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Monday, December 30, 2013

FAILURE OF PILE FOUNDATION & REMEDIES

Pile foundation is widely used deep foundation for complex geologic conditions with kinds of load conditions, especially for soft soil foundation.  Pile foundation has large bearing capacity, well stability and  small differential settlement compared to other foundation types. But pile foundations may also get damaged and fail specially during earthquakes.
Pile foundation failure
Fig: Pile foundation failure
The failure of the pile foundation may result from any of the following causes:
  1. Lack of adequate boring
  2. Inaccurate soil classification
  3. Soft strata under tip of pile
  4. Inadequate driving formula (wrong data)
  5. Improper size of hammer cause insufficient penetration, too light or damaged if too heavy
  6. Misinterpretation of load
  7. Damaged of encased piles
  8. Buckling of piles
  9. Breaking of piles
  10. Vibration that cause lateral or vertical movement
  11. Flowing strata caused  by adjacent excavation or bank sloughing
  12. Tension failure of concrete pile for lack of reinforcement
  13. Eccentricity due to bowing or falling out of plumb
  14. Decay due to lower ground water level
  15. Insect and marine borer attack and corrosion
  16. Disintegration of concrete due to poor quality of concrete or reactive aggregate
  17. Collapse of the thin shell of the piles
  18. Overweight due to earthfill.
Remedies to prevent failure of pile foundation:
  1. Early repair such as encasement or replacement
  2. Removal of partial load
  3. Underpinning
Read More about Pile Foundations

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