01 CE 602 CONCRETE TECHNOLOGY AND ADVANCED CONSTRUCTION

4.2 PILE FOUNDATIONS

Introduction
Foundations provide support for structures, transferring their load to layers of soil or rock that have
sufficient bearing capacity and suitable settlement characteristics. There are a very wide range of
foundation types available, suitable for different applications, depending on considerations, such as:

 The nature of the load requiring support.

 Ground conditions.
 The presence of water.
 Durability of the materials.
 Cost.
 Accessibility.
 Sensitivity to noise and vibration.
 Proximity to other structures.
Very broadly, foundations can be categorised as shallow foundations or deep foundations. Shallow
foundations are typically used where the loads imposed by a structure are low relative to the bearing
capacity of the surface soils. Deep foundations are necessary where the bearing capacity of the surface
soils is insufficient to support loads imposed and so they are transferred to deeper layers with higher
bearing capacity.
Pile foundation, a kind of deep foundation, is actually a slender column or long cylinder made of
materials such as concrete or steel which are used to support the structure and transfer the load at desired
depth either by end bearing or skin friction. A foundation is described as 'piled' when its depth is more
than three times its breadth (ref. Atkinson, 2007).

Figure 1 showing the application of pile foundations in constructions

Pile foundations are principally used to transfer the loads from superstructures, through weak,
compressible strata or water onto stronger, more compact, less compressible and stiffer soil or rock at
depth, increasing the effective size of a foundation and resisting horizontal loads. They are typically
used for large structures, and in situations where soil is not suitable to prevent excessive settlement.
Use Pile Foundation

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Following are the situations when using a pile foundation system is ideal:
I. When the groundwater table is high.
II. Heavy and un-uniform loads from superstructure are imposed.
III. Other types of foundations are costlier or not feasible.
IV. When the soil at shallow depth is compressible.
V. When there is the possibility of scouring, due to its location near the river bed or seashore, etc.
VI. When there is a canal or deep drainage systems near the structure.
VII. When soil excavation is not possible up to the desired depth due to poor soil condition.
VIII. When it becomes impossible to keep the foundation trenches dry by pumping or by any other
measure due to heavy inflow of seepage.
Types of Pile Foundation
Pile foundations can be classified based on function, materials and installation process, etc. Followings
are the types of pile foundation used in construction:
I. Based on Function or Use such as
 Sheet Piles
 Load Bearing Piles
 End bearing Piles
 Friction Piles
 Soil Compactor Piles

II. Based on Materials and Construction Method

 Timber Piles
 Concrete Piles
 Steel Piles
 Composite Piles

III. Based on the method of construction

 Bored piles (replacement piles)
 Driven piles (displacement piles)
 Screw piles
 Pile walls
Friction piles
Friction (or floating) piles develop most of the pile-bearing capacity by shear stresses along the sides
of the pile, and are suitable where harder layers are too deep to reach economically. The pile transmits
the load to surrounding soil by adhesion or friction between the surface of the pile and soil, which in
effect lowers the bulb of pressure. In other words, the whole surface of the pile (cylindrical in shape)
works to transfer the forces to the soil.

The nail becomes more secure and tightly fastened into the timber, the further in that it is driven. The
greater the embedment depth in the ground, the more load the pile can support – the load-bearing
capacity of the pile is directly proportionate to its length.
Friction piles are in contrast to end-bearing piles which develop most of their load-bearing capacity at
the toe of the pile, bearing on a hard layer of rock or very dense soil and gravel.

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End bearing piles

End-bearing piles develop most of their load-bearing capacity at the toe of the pile, bearing on a hard
layer of rock or very dense soil and gravel. The pile transmits the load through soft, compressible strata
directly onto firm strata. This type of pile therefore acts in the same way as a column.
This is as opposed to friction piles (or floating piles) which develop most of their load-bearing capacity
by shear stresses along the sides of the pile, and are suitable where harder layers are too deep to reach
economically. The pile transmits the load to the surrounding soil by adhesion or friction between the
surface of the pile and the soil. In this case, the whole surface of the pile works to transfer load to the
soil.
Sheet Piles
This type of pile is mostly used to provide lateral support. Usually, they resist lateral pressure from
loose soil, the flow of water, etc. They are usually used for cofferdams, trench sheeting, shore
protection, etc. They are not used for providing vertical support to the structure. They are usually used
to serve the following purpose-

 Construction of retaining walls.

