Location
Chicago, Illinois
Date
02 May 2013, 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Abstract
The proposed reconstruction of a demolished coke battery superstructure of a steel mill to a level higher than originally constructed in 1952 required the evaluation of the geotechnical resistance and settlement characteristics of its existing foundation piles. Except for design drawings showing the layout of the substructure elements and the borehole logs, there were neither as-built drawings nor any records available about the design and construction of the piles. A total of nine (9) axial compressive load tests were initially undertaken. Two (2) 19 ft long piles were initially tested under the pusher tracks, and a further seven (7) piles of varying lengths under the foundation of the coke batteries. These piles were assumed to have been installed into hard clay till underlying the site. The load tests showed that the mandrel driven outer steel casing and concrete in-filled piles could accommodate a load of 90 tons with minimal settlement. Cylindrical cores of the pile concrete taken following the load testing provided compressive strengths varying from 46 to as much as 62 MPa. This case study provides details of the excavation and dewatering issues, load test set-up, and the difficulties encountered in assessing and testing old foundations for re-use in a confined underground environment. It is hoped that this case study and its findings will encourage the proper assessment and evaluation of existing foundations as this could result in considerable savings in superstructure revitalization, emphasize the need to maintain design and construction records, and to instrument and monitor important foundations for long term reuse.
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
Diyaljee, Vishnu, "Full-Scale Load Testing of 57-Year Old Raymond Piles for Foundation Re-use" (2013). International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering. 15.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/icchge/7icchge/session02/15
Full-Scale Load Testing of 57-Year Old Raymond Piles for Foundation Re-use
Chicago, Illinois
The proposed reconstruction of a demolished coke battery superstructure of a steel mill to a level higher than originally constructed in 1952 required the evaluation of the geotechnical resistance and settlement characteristics of its existing foundation piles. Except for design drawings showing the layout of the substructure elements and the borehole logs, there were neither as-built drawings nor any records available about the design and construction of the piles. A total of nine (9) axial compressive load tests were initially undertaken. Two (2) 19 ft long piles were initially tested under the pusher tracks, and a further seven (7) piles of varying lengths under the foundation of the coke batteries. These piles were assumed to have been installed into hard clay till underlying the site. The load tests showed that the mandrel driven outer steel casing and concrete in-filled piles could accommodate a load of 90 tons with minimal settlement. Cylindrical cores of the pile concrete taken following the load testing provided compressive strengths varying from 46 to as much as 62 MPa. This case study provides details of the excavation and dewatering issues, load test set-up, and the difficulties encountered in assessing and testing old foundations for re-use in a confined underground environment. It is hoped that this case study and its findings will encourage the proper assessment and evaluation of existing foundations as this could result in considerable savings in superstructure revitalization, emphasize the need to maintain design and construction records, and to instrument and monitor important foundations for long term reuse.
