Foundation Engineering - II

Piers and Caisson Foundations

Civil Engineering Dep’t, KIOT (2019)

FELEGEHIWOT T.
 INTRODUCTION
• The terms caisson, pier, drilled shaft, and drilled pier are often used

interchangeably in foundation engineering; all refer to a cast-in-place pile

generally having a diameter of about 750mm or more, with or without steel

reinforcement and with or without an enlarged bottom.

• To avoid confusion, we use the term drilled shaft for a hole drilled or

excavated to the bottom of a structure’s foundation and then filled with

concrete.

• Depending on the soil conditions, casings may be used to prevent the soil

around the hole from caving in during construction.

• Pier or caisson is a single unit which supports heavy loads from superstructure and

transfers them to deep- seated layers of soil or rock.

LOADS ACTING ON PIER AND ITS PARTS
 The use of drilled-shaft foundations has several
advantages:
1. A single drilled shaft may be used instead of a group of piles and the pile
cap.
2. Constructing drilled shafts in deposits of dense sand and gravel is easier
than driving piles.
3. Drilled shafts may be constructed before grading operations are
completed.
4. When piles are driven by a hammer, the ground vibration may cause
damage to nearby structures. The use of drilled shafts avoids this problem.
5. Piles driven into clay soils may produce ground heaving and cause
previously driven piles to move laterally. This does not occur during the
construction of drilled shafts.
6. There is no hammer noise during the construction of drilled shafts; there
is during pile driving.

7. Because the base of a drill shaft can be enlarged, it provides great resistance
to the uplifting load.

8. The surface over which the base of the drilled shaft is constructed can be
visually inspected.

9. The construction of drilled shaft generally utilizes mobile equipment, which

under proper soil conditions, may prove economical than methods of
construction pile foundations.

10. Drilled shafts have high resistance to lateral loads.

 Types of Drilled Shafts
 Drilled shafts are classified according to the ways in which they are
designed to transfer the structural load to the substratum.

I. Straight shaft.

 It extends though the upper layer(s) of poor soil, and its tip rests on a strong
load bearing soil layer or rock.

 straight shaft can be socketed into rock layer.

II. A belled shaft

 Consists of a straight shaft with a bell at the bottom, which rests on good
bearing soil. The bell can be constructed in the shape of a dome, or it can
be angled (Fig 1c)
 Construction Procedures
• There are three methods which are widely used depending up
on the soil condition on project sites.
1) Dry method. 2) Casing method, and 3) wet method.
 1. Dry method
• This method is employed in soils and rocks that are above the
water table and that will not cave in (erected in their position)
when the whole is drilled to its full depth.

 The sequence of construction is as follows:

1. The excavation is completed (belled if desired), using proper

drilled tools and the spoils from the hole are deposited nearby.

2. Concrete is then poured into the cylinder hole.

3. If desired, a rebar cage is placed in the upper portion of the

shaft.

4. Concrete is then completed

Dry method
 2. Casing Method of Construction
o The method is used in soils or rocks in which caving or excessive
deformation is likely to occur when the bore hole is excavated.
The sequence of construction is as follows
 The excavation procedure same to dry method
 When the caving soil is encountered, betonies slurry is introduced into the
borehole
 A casing is then introduced into the hole.
 The slurry is bailed out of the casing with a submersible pump. Drilling is
continued until rock is encountered.
 A smaller drill that can pass through the casing is introduced into the hole,
and excavation continues.
 Cont’d…
 If needed, the base of the excavated hole can then be enlarged, using an under
reamer.
 If reinforcing steel is needed, the rebar cage needs to extend the full length of the
excavation.
 Concrete is the poured into the excavation and the casing is gradually pulled out.
 3. Wet Method of Construction
• The method is called slurry displacement method. Slurry is used to keep the
borehole open during the entire depth of excavation.

• Following are the steps involved in the wet method of construction:

1. Excavation continues to full depth with slurry.
2. If reinforcement is required, the rebar cage is placed in the slurry.
3. Concrete that will displace the volume of slurry is then placed in the hole.
4. Fig below Shows the completed drilled shaft.
 Determination of load carrying capacity of pier
1. LOAD TRANSFER MECHANISM

 The load transfer mechanism from drilled shafts to soil is similar to that of
piles.

2. ESTIMATION OF LOAD- BEARING CAPACITY

• The ultimate load bearing capacity of a drilled shaft is given by

• 𝑄𝑢 = 𝑄𝑝 + 𝑄𝑠
 Cont’d…

• The ultimate base load (Qp).

• In most instances, the last term is neglected, except in the case

of a relatively short drilled shaft. So that the ,net load carrying
capacity at the base may be approximated as
Cont’d…
 Cont’d…
• According to Chen and Kulhawy (1994), Fcc and Fqc can be calculated in
the following manner:

• Calculate the critical rigidity index as

• Calculate the reduced rigidity index as

• Soil rigidity index

Cont’d…
DRILLED SHAFTS IN SAND
Cont’d…
• Fig. variation of 𝜔 with ϕ′ and L/Db
 Load-Bearing Capacity Based on Settlement in Sand
• Touma and Reese (1974) suggested a procedure for calculating the
allowable load-carrying capacity For L>10Db and a base movement of

25.4 mm, the allowable net point load,

• The values of the unit point resistance (𝑞𝑝 ) as recommended by Touma and
Reese, are given in the following table:
• For sands of intermediate densities, linear interpolation can be used.

