Location
Chicago, Illinois
Date
02 May 2013, 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Abstract
Steel piles are known for their high resistance to driving and handling, as well as their large lateral stiffness. Difficulty of driving depends on the subsurface conditions, pile type, and type of impact hammer used to drive piles. This case history presents observations of pile construction for a bridge widening retrofit in the city of Irwindale. The proposed foundations consisted of twenty seven 14-inch-diameter Caltrans Standard Plan B2-5 Alternative V closed-end pipe piles with quarter-inch thick steel sections. Piles were 35 feet in length and were designed to be driven piles. Subsurface investigations indicated the soils consisted of silty gravels with sand and silty sands with gravel in a medium dense condition. Excavations for the pile cap revealed a large amount of cobbles and boulders unknown during design. Difficult driving conditions resulted in failure of several closed-end steel pipe piles. Attempts at driving open-ended steel pipe piles also failed. Mushrooming of pile tops as well as buckling and shearing of piles was observed during pile driving. Failed piles were extracted for further examination. An alternative method of installation was developed to minimize the impact to the original scope of work and utilize materials already furnished for the job. The alternative method of installation consisted of pre-drilling 20-inch-diameter holes to pile tip elevation, and placing the steel shells in open excavations without driving. High-strength grout was used to fill in the annular space between the steel pipe pile and the surrounding soils. Analysis was performed to ensure the alternative installation method did not adversely affect the required load capacity of the piles.
Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Meeting Name
7th Conference of the International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering
Publisher
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Document Version
Final Version
Rights
© 2013 Missouri University of Science and Technology, 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
Man, William S. and Halpern, Yonah R., "Performance of Driven Piles in Gravelly Sands With Cobbles" (2013). International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering. 22.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/icchge/7icchge/session02/22
Performance of Driven Piles in Gravelly Sands With Cobbles
Chicago, Illinois
Steel piles are known for their high resistance to driving and handling, as well as their large lateral stiffness. Difficulty of driving depends on the subsurface conditions, pile type, and type of impact hammer used to drive piles. This case history presents observations of pile construction for a bridge widening retrofit in the city of Irwindale. The proposed foundations consisted of twenty seven 14-inch-diameter Caltrans Standard Plan B2-5 Alternative V closed-end pipe piles with quarter-inch thick steel sections. Piles were 35 feet in length and were designed to be driven piles. Subsurface investigations indicated the soils consisted of silty gravels with sand and silty sands with gravel in a medium dense condition. Excavations for the pile cap revealed a large amount of cobbles and boulders unknown during design. Difficult driving conditions resulted in failure of several closed-end steel pipe piles. Attempts at driving open-ended steel pipe piles also failed. Mushrooming of pile tops as well as buckling and shearing of piles was observed during pile driving. Failed piles were extracted for further examination. An alternative method of installation was developed to minimize the impact to the original scope of work and utilize materials already furnished for the job. The alternative method of installation consisted of pre-drilling 20-inch-diameter holes to pile tip elevation, and placing the steel shells in open excavations without driving. High-strength grout was used to fill in the annular space between the steel pipe pile and the surrounding soils. Analysis was performed to ensure the alternative installation method did not adversely affect the required load capacity of the piles.
