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Piles Engineering

Pile Foundation – Types, Advantages & Disadvantages

What is Pile Foundation?
A pile foundation, a type of deep foundation, is a thin column or long cylinder composed of concrete or steel used to support the structure and transfer the load at the necessary depth by end bearing or skin friction.

Pile foundations are typically utilized for large structures and when the shallow depth soil is insufficient to resist excessive settlement, uplift, and other issues.

Uses of Pile Foundation:
In the following circumstances, piling foundations are preferred.

  • The superstructure’s load is heavy, and it’s distributed unevenly.
  • Water pumping from open trenches for shallow foundations is challenging and expensive.
  • The bearing capacity of the topsoil is low.
  • The water level in the subsoil is high, so
  • The water level in the subsoil varies dramatically.
  • Timbering the trenches is tough and expensive.
  • The character of the topsoil is expansive.
  • The structure is located along the water’s edge or in a riverbed, vulnerable to scouring.
  • Near the foundation, canal or deep drainage lines escape.
  • The foundation of transmission towers, an off-shore platform vulnerable to uplift forces, is made of piles.

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Control Of Corrosion on Underwater Piles

By
Shubham Sunil Malu

ABSTRACT
Piles are structures used to transfer loads from superstructure to the sub surface strata. When the subsurface stratum is water based or if we deal with a hydraulic structure, the piles are to be driven into water and under water strata. Piles used in underwater structures are often subjected to corrosion. There is no absolute way to eliminate all corrosion; but corrosion protection measures are employed to control the effect of corrosion. Corrosion protection can be in different ways according to the environment and other factors. Forms of corrosion protection include the use of inhibitors, surface treatments, coatings and sealants, cathode protection and anode protection. The control measures explained in this are Protective coatings, cathode treatment and application of Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) Composites.

CHAPTER-1 INTRODUCTION
Corrosion is the destruction of metals and alloys by the chemical reaction with the environment. During corrosion the metals are converted to metallic compounds at the surface and these compounds wears away as corrosion product. Hence corrosion may be regarded as the reverse process of extraction of metals from ore.

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Behaviour of Open and Closed End Pile Groups Subjected To Vertical Loading : A Comparative Study

By
Singh P.K. (Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra, Haryana, INDIA)
Arora V.K. Professor, (Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra, Haryana, INDIA)

Abstract
Steel pipe piles are highly durable, provide reliable foundation, have shorter construction period and can be driven into such medium where other piles can’t like boulder medium. Steel pipe piles are economical for long piles into deeps loose soil. Till now most of research has been directed towards the response of individual piles to vertical loads. Both the driving response and static bearing capacity of open-ended piles are affected by the soil plug that forms inside the pile during pile driving. In order to investigate the effect of the soil plug on the static and dynamic response of an open-ended pile and the load capacity of pipe piles in general, field pile load tests were performed on instrumented open- and closed-ended piles driven into sand. For the open-ended pile, the soil plug length was continuously measured during pile driving, allowing calculation of the incremental filling ratio for the pile.

Keywords- Pile Foundation, pile cap, bearing capacity, pile group, pile load tests, piles driving

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How to carry out water control for sheet pile walls?

Ground water flow into excavations constructed by sheet pile walls should be minimized in order to save the cost of the provision of pumping systems or well points to lower the water table inside the excavation.

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What are the effects of pile groups on slope stability?

The ground conditions in hillsides of Hong Kong normally consist of colluvium overlying weathered and fresh rock. The groundwater flow in sloping ground may involve both perched and main water flow. As permeability of soil tends to decrease with depth, groundwater flow may take place in the upper aquifer which contains a perched water table.
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In deep excavation, adjacent ground water table is drawn down which may affect the settlement of nearby buildings. What is the remedial proposal to rectify the situation?

One of the methods to control settlement of nearby buildings due to excavation work is by recharging. Water collected in wells in deep excavation is put back to the top of excavation in order to raise the drawn-down water table.

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What are the problems associated with prestressed concrete piles (Daido)?

The origin of Daido piles comes from Japan where these prestressed concrete piles are used as replacement plies. Holes are pre-formed in the ground and Daido piles are placed inside these pre-formed holes with subsequent grouting of void space between the piles and adjacent ground. However, in Hong Kong Daido piles are constructed by driving into ground by hammers instead of the originally designed replacement method.
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Should compaction be carried out to freshly-placed concrete piles?

In normal practice, reliance is placed on the self-compaction of specially designed concrete mixes to achieve adequate compaction. The use of vibrating devices like poker vibrators is seldom adopted for the compaction of concrete piles.

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Is the quality of concrete impaired by free-falling concrete placement method in bored piles?

Based on the research by STS Consultants Ltd., it was found that concrete placed by free falling below 120 feet would not suffer from the problem of segregation and the strength of concrete would not be detrimentally impaired provided that the piles’ bore and base are dry and free of debris. Moreover, it is presumed in the past that during free falling of fresh concrete into the pile bores the hitting of falling concrete in the reinforcement cage causes segregation. However, in accordance with the experimental results of STS Consultants Ltd., the striking of reinforcement cage by fresh concrete does not have significant effect on the strength of concrete
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Is pile tip cover necessary for rock-socketed H-piles?

In current practice concrete cover is usually provided at the pile tips of pre-bored H-piles socketed in rock. The purpose of such arrangement is to avoid the potential occurrence of corrosion to H-piles in case concrete cover is not designed at pile tips. However, recent field and laboratory observations had reservation of this viewpoint.

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