Managing adverse impact of

jacked piling on adjacent

structures

By Er. Dr Yet Nai Song

Building and construction Authority
GEOSS SEMINAR, 31 Aug 2015
 Presentation outline
• Jacked piles from
regulatory perspective
- Comply with design and
construction requirements

• Case studies of jacked piling

works – lesson learnt

• Unfavourable conditions
& Preferred pile types
 Compliance with design &
construction requirements
(Building Control Regulation 26)

• All buildings shall be designed

and all building works shall be
carried out in compliance with
objectives and performance
requirements set out in Fifth
schedule.
3
 Objective
(Fifth schedule)

• Protect people from injury by structural failure

• Protect people from loss of amenity caused by structural

failure

• Protect other property from

physical damage caused by
structural failure

4
 Performance requirement
(Fifth schedule)
• A building, including its foundation, shall be
designed and constructed, so that combined
dead, imposed, wind and other intended
load can be sustained and transmitted to
ground:
– Safely and

– Without causing such deformation, as

will impair the stability of other building
5
 Acceptable solutions -Deem to comply
(Building Control Regulation 27)
• Regulation 27 - CBC may
issue and amend from time
to time “Approved
Document”, which set out
acceptable solutions.

– Compliance with
acceptable solutions - is
deemed to comply
objective and performance
requirements of building.
6
 BSEN 1997-1:2004 Eurocode 7
SECTION 7 Pile foundations

• 7.2 Limit states

(1)P The following limit states shall be
considered and an appropriate list shall be
compiled:
— excessive heave;
— excessive lateral movement;
— unacceptable vibrations.

7
 BSEN 1997-1:2004 Eurocode 7
SECTION 7 Pile foundations
• 7.3.2.3 Heave
(1)P In considering the effect of heave, or upward loads,
which may be generated along the pile shaft, the movement
of the ground shall generally be treated as an action.
NOTE 1 Expansion or heave of the ground can result from
unloading, excavation, frost action or driving of adjacent
piles. It can also be due to an increase of the ground-water
content resulting from the removal of trees, cessation of
abstraction from aquifers, prevention (by new construction) of
evaporation and from accidents.
NOTE 2 Heave may take place during construction, before
piles are loaded by the structure, and may cause
unacceptable uplift or structural failure of the piles. 8
 BSEN 1997-1:2004 Eurocode 7
SECTION 7 Pile foundations
• 7.4.2 Design considerations
(4)P The choice of type of pile, including the quality of the pile
material and the method of installation, shall take into account:
— the effect of the method and sequence of pile installation
on piles, which have already been installed and on adjacent
structures or services;
— the effects of pile construction on neighbouring buildings.
(5) In considering the aspects listed above, the following items
should receive attention:
— displacement or vibration of adjacent structures due to pile
installation; 9
 prEN 12699:2013
Execution of displacement piles

11.4 Nuisance and/or environmental damage that can be

caused by piling work shall be kept to a minimum.

11.7 Where sensitive structures, installations or unstable

slopes are present in the vicinity of the site or possible
sphere of influence of the piling works, their condition
should be carefully observed and documented prior to and
during the execution of the piling works.

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 Regulatory requirement in a nutshell
• BC Regulation 26
– All buildings shall be
designed and constructed to
comply with objectives and
performance requirements in
Fifth schedule
– Objective : to protect other
properties from damage
– Performance requirement :
without causing deformation
which will impair stability of
other buildings
• BC Regulation 27 –
– Deem to satisfy by compliance
with acceptable solution
• Eurocode 7
• Execution code EN12699
• Design & construction to
consider:
– Excessive heave and excessive
lateral movement
– Effects on existing piles and
adjacent structures
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Statistics on usage of
Jacked piles
 Piling usage in landed development
From 2002 to 2013
• Reduction in usage of driven RC piling to less than 10%
• Increase in usage of jack in piling to almost 50%
• Reflects success in persuasive measures to adopt more environmentally friendly
piling system
Usage of Driven and Jacked RC piles in
landed development
70% 65%
Perecentage of projects

60%
49%
50%
40%
30%
20%
9%
10% 4%
0%
2002 2013
Driven RC pile 65% 9%
Jacked RC pile 4% 49%
Year
Driven RC pile Jacked RC pile
 Feedback Due to Different Piling Systems
for landed development
Percentage feedback for landed development

Driven RC pile 21%

Jacked RC pile 10%

Micropile 3%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

Based on data for 2012

• There is a reduction in percentage feedback by changing from driven RC

pile to jack-in RC pile
• About 10% of jacked in pile projects received complaints on damage.
 Why do jacked piles pose problem?
• Both driven RC piles and jack-in RC piles are
displacement piles.