 Protection from river bank erosion.
 Retain the loose soil around foundation trenches.
 For isolation of foundation from adjacent soils.
 For confinement of soil and thus increase the bearing capacity of the soil.
Classification based on material
Timber Piles
Timber piles are placed under the water level. They last for approximately about 30 years. They can be
rectangular or circular in shape. Their diameter or size can vary from 12 to 16 inches. The length of the
pile is usually 20 times of the top width.
They are usually designed for 15 to 20 tons. Additional strength can be obtained by bolting fish plates
to the side of the piles.
Advantages of Timber Piles-
I. Timber piles of regular size are available.
II. Economical.
III. Easy to install.
IV. Low possibility of damage.
V. Timber piles can be cut off at any desired length after they are installed.
VI. If necessary, timber piles can be easily pulled out.
Disadvantages of Timber Piles-
I. Piles of longer lengths are not always available.
II. It is difficult to obtain straight piles if the length is short.
III. It is difficult to drive the pile if the soil strata are very hard.
IV. Spicing of timber pile is difficult.
V. Timber or wooden piles are not suitable to be used as end-bearing piles.
For durability of timber piles, special measures have to be taken. For example- wooden piles are often
treated with preservative.

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Concrete Piles
Pre-cast Concrete Pile
The precast concrete pile is cast in pile bed in the horizontal form if they are rectangular in shape.
Usually, circular piles are cast in vertical forms. Precast piles are usually reinforced with steel to prevent
breakage during its mobilization from casting bed to the location of the foundation. After the piles are
cast, curing has to be performed as per specification. Generally curing period for pre-cast piles is 21 to
28 days.
Advantages of Pre-cast Piles
I. Provides high resistance to chemical and biological cracks.
II. They are usually of high strength.
III. To facilitate driving, a pipe may be installed along the center of the pile.
IV. If the piles are cast and ready to be driven before the installation phase is due, it can increase
the pace of work.
V. The confinement of the reinforcement can be ensured.
VI. Quality of the pile can be controlled.
VII. If any fault is identified, it can be replaced before driving.
VIII. Pre-cast piles can be driven under the water.
IX. The piles can be loaded immediately after it is driven up to the required length.
Disadvantages of Pre-cast Piles
I. Once the length of the pile is decided, it is difficult to increase or decrease the length of the pile
afterward.
II. They are difficult to mobilize.
III. Needs heavy and expensive equipment to drive.
IV. As they are not available for readymade purchase, it can cause a delay in the project.
V. There is a possibility of breakage or damage during handling and driving of piles.
Cast-in-Place Concrete Piles
This type of pile is constructed by boring of soil up to the desired depth and then, depositing freshly
mixed concrete in that place and letting it cure there. This type of pile is constructed either by driving a
metallic shell to the ground and filling it with concrete and leave the shell with the concrete or the shell
is pulled out while concrete is poured.
Advantages of Cast-in-Place Concrete Piles
I. The shells are light weighted, so they are easy to handle.
II. Length of piles can be varied easily.
III. The shells may be assembled at sight.
IV. No excess enforcement is required only to prevent damage from handling.
V. No possibility of breaking during installation.
VI. Additional piles can be provided easily if required.
Disadvantages of Cast-in-Place Concrete Piles
I. Installation requires careful supervision and quality control.
II. Needs sufficient place on site for storage of the materials used for construction.
III. It is difficult to construct cast in situ piles where the underground water flow is heavy.
IV. Bottom of the pile may not be symmetrical.

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V. If the pile is un-reinforced and uncased, the pile can fail in tension if there acts and uplifting
force.
Steel Piles
Steel piles may be of I-section or hollow pipe. They are filled with concrete. The size may vary from
10 inches to 24 inches in diameter and thickness is usually ¾ inches. Because of the small sectional
area, the piles are easy to drive. They are mostly used as end-bearing piles.
Advantages of Steel Piles
I. They are easy to install.
II. They can reach a greater depth comparing to any other type of pile.
III. Can penetrate through the hard layer of soil due to the less cross-sectional area.
IV. It is easy to splice steel piles
V. Can carry heavy loads.
Disadvantage of Steel Piles
I. Prone to corrosion.
II. Has a possibility of deviating while driving.
III. Comparatively expensive.

Figure showing materials used for piles showing piles and raft foundation courtesy of
www.theengineeringcommunity.org/classification-of-piles-foundation, 2021)

Piles can be used individually to support loads or grouped and linked together with a reinforced concrete
cap. As it is very difficult to bore or drive piles exactly vertical, the pile cap should be able to
accommodate some deviation in the final position of the pile heads. The pile cap should overhang the
outer piles, typically by a distance of 100-150 mm on all sides, depending on the size of the pile.
Pile caps can also be linked together with reinforced concrete to create capping beams. At least three
capped piles are needed to ensure stability against lateral forces (with the exception of caisson piles).
Capping beams are also suitable for distributing the weight of a load-bearing wall, or of close-centred
columns to a line of piles. Piles may be staggered in the beam to allow for any eccentricities that may
occur in loaded conditions.

