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400.3.1 Cast-In-Place Concrete Piles
400.3.1 Cast-In-Place Concrete Piles
1. Drilled Holes
All holes for concrete piles cast in drilled holes shall be drilled dry to tip
elevation shown on the Plans. All holes will be examined for straightness and any hole
which on visual inspection from the top shows less than one-half the diameter of the
hole at the bottom of the hole will be rejected. Suitable casings shall be furnished
and placed when required to prevent caving of the hole before concrete is placed.
3. Drilled Shafts
Drilled shafts are deep foundations formed by boring a cylindrical hole into soil
and/or rock and filling the hole with concrete. Drilled shafts are also commonly
referred to as caissons, bored piles or drilled piers.
Drilled shafts are classified according to their primary mechanism for deriving load
resistance either as floating shafts (i.e., shafts transferring load primarily by side
resistance), or end-bearing shafts (i.e., shafts transferring load primarily by tip
resistance). Occasionally, the bases of shafts are enlarged (i.e., belled or
underreamed) to improve the load capacity of end bearing shafts on less than
desirable soils, or to increase the uplift resistance of floating shafts.
Drilled shafts are normally sized in 15.24cm (6-inch diameter increments with a
minimum diameter of 45.72cm (18”). The diameter of a shaft socketed into rock should
be a minimum of 15.24cm (6”) larger than the socket diameter. If a shaft must be
inspected by the entry of a person, the shaft diameter shall not be less than 76.20cm
(30”).
Construction methods that can be used to prevent caving during the drilling of holes and
the placement of concrete. It is preferred that drilled shafts be constructed in stable non-
sloughing soil without excessive ground water.
a. The construction of the pile or shaft in a wet condition while the walls of the
excavation are stabilized by hydrostatic pressure of water or a mineral slurry until
the concrete is placed.
Mineral slurry used in the drilling process shall have both a mineral grain size that
will remain in suspension and sufficient viscosity and gel characteristics to transport
excavated material to a suitable screening system. The percentage and specific
gravity of the material used to make the suspension shall be sufficient to maintain
the stability of the excavation and to allow proper concrete placement.
b. The use of steel casing which is installed during drilling operations to hold the hole
open and usually withdrawn during concrete placement.
Casing, if used in operation, shall be metal, smooth, clean, watertight, and of
ample strength to withstand both handling and driving stresses and the pressure of
both concrete and the surrounding earth materials. The outside diameter of casing
shall not be less than the specified size of the shaft. It shall conform to AASHTO M
270 (ASTM A 709) Grade 36 unless otherwise specified.
c. The use of a permanent casing which is left in place within the portion of the pile
which is in unstable material.
A permanent casing is applied as protection from the presence of surface water
during drilling and as support later for the installation of the rebar cage and as a
concrete form in drilling under water.
Excavation Inspection
The Contractor shall provide equipment for checking the dimensions and
alignment of each shaft excavation. The Contractor under the direction of the
Engineer shall determine the dimensions and alignment of the drilled shaft. Final
shaft depth shall be measured after final cleaning. The base of the shaft excavation
may be cleaned using a cleaning bucket followed by airlifting. Reverse circulation
techniques may also be used to clean the base of the shaft.
The shaft excavation shall be cleaned so that a minimum of 50 percent of the
base will have less than 12.5mm of sediment and at no place on the base more
than 37.5mm of sediment. The Engineer will determine shaft cleanliness.
Construction Tolerances:
The following tolerances shall be maintained in constructing drilled shaft.
a. The drilled shaft shall be within 7.62cm (6”) of the plan position in the
horizontal plane at the plan elevation for the top of the shaft.
b. The vertical alignment of the shaft excavation shall not vary from the
plan alignment by more than 20.83 mm/m (1/4 inch per foot) of depth.
c. After all the shaft concrete is placed, the top of the reinforcing steel
cage shall be no more than 15.24 cm (6”) above and no more than 7.62
cm (3”) below plan position.
d. When casing is used, its outside diameter shall not be less than the
shaft diameter shown on the plans. When casing is not used, the
minimum diameter of the drilled shaft shall be the diameter shown on
the plans for diameters 60.96 cm (24”) or less, and not more than 2.54
cm (1 inch) less than the diameter shown on the plans for diameters
greater than 60.96 cm (24”).
e. The bearing area of bells shall be excavated to the plan bearing area as
a minimum. All other plan dimensions shown for the bells may be varied,
when approved, to accommodate the equipment used.
f. The top elevation of the shaft shall be within 2.54 cm (1 inch) of the plan
top of shaft elevation.
g. The bottom of the shaft excavation shall be normal to the axis of the
shaft within 62.5 mm/m (3/4 inch per foot) of shaft diameter.
Cutting shoes for piles driven open end may be inside or outside of the
pipe. They may be high carbon structural steel with a machined ledged for pile
bearing or cast steel with a ledge, designed for attachment with a simple weld
400.3.10 Splicing
2. Prestressed Piles
If the length of the steel pile, shell or pipe driven is insufficient to obtain
the specified bearing power, an extension of the same cross-section shall
be spliced to it.
Details of re-driving
The quantity to be paid for will be the sum of the lengths in metres of
the piles of the several types and lengths ordered in writing by the
Engineer, furnished in compliance with these Specifications and stockpiles
in good condition at the project site by the Contractor and accepted by the
Engineer.
2. Piles Driven
The quantity to be paid for will be the sum of the lengths in metres of
the piles driven in the completed work measured from the pile tip elevation
to the bottom of pile caps, footings or bottom of concrete superstructure in
the case of pile bents.
400.4.5 Splices
The quantity to be paid for will be the number of splices which may be
required to drive the pile in excess of the estimated length shown on the Plans for
cast-in-place steel pipes or shells or in excess of the order length furnished by the
Engineer for all other types of piling. Splices made for the convenience of the
Contractor or to fabricate piles cut offs will not be paid for.