• Pile installation by jacking displaces the soil and may

cause damage to adjacent structures.

15
 Classification of pile
Large-displacement pile Small-displacement pile

• Solid section piles or • Driven or jacked into

hollow-section piles ground but have a
with closed end relatively small cross-
sectional area
• driven or jacked into
ground and thus displace • Include steel H pile or
the soil steel pipes with open end

16
 Issues of jacked-in piles
• Soil displacement problem is particularly severe, when:
Density of displacement piles is high

Use of Large-displacement pile, and in large number;

Deep piles, piles with large cross-sectional area

There is thick deposit of soft clay

Sensitive structures located in close proximity

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What happen when pile is pushed into soft clay ?

Soil properties altered Ground movement and heave

– Lateral movement and
– High excess pore eventually manifested as heave
pressure
– May affect piles driven earlier
– Shear strength reduced
– May affect adjacent foundation
– Clay remoulded and adjacent structures

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Heave & lateral movement due to pile driving

• Joseph Hagerty & Ralph Peck. Journal of Soil

Mechanics and Foundations div., Proceeding ASCE Vol
97, No.11. Nov 1971. pp 1513-1532.
– Significant soil displacement occurs during pile driving in fine
grained soil deposits. Saturated insensitive clay behaves
incompressibly. i.e. volume of displaced soil is equal to volume
of inserted piles.
– About half of volume of displaced soil appeared as surface
heave within pile foundation area, while remaining half appeared
as surface heave outside foundation area.
– Normalised soil surface heave within foundation area may be
estimated as half the volumetric displacement ratio for the site.

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Possible pile displacement mechanism

Pile displacement mechanism due to driving of adjacent piles in clay 20

(after Hagerty 1969)
 A study on soil heave due to pile driving in clay
• Versall & Massarsch 2013
Sound Geotechnical research to
practice, Geotechnical special
publication GSP230. ASCE
pp.481-499
• Based on finite element
studies and results of model
tests compared with field
measurements,
hypothesised that:
– The lateral extent of the zone
of soil heave increases with
pile penetration depth.
– Maximum heave occurs at 0.3
to 1 time the pile penetration
depth. 21
 Influence zone of displacement piling work
Ground heave profile

Influence zone Influence zone

Sand Sand

Pile depth, L
Clay Clay

• Vheave = Vpile_inserted for insensitive clay; Vheave < Vpile_inserted for sand
• Influence zone is a function of pile depth & soil type.
• The longer the pile, the larger is the influence zone.
• The influence zone for clayey soil is larger as compared to sandy soil. 22
 Issue of surcharge loading from self-
weight of jacked piling machine
• Heavy weight of jack-in piling machine can exert
significant pressure on ground, potentially
causing ground heave, even before piling work
commences
• Need to check adequacy of geotechnical
capacity of ground on which the jack-in machine
is resting
• Pay attention to site with soft ground and fill
layer is thin / absent, and when piling machinery
moves very near to adjacent buildings or to a
slope, like canal 23
 Issue of surcharge loading from self-weight
of jacked piling machine
• Use of steel plates to
distribute self-weight
of machine, so that
bearing pressure
exerted on ground is
within limit.
• Laying a layer of
hardcore to help
distribute the weight
over a larger area
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Case study on projects
using jacked piles

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 Jacked RC pile
• Pile diameter 175x175mm
• Pile depth 23m (38 nos)
• Soft soil upto 8m depth
• No relief well & no preboring

26
Subsoil condition

Soft clay upto 8m depth

27
Sensitive adjacent buildings

• Adjacent buildings are founded

on pad footing
• Separation cracks

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 Learning point (Case study 1)
• Despite just a small number of jacked
piles in soft clay, damage could still
occur if no protective measure were
implemented at site, and adjacent
buildings are “sensitive”.

