Pile Driving Indicator Program Results, Pier 400 Container Wharf, Port of Los Angeles, California

The largest single-user container terminal in North America was recently constructed on Pier 400 at the Port of Los Angeles. The terminal's 2,250-meter long wharf is supported by about 3,700 24-inch octagonal precast, prestressed concrete piles. The piles are about 35-meters long and were driven through between 3 and 16 meters of rock dike. A total of 55 piles were monitored during two indicator pile-driving programs to develop the appropriate pile driving criteria to obtain the required axial pile capacity. The pile driving indicator programs include: 1) data from two different size diesel hammers and one hydraulic hammer, 2) comparison of piles driven dry versus those driven with jetting, and 3) restrike data after several days, several weeks, and several months. The results of the indicator pile programs provide the opportunity to better appreciate: 1) the impacts on capacity and schedule, when the piles are jetted, 2) the validity of using short-term restrikes to evaluate the ultimate long-term capacity of the piles, and 3) the potential economic, schedule, and quality control advantages that can be obtained when a hydraulic hammer is used.