Large-Scale Pile Load Tests in Mixed Sand and Soft Clay Ground: Impact of Aging and Stops in Driving
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 149, Issue 1
Abstract
A series of axial load tests in tension has been carried out on open-ended driven steel pipe piles with a diameter of 406 mm and lengths of 70 and 40 m. At the test site, the ground consists of layers of loose fluvial sand and soft silty marine clay deposits. One test pile was well instrumented with strain gauges. The main scope of the test program was to verify design methods including time effects for pile foundations for new bridges at the site. To verify time or aging effects, the piles were load tested 3, 9, and 18 months after installation. The test results are presented in some detail and compared to bearing capacity and load-displacement response predicted prior to pile installation. An unexpected result of the test program was that several days of stops in driving due to welding of the pile segments and connecting of the instrumentation had a major negative impact on the ultimate bearing capacity of the instrumented pile, which failed at about 50% of the predicted values. Noninstrumented test piles with shorter stops due to welding of segments gave bearing capacities in reasonable agreement with predicted values.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models and code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Bane NOR, a state-owned company responsible for the national railway infrastructure of Norway for their positive support and financing of the pile tests presented herein, and for allowing the results to be published. Special thanks also go to Axel Walta, Ivar-Kristian Waarum, and Rasmus Tofte Klinkvort from NGI who helped out with the design of load testing arrangements, instrumentation, data collection, and data inversion. Finally, the authors are grateful to Zhongqiang Liu and Farrokh Nadim who helped out with calculations using the ICP and UWA methods.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 149 • Issue 1 • January 2023
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 10, 2021
Accepted: Aug 26, 2022
Published online: Nov 7, 2022
Published in print: Jan 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Apr 7, 2023
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