29
 Jacked RC pile
• Pile diameter 300x300mm
• Pile depth 46m (214 nos)
• Soft soil upto 30m depth
• Some relief wells, no preboring

30
 Ground condition
Thick Kallang formation underlain by OA

Soft clay upto 30m depth

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 Jacked-in precast RC pile
• 300mm x 300mm precast RC pile
• Penetration depth = 46m
• Total 214 piles (volume =886m3) → 1 pile ≈ 4 m3
• Relief trench
– 0.7m width x 0.8m deep around the site
• Relief wells
– 250mm diameter @10m c/c along boundary
– Depth 20m
– Total 15 nos (volume = 14.7m3) → 1 relief well ≈ 1 m3
 Heave during jacked piling

• Heave recorded during jacked piling =

10mm to 99mm

Settlement during excavation

• Settlement recorded during subsequent
excavation = 0mm to 8mm
 What have gone wrong ?
– Relief wells √
– Relief trenches √
– Settlement makers √
– Maximum ground heave value √

• Why did excessive heave still

occur ??

34
 Probable causes
• Improper execution of relief wells
– Volume of soil displaced by piles = 886 m3
– Volume of soil removed from relief wells
=14.7m3 x 4 = 59 m3 (only maintain 3-4 times)
– Net volume of soil displaced = 886m3 - 59m3 =
827m3 !!
• Ground heave of 25mm not acted upon
– It should be specified as work suspension
level on plan. 35
 Learning point (Case study 2)
• Builder to take immediate remedial action
when critical instrumentation readings
exceed limits during jacked pile
installation.
• Improper execution of relief wells may not
help to reduce the soil displacement
problem.

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 Jacked prestressed spun piles
• Pile diameter 300-600mm
• Pile depth 40m to 50m
• Thick layer of marine clay
• Relief wells & preboring

37
 Section through the piling site
and the adjacent structures

Adjacent
Piling structure
site

Displacement piles can affect structures

more than 20 metres away !
38
 Initial measures taken
• Preboring at pile location, before pile inserted

• 3 temporary relief wells around every pile

• Permanent relief wells at project boundary

• Volume of soil displaced by pile and volume of soil taken

out of relief wells are closely monitored.

39
 Additional measures taken
• Install sheetpile to reduce the migration of soil
outside the boundary

• Reduce piling speed to allow time for soil

movement to stabilise

• Increased monitoring, and additional

instruments installed near to critical structures

• Digging trench near to critical structures 40

 Significant problem with installation
of large-displacement piles in thick
soft clay
• Effect of soil displacement is too difficult to
control with installation of :
– Large-displacement piles

– in large number & closely spaced

– into thick layer of soft clay

41
 Protective measures taken for jacked piles
(2) Temporary (3) Permanent
(1) Preboring relief wells
well relief wells
well

Piling
Nearby
site structure

(4) Sheet pile (5) cut-off (6) Monitoring of soil &

Trench lateral movement
building movements
42
 Learning point (Case study 3)
• When use of large-displacement piles in large
number couple with thick soft clay and close pile
spacing, it could be difficult to mitigate the effect
of ground movement on adjacent buildings even
with relief wells and preboring.

• Designers should consider alternative piling

system, e.g. small-displacement piles or non-
displacement piles under such highly
unfavourable conditions.

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Jacked prestressed spun pile
• Pile diameter 400mm / 600mm
• Pile depth 23m
• Soft clay upto 15m depth
• Relief wells & preboring successfully implemented

44
 Jacked prestressed spun pile

• Underlain by upto 15m-

thick soft clay
• Adjacent buildings in
close proximity
• Prestressed spun piles of
diameter 400mm to
600mm, each taking 110
to 215 tonnes

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Installation of jacked pile

46
Preboring with steel casing

Steel casing is used to prevent collapse of the prebore. 47

Spun pile is inserted immediately upon extraction of steel casing.
 Perforated steel pipes used as
relief wells

Relief wells are cased because the soil is soft. 48

 Relief wells
Relief wells, with depth 9m to 15m
Installation of relief wells

50
 Perforated steel pipes
• In this project, relief wells are made up of steel
pipes of 400mm diameter - installed to depth 9m-15m,
with perforations along pipes.