• For a base movement of 25.4 mm.

• Use FS=factor of safety (≅ 2)

• From table
PIER IN CLAY - Load Bearing Capacity
• For saturated clays with 𝜙 ′ = 0 use Nq = 1

• Assuming that 𝐿 ≥ 3𝐷𝑠 , we can rewrite

𝑄𝑝(𝑛𝑒𝑡) = 𝐴𝑝 𝐶𝑢 𝑁𝑐∗
• But
• For 𝜙 = 0 soil rigidity index was defined by:-
 Skin friction resistance of the pier with in clays
• It can be calculated by 𝛼 – method

• Where
• p = perimeter of the shaft cross section.

• Conservatively, we may assume that 𝛼 *= 0.4.

 Settlement of Drilled Shaft at Working Load.
• The settlement of drilled shaft at working load is calculated in
similar to that outlined to that of piles.

• In many cases, the load carried by shaft resistance is small

compared with the load carried at the base.

• In such cases, the contribution of Se(3) may be ignored.

• Note that in equations the term D should be replaced by Db

for drilled shafts.
Part b.
•
 Drilled Shafts Extended into Rock
• In their design procedure, it is assumed that there is either side resistance
between the shaft and the rock or point resistance at the bottom, but not
both.
• Following is a step by step procedure for estimating the ultimate bearing
capacity:-
1. Calculate the ultimate unit side resistance as

2. Calculate the ultimate capacity based on side resistance only

3. Calculate the settlement, Se the shaft at the top of the rock socket,
• Se(s) = Elastic compression of the drilled shaft within the socket, assuming
no side resistance

• 𝑆𝑒(𝑏) =Settlement of the base.

We can determine by :-

• Where

• Qu = Ultimate load obtained from Step – 2 above.

• Ac = cross- sectional area of the drilled shaft in the socket.

Cont’d…
5. There may be rapid progressive side shear failure in the rock socket,
resulting in a complete loss of side resistance. In that case, the ultimate
capacity is equal to the point resistance,

Where, cs = Spacing of discontinuities (same unit as Ds)

𝛿= Thickness of individual discontinuity (same unit as Ds)

qu = Unconfined compression strength of the rock beneath the base of

the socket, or the drilled shaft concrete, whichever is smaller.

• It to be noted that the above equation applies for horizontal stratified

discontinuities with cs > 305 mm and d < 5mm.
 DESIGN PROCEDURE OF PIER
• CONSISTS OF TWO PARTS
1. Geotechnical design.
2. Structural design.
 GEOTECHNICAL DESIGN
• 1. Geotechnical design is proportioning the dimension. (Such as deciding
Shape , Length, Diameter so on.)
• 2. Estimation of allowable bearing capacity of the system load on the pier
including all situations .
• (That is include Dynamic ,Impact, Seismic load etc)
• 3. Thoroughly studying soil properties report. Decide the dimension Length
,Diameter by trial and error method.
 The pier may be with and with out bell and cap so we need to design the pier
bells and pier shaft
 STRUCTURAL DESIGN
• The design is done for the factored load
A. Pier bells
• In order to reduce the soil pressure pier are constructed with bells.
• The slop of the bell should not be less than 600 in order to avoid caving –
in of excavated soil .
• It is advisable that bell diameter not to be more than three times the shaft
diameter .
B. Pier shaft

• Since it is laterally surrounded by soil no bucking will occurs.

a. So it will be designed as a short column.

b. Concrete mix can be C - 20 ,C - 25 ,C - 30.

c. For drilled shafts with nominal reinforcement, most building codes

suggests.
• Where,

• For plain concrete shafts minimum reinforcement should be

provided.
 Caissons
 Caissons are made of steel, reinforced concrete or both, or may also be made of
wood with provision of steel shoes. It’s a prefabricated hollow box or cylinder.

• It is sunk into the ground to some desired depth and then filled with concrete
or sand and left in position to form an integral part of the foundation. Caisson
may reach a depth even exceeding 70m .

• The massive weight of the caisson aids in its sinking.

 Types of Caissons
• Box Caissons
• Excavated Caissons
• Floating Caissons
• Open Caissons
• Pneumatic Caissons
• Sheeted Caissons
 1. OPEN CESSIONS
• It is a box like pre-cast R.C.C shell, square, rectangular, circular or oval in
plan and open at the both ends.

• Caissons have no theoretical limit to the depth of sinking.

• Open caissons are suitable in rivers and waterways, where soil consists of
soft clay, silt, sand or gravel overlying a firm layer.
 2. FLOATING OR BOX CAISSON.
• Box caisson is a pre-cast box like structure closed at the bottom end.

• It is floated and sunk in position at the prepared sea or river bed by filling
the inside with ballast of sand, gravel and concrete.

• The construction cost is low, but box caisson is not feasible for great
depths.
 3. PNEUMATIC CAISSON
• This is a caisson made of concrete, steel or both and is provide with a roof
or a suspended floor near the bottom to form a working chamber.

• These are complex structure and are provided under deep water.

• When there is deep water caisson is the best choice.