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The capping beam should be kept clear of the ground where the purpose of the piles is to overcome the
problem of the subsoil swell and shrinkage. This can be done by casting the capping beam on
polystyrene or other compressive material, thereby allowing an upward ground movement without
damage to the beam.
Sheet piles
According to DESIGN BUILDINGS WIKI (2021), Sheet Piling is used to provide temporary and
permanent walls in the construction industry. Sheet piling is used as excavation support and for soil
retention. It creates a border which keeps the soil back, away from the structure.
Sheet piles are designed to interlock with each other. They are installed in sequence along the planned
excavation perimeter. When arranged together, they form a wall for permanent or temporary earth
support, along with anchors to provide extra lateral support.
Permanent sheet piles are designed to provide a long service life; installed with the help of vibratory
hammers. If the soil is too dense or hard, impact hammers are used. Depending on the condition of the
site, the sheet piles can be hydraulically pushed into the ground.
They can be made of recycled steel, and can be reused for other purposes; making them a sustainable
option.

Uses of sheet piling

I. When construction is taking place in a confined space, then temporary walls are
used to prevent cave-ins; offering protection to the workers working in the
vicinity of the area.
II. In a home environment, sheet piling is used as permanent walls as they provide
stability and durability to the interior walls (especially basement walls).
III. Pilling is also used to prevent floods to structures close to shorelines.

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IV. To protect foundations from water damage.

V. To support excavations for parking structures, basements, foundations, pump
houses, and to construct cofferdams, seawalls and bulkheads.

Anchored sheet piles

Anchoring the sheet piles causes less penetration, which is economical when the height
is less than 6m. This is because the anchor walls are pre-stressed to remove the slack
from the system. It remains as it is until creep occurs. Anchor walls provide better back-
slope subsidence because they undergo less lateral deflection. There are two major
reasons for subsidence:

Figure showing the mechanism of anchoring in anchored sheet piles

A. If the anchor holes cave before grouting.

B. If the cohesion material flows into the excavation through the opening which was
earlier made for anchor installation.

The anchors create a large gravity wall by holding the soil mass between the anchors and
the wall in compression.

Cantilever sheet piles

These are usually used for heights of 6m or less. In geotechnical practices, cantilever embedded
retaining structures are used as sheet walls for temporary retaining structures and diaphragms
& pile walls as permanent retaining structures.

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Figure showing cantilever sheet piling as aided by https://www.china-

steelpiling.com/news_7.html, 2021)

Pile Driving Equipment:

Pile Foundations are installed by a special pile driving device known as a pile hammer. The hammer
may be suspended from the boom of a crawler crane, supported on a large frame called a pile driver or
carried on a barge for construction in water. In all cases, the hammer is guided between two parallel
steel members called leads. The leads may be adjusted at various angles for driving vertical and batter
piles.
Types of Pile Driving Equipments

 Piling rigs
 Piling winches
 Hanging leader
 Hammer guides
 Piling hammer
 Helmet, driving cap, dolly, and packing
Piling Rigs
It composed of a series of leaders, which are consist of tabular element or hard box, placed and fixed
on a crane base as it can be seen from Figure-3.Not only does the leaders support the hammer and the
pile but also guide them when the pile is forced into the ground.

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The leader can be sloped forward and backward using screw or hydraulic adjustment and attachment
at the base of the equipment. It is possible to install a series of piles, without the need to move the
equipment, through turning around base machine and positioning leaders.
Regarding pile installation in water, pile driving rig can be used to install piles in water by placing it
on pontoon or leader are fixed on braced frames that mounted on pontoon as shown in Figure-6.

Moreover, it is considerably crucial to pay adequate attention to the position and alignment of the leader
since any disposition would lead to hammer eccentric blows eventually the pile will be either damaged
or displaced from its original position. Furthermore, efforts have been made to improve the efficiency
of driven pile machine and the Delmag MDT 0802, which possess broad range of adjustments with
great movement capacity, is compelling example. The machine on which Delmag MDY 0801 is fixed
on is a wheeled hydraulic excavator that it's rams provided sideway, forward, and backward sloping

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leader, in addition to arrange the location of the rig in relation to the equipment. Finally, not only does
the leader operation height can be changed thought leader telescoping but also it could be folded onto
the base while the machine it moved from and to the construction site.