• Steel pipe casing - prevent the relief well from

collapsing.

• Perforations allow displaced soil to enter relief well,

to be removed regularly.

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 Perforated steel pipes
Perforation size 4”x2”,
regularly spaced along pipe.

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Prestressed spun pile jacked into ground

• Total number of piles = 550

• Est. volume of one pile = 2.3m3 (400mmΦ);
5.0m3 (600mmΦ)
• Est. total volume of piles inserted = 1845m3
• Est. average heave over entire site area =
440mm

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 No complaint of damage

• This project succesfully uses relief wells and

preboring to mitigate the effect of installation of
large-displacement piles.
• No complaint of damage to neighbouring
buildings was reported.

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 Learning point (Case study 4)
• With active involvement of
designers, it is possible to
mitigate effect of installation
of large-displacement piles
on adjacent buildings,
through meticulous planning
and implementation of relief
wells and preboring,
coupled with close
monitoring of the ground
movements.

55
 Jacked steel H-pile
• Pile size 203x203x46 kg/m
• Pile depth 26m
• Soft soil upto 20m depth
• No relief well & no preboring

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 Jacked steel H-pile
• The site is underlain by 20m thick soft clay
• Adjacent building in close proximity
• QP proposed to use steel H-piles as foundation piles.
Each H-pile takes 35 tonnes.

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Presence of soft clay upto 20m depth

58
 Steel H-piles jacked into ground
• Total number of piles = 114
• Volume of one H-pile = 0.15m3
• Total volume of pile inserted = 17m3
• Estimated average heave over entire site area = 28mm

59
No complaint of damage caused
• Due to small volume of
inserted piles (total only
17m3), relief wells and
preboring were not
needed in this project.
• No complaint of damage
to neighbouring buildings

60
 What could happen if RC piles were used in
this project instead ?

• Assuming pile to pile replacement using RC piles

200mmx200mm, total 114 piles
• Volume of one RC pile =1.04m3 (7 times of steel H-pile
0.15m3 )
• Total volume of piles inserted= 118m3 (7 times of steel H-
piles 17m3 )
• Estimated average heave over entire site area = 181 mm
(vs using steel H-pile 28mm)
• Large soil displacement expected and potential damage
to adjacent structures.
61
 Learning point (Case study 5)

• Use of small-displacement piles or non-

displacement will be more effective to
avoid damage to adjacent buildings.
• With no interruption of work due to stop
work order or dispute resolution caused by
damage, work can be completed faster.

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Implication of migration to
Eurocode on role of pile
designers

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Choice of pile type and installation method

• EC7 Clause 7.4.2(4) P

Choice of pile types and installation method
SHALL take into account effect of installation
on piles already installed and on adjacent
structures.
• Eurocode implies a greater role to be
played by pile designers, and an impact
assessment could be necessary to satisfy
that role. 64
 Beware of unfavourable conditions
• Factors contributing to unfavourable conditions for
displacement piling work in landed residential
development includes the following:

Density of Presence of
piles is high thick soft clay

Adjacent Sensitive
structure in adjacent
close proximity structures
 Preferred pile types under
unfavourable conditions
Non-
Small-displacement
displacement
piles
piles

Steel Grouted
pipe pile micropile

Steel H- Bored
pile pile

66
 Concluding remark
• Jacked piles are displacement piles, displacing ground as
they are installed . When chosen and used, designer and
builder need to properly manage their adverse impact on
adjacent structures.

• Designer need to consider effect of piling in pile design.

• Builder need to implement protective measures proposed

by pile designers.

– Eg. Instrumentation & monitoring, relief wells, preboring

• Beware of using large displacement piles in highly

unfavourable conditions.
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Thank You !

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