative Number of Blows Consistency
per meter density per meter
1-12 Very Loose 3 Very Soft
12-30 Loose 6-12 Soft
30-90 Medium 12-24 Medium
90-150 Dense 24-25 Stiff
Over 150 Very Dense Over 90 Hard

Range of Skin Friction for Various Soil
Type of Soil Skin Friction
kg. per sq. m.
1. Silt and soft mud 240-480
2. Silt compacted 580-1,700
3. Clay and sand 2,440-4,880
4. Sand with some clay 1,950-3,900
5. Sand and gravel 2,930-4,880

Driving Equipment
A pile driver is a mechanical device used to drive piles (poles) into soil to provide foundation support for
buildings or other structures. The term is also used in reference to members of the construction crew that work with
pile-driving rigs.
One traditional type of pile driver includes a heavy weight placed between guides so that it is able to freely
slide up and down in a single line. It is placed upon a pile. The weight is raised, which may involve the use
of hydraulics, steam, diesel, or manual labour. When the weight reaches its highest point it is then released and
smashes on to the pile in order to drive it into the ground.

General categories of modern day pile hammer includes:
a. Single and double acting units (steam, compressed air or hydraulic)
b. Diesel hammer

Definition of terms
Hammer- refers to the entire driving unit.
Ram- the moving weight that strikes the pile.
Single acting hammer- use steam or compressed air to raise the hammer ram to a position ready for
driving.
Double acting hammer- uses steam or compressed air to raise the ram to position for driving and
also accelerate the downward thrust of the ram.
Differential acting hammer- another category similar in operation as the double acting hammer.
Diesel Hammer- is a self contained self activated units located within an enclosed cylinder.
Single acting hammer- simply relies on the weight of the heavy ram for driving piles.
Vibratory Drivers- operates on a principle different from the conventional hammers.

Methods to Aid Pile Installation
The installation of driven piles can be aided by Spudding or Pre- drilling methods under the following
objectives:
1. Obstacles that could damage the driven pile are present in the soil to be penetrated.
2. Where compact or hard soil has to be penetrated.
3. Where driving vibrations may affect nearby structure, jetting is another methods to hasten pile
penetration doing away with the driving operations.

Spudding
refers to the procedure of driving an H steel pile or similar section into the earth to break up some
obstacles before installing the pile.
Pre-drilling
is the process of drilling a hole with a diameter approximately the same size as the pile through a
very hard soil.
Jetting
is one technique using a powerful steam of water directed below the tip of a long pipe penetrating
sandy soil to wash ahead of the pile to assist it in advancing through the sand.