Piling Winches

The prime goal of piling winches is to lift the hammer and piles in addition to support tools that
responsible for leader raking and rotation. It functions with pile frames and different powering sources
such as hydraulic power, stream; diesel; or petrol engines, and occasionally electric motors could be
applied for powering winches. There are different piling winches with different capacity for instance
winches with double or triple drums possess satisfactory controlling and pile driving speed whereas
one drum winch does not have that advantage. So, the former type would be favored provided that
handing and driving piles with great speed is required.

Hanging Leader

Hanging leaders are specifically designed to be hanged from the jib of a crane as shown in Figure-9. A
steel strut, which its length can be varied as per requirements of construction site, provides a stiff
connection from the leader foot to the machine bed frame.

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Moreover, crane or excavator winch units are utilized to lift the hammer and piles using separate
drums. Regarding hammer application, either drop hammer with friction winch is considered or it may
be operated using steam or hydraulic power or compressed air which are provided by different units.
Finally, it is substantially crucial to practice utmost precaution to hanging leader stiffness particularly
in the case of long sloped pile driving since intolerable deformation would lead to eccentric hammer
blow and possibly cause pile fracture.

Hammer Guides

When it is intended to remove hanging leaders or piling frames completely, rope suspended leaders
which are commonly guided by timber or steel formwork, would be considered. In this technique, an
independent crane needed to control the pile and establishing the guide and hammer. it is necessary
to set and secure the guide properly in order to avoid movements specifically in the during raking pile
installation. This is because serious fatigue stress would generate if the thrust is not centered properly
and the guide might deteriorate. Finally, it is required to prevent disproportionate bending stress
development in guide and piles because it leads to undesired results. for example, when heavy
hammer is attached to the upper end of a long pile which is driven at flat angle of rake, excessive
bending stress may be generated at support point in the guide. This problem might be tackled by
providing suitable support for the pile at proper position.

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Piling Hammer

There are several factors that greatly influence the decision to choose suitable piling hammer. For
example, pile size and weight, the resistance of the ground which should be overcame in order to
obtain specified penetration, construction site space availability, noise limitation that might be
imposed at certain areas, and availability of cranes. Previously, the combination of a dynamic equation
result and extensive experiences were employed to select piling hammer, but this has changed
nowadays and drivability analysis results, which is conducted using computer program based on Smith
wave equation, is considered for the piling hammer determination. As for input data required for
drivability analysis, piling hammer producer provided necessary data about efficiency and energy
feature of the piling hammer. It should be bore in mind that piling hammer efficiency is not a constant
and it is affected by number of factor for example mechanical condition of the hammer and operation
temperature. It should be known that the mechanical condition is not influence the efficiency of piling
drop hammer. That is why dynamic pile analysis is carried out and its results would be used to assess
the influence of different factor on the piling hammer efficiency.

Helmet, Driving Cap, Dolly and Packing

Helmet is a cast steel that placed over the pile to hold the dolly that placed between the pile and the
hammer to avoid pile head deterioration that may cause by pile driving hammer. Dolly, which is square
at the bottom and round at the top, is placed in a square recess at the top of the helmet. There are

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different types of dollies for example Elm dollies, hardwood like oak; greenheart and pyinkado, and
their selection is dependent on the driving force. As far as packing is concerned, it is placed between
pile top and the helmet in order to protect the former from the hammer blow. Different types of
packing include paper sacking, thin timber sheet, coconut mapping, and sawdust in bags. Regarding
driving cap, it is provided as a protection for steel bearing piles. It is necessary to place the driving cap
tightly otherwise the pile cap would suffer deterioration. That is why it is fitted with a recess for
hardwood or plastic dolly and with steel wedges to fix the cap tightly on its position. Lastly, serious
pile head damage and hammer breakage cannot be avoided unless appropriate material and suitable
thickness is selected for dollies and packing.

Causes of failure of pile foundation are given below

1- Inaccurate determination of the bearing capacity of the pile.

2- When the pile load is greater than the design load.

3- Poor and defective workmanship while casting the pile.

4- Corrosion of the timber pile because of assault by insects.

5- Defective techniques used while driving the pile.

6- Bearing pile laying on delicate strata.

7- Buckling of the piles because of insufficient lateral support.

8- Faulty soil investigation.

9- Selecting the wrong type of pile.

10- Inappropriate characterization of soil.

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11- Inadequate reinforcement in the pile.

12- A decay of piles. (like an attack of insects, corrosion etc.)

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