Proven Success for Driven Pile Foundations

Over the past several years, a seven-step process has been developed for selecting driving criteria that has proven to be a successful formula for the installation of driven piles. The process incorporates static pile capacity estimates, wave equation analyses, pile driving analyzer use, and static load testing in a rational and consistent sequence, and has resulted in reliable and cost-effective driving criteria. The process has been used successfully for relatively small projects, but most frequently on projects that include a hundred to several thousand piles. Experience with this process on many projects has resulted in a 100 percent success rate in static load testing, with measured factors of safety between 2.5 and 3.0, avoiding excessive conservatism in design and unnecessary cost.