Location
St. Louis, Missouri
Date
03 Jun 1993, 10:30 am - 12:30 pm
Abstract
Foundations for a power plant were constructed by drilling holes in cemented sand for 36" piers. The boreholes in the cemented sand did not cave. A major design change required the demolition of the original piers and pile caps with large hoe rams and the drilling of new 36" boreholes in the same location. The new drilling contractor experienced widespread caving, which he was unable to remedy. The authors first investigated the possibility that the second contractor used inferior equipment or techniques. Then the authors investigated the possibility that a loss in soil cohesion occurred due to the vibrations from pier/pile cap demolition and casing installation. Analyses performed included (1) peak particle velocity evaluation, (2) laterally loaded pile/fatigue analysis, and (3) finite element analysis. It was concluded that significant loss of cohesion due to these vibrations was plausible and that the loss of cohesion could account for the bole caving.
Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Meeting Name
3rd Conference of the International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering
Publisher
University of Missouri--Rolla
Document Version
Final Version
Rights
© 1993 University of Missouri--Rolla, All rights reserved.
Creative Commons Licensing
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Document Type
Article - Conference proceedings
File Type
text
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Houston, W. N.; Houston, S. L.; and Walsh, K. D., "Investigation of Hole Caving Due to Vibrations" (1993). International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering. 9.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/icchge/3icchge/3icchge-session08/9
Investigation of Hole Caving Due to Vibrations
St. Louis, Missouri
Foundations for a power plant were constructed by drilling holes in cemented sand for 36" piers. The boreholes in the cemented sand did not cave. A major design change required the demolition of the original piers and pile caps with large hoe rams and the drilling of new 36" boreholes in the same location. The new drilling contractor experienced widespread caving, which he was unable to remedy. The authors first investigated the possibility that the second contractor used inferior equipment or techniques. Then the authors investigated the possibility that a loss in soil cohesion occurred due to the vibrations from pier/pile cap demolition and casing installation. Analyses performed included (1) peak particle velocity evaluation, (2) laterally loaded pile/fatigue analysis, and (3) finite element analysis. It was concluded that significant loss of cohesion due to these vibrations was plausible and that the loss of cohesion could account for the bole caving.
