How long do foundation piles last

Piles were installed to a minimum depth of mm or to solid bearing, and were required to finish mm above cleared ground level. They were equally spaced in rows to give a maximum bearer span of mm, and rows were spaced 1. Where piles extended more than mm above the ground, they were required to have x 38 mm walings bolted with 12 mm diameter bolts at mm above ground level and to each side of the line of piles. A x 75 mm timber brace was fixed between the waling and the bearer of end pairs of piles.

The walings and braces were required to be either heart quality, or appropriately treated, timber. Proprietary 6 and 12 kN metal subfloor fixings were introduced in the s to connect the pile to the bearer to provided resistance to lateral loads. Engineers, and contractors rely on experience and well-established procedures and test standards to verify the strength, and consistency of pile materials. Non-destructive testing help reveal potential defects that might have happened during pile casting in the case of cast-in-place piles , or transportation and installation in the case of precast piles.

Different methods have been developed to evaluate the quality of concrete piles. Apart from general concrete tests concrete cylinder samples, and slump test , different non-destructive testing NDT methods can be used to evaluate the quality and reliability of concrete piles. These test can help identify and quantify integrity and quality related issues.

The following NDT methods are widely accepted and used for evaluating the integrity of piles:. You have not mentioned about micro piles used when foundation is near the existing structures.

In this case Precast pile option not possible due to it may cause cracks on the existing structures but cast -in-situ bored piles with ground beam cantilevered is possible.

It is possible to pile 1. The helical piers are very versatile for all applications and do not require concrete unless lateral load in less than 4 blow count materials, then a grouted pull down micro pile eliminates shaft buckling concerns in poor blow count material.

In the case of piles 15 feet away from a structure… What is recommended alternative to impact pikes to prevent structure damage. Concrete piles are the most popular in application but now a days use of screw piles are also another alternative specially in sandy soil.

Thanks for contributing to this post. It will help people in the design of these piles to know these tips. According my experience, piles of friction is used when the bearing capacity of foundation soil is very low, especially in heavy structures such as elevated tanks, edificiops many floors, but its cost is quite high.

HOWEVER currently in my area City Chiclayo, the audience of rigid foundation is used in soft zone, necesiotandose paracumplir entire area of land with the solicitation of multistory building. What you say is very informative and useful, but I must say there is place for steel piles that I believe out perform concrete piles, especially when it comes to their flexibility needed in the newer double integral bridges being built now in New York State.

Gary, I totally understand your point. I find your point valid. The reason it is missing, is because steel has never been main area of expertise. I may add another write up regarding steel piles, as I have seen may of them being used in jetty construction. Thanks for your comment.

What is a screw pile? Are you talking about augured piles? This note on piles is quite brief. The type of pile used depends on the site conditions and availability of materials and techniques. Among cast in situ piles, there is driven cast in situ piles where a steel shoe is driven into the ground along with the casing and later the hole is filled up with concrete.

The casing can either be left in place, or withdrawn depending on the site requirement. The compaction of soil in front of the shoe gives higher capacity for the same size of pile. There is also under reamed piles, which are generally used to resist uplift forces and also in black or yellow cotton soil to resist the shrinkage forces.

Other than load bearing piles, there are also sheet piles and diaphragm walls to resist lateral forces, but that is another treatise.

My brother recently found cracks in his foundation. He has been looking at options to secure his home. This could be a good option to help my brother with his home. The thing that you said that I find most interesting is that you pointed out that they should use them if there is poor quality in upper soil layers or it is expansive.

We are happy that you found our article interesting. Please help us spread the knowledge around concrete piles by sharing this through your professional network.

Thanks again and have a wonderful weekend. All the contributions to this discussion are quite commendable. I would appreciate more comment on helical screw pile applications and estimation of such pile capacity. I also like how you said that they could be any size or shape as well.

My husband and I are looking into piling contractors; thanks for your post.