MODULE 4

P R E PA R E D B Y,
GREESHMA RAJU
A S S I S TA N T P R O F E S S O R - A D H O C
R I T KO T TAYA M
DEEP FOUNDATION
Deep foundations are employed when the soil strata immediately beneath the
structure are not capable of supporting the load with tolerable settlement or
adequate safety against shear failure.
The most common types of deep foundations are;
1. Piles
2. Piers
3. Caissons
PILE FOUNDATION
Piles are relatively long, slender members that are driven into the ground or
cast-in situ.
CLASSIFICATION OF PILES

Function/Action

PILES Composition and

Installation
CLASSIFICATION BASED ON FUNCTION
OR ACTION
End-bearing piles
Used to transfer load through the pile tip to a suitable bearing stratum, passing
soft soil or water.
Friction piles
Used to transfer loads to a depth in a frictional material by means of skin friction
along the surface area of the pile.
Tension or uplift piles
Used to anchor structures subjected to uplift due to hydrostatic pressure or to
overturning moment due to horizontal forces.
CONTD…
Compaction piles
Used to compact loose granular soils in order to increase the bearing capacity.
Since they are not required to carry any load, the material may not be required
to be strong; in fact, sand may be used to form the pile. The pile tube, driven to
compact the soil, is gradually taken out and sand is filled in its place thus
forming a ‘sand pile’.
Anchor piles
Used to provide anchorage against horizontal pull from sheetpiling or water.
Fender piles
Used to protect water-front structures against impact from ships or other
floating objects.
CONTD…
Sheet piles
Commonly used as bulkheads, or cut-offs to reduce seepage and uplift in
hydraulic structures.
Batter piles
Used to resist horizontal and inclined forces, especially in water front structures.
Laterally-loaded piles
Used to support retaining walls, bridges, dams, and wharves and as fenders for
harbour construction.
CLASSIFICATION BASED ON MATERIAL
AND COMPOSITION
Timber piles
These are made of timber of sound quality. Length may be up to about 8 m;
splicing is adopted for greater lengths. Diameter may be from 30 to 40 cm.
Timber piles perform well either in fully dry condition or submerged condition.
Alternate wet and dry conditions reduce the life of a timber pile; to overcome
this, creosoting is adopted. Maximum design load is about 250 KN.
Steel piles
These are usually H-piles (rolled H-shape), pipe piles, or sheet piles (rolled
sections of regular shapes). They may carry loads up to 1000 KN or more.
CONTD…
Concrete piles
These may be ‘precast’ or ‘cast-in-situ’. Precast piles are reinforced to withstand
handling stresses. They require space for casting and storage, more time to cure
and heavy equipment for handling and driving. Cast-in-situ piles are installed by
pre-excavation, thus eliminating vibration due to driving and handling. The
common types are Raymond pile, Mac Arthur pile and Franki pile.
Composite piles
These may be made of either concrete and timber or concrete and steel. These
are considered suitable when the upper part of the pile is to project above the
water table. Lower portion may be of untreated timber and the upper portion of
concrete. Otherwise, the lower portion may be of steel and the upper one of
concrete.
CLASSIFICATION BASED ON METHOD OF
INSTALLATION
Driven piles
Timber, steel, or precast concrete piles may be driven into position either
vertically or at an inclination. If inclined they are termed ‘batter’ or ‘raking’ piles.
Pile hammers and pile-driving equipment are used for driving piles.
Cast-in-situ piles
Only concrete piles can be cast-in-situ. Holes are drilled and these are filled with
concrete. These may be straight-bored piles or may be ‘under-reamed’ with one
or more bulbs at intervals. Reinforcements may be used according to the
requirements
CONTD…
Driven and cast-in-situ piles
This is a combination of both types. Casing or shell may be used. The Franki pile
falls in this category.
USE OF PILES
The important ways in which piles are used are as follows:
(i) To carry vertical compressive loads,
(ii) To resist uplift or tensile forces, and
(iii) To resist horizontal or inclined loads.
CONTD…
Bearing piles are used to support vertical loads from the foundations of
buildings and bridges.
The load is carried either by transferring to the incompressible soil or rock
below through soft strata, or by spreading the load through soft strata that are
incapable of supporting concentrated loads from shallow footings.
The former type are called point-bearing piles, while the latter are known as
friction-piles.
CONTD…
Tension piles are used to resist upward forces in structures subjected to uplift,
such as buildings with basements below the ground water level, aprons of dams
or buried tanks.
They are also used to resist overturning of walls and dams and for anchors of
towers, guywires and bulkheads.
Laterally loaded piles support horizontal or inclined forces such as the
foundations of retaining walls, bridges, dams, and wharves and as fenders in
harbour construction.
CONTD…
In case the lateral loads are of large magnitude they may be more effectively
resisted by batter piles, driven at an inclination.
Closely spaced piles or thin sheet piles are used as coffer dams, seepage cut-
offs and retaining walls.
Piles may be used to compact loose granular soils and also to safeguard
foundations against scouring.
BEARING CAPACITY OF A SINGLE PILE IN
SAND AND CLAY
The ultimate bearing capacity of a pile is the maximum load which it can carry
without failure or excessive settlement of the ground.
The allowable load on a pile is the load which can be imposed upon it with an
adequate margin of safety.

Qa=
STATIC METHOD
The ultimate bearing load of a pile is considered to be the sum of the end-
bearing resistance and the resistance due to skin friction:
PILES IN COHESIVE SOIL
PILES IN COHESIONLESS SOIL
DYNAMIC FORMULAE (MODIFIED HILEY
FORMULAE)
•This formula is used for determining the load carrying capacity of a
pile using the resistance offered by the pile to a hammer blow.
•The load carrying capacity of a pile Qu,
NEGATIVE SKIN FRICTION
When the soil layer surrounding the pile settles more than the pile,
a downward drag occurs on the pile. This downward drag imposes a
downward load on the pile. It is called negative skin friction.
Negative skin friction Qnsf reduces the load carrying capacity of pile.
Causes of negative skin friction
•Due to pile or pile segment passing through compressible soil
stratum which consolidates
•Due to placement of a fill on compressible soil layer causing the
layer to consolidate
•Lowering of ground water table causing the shrinkage of expansive
soils
•Under consolidated natural or compacted soils
CONTD…
The net ultimate load carrying capacity of the pile is;
Q’=Qu-Qnsf
PILE LOAD TEST
•Pile load test is conducted to
To determine the load carrying capacity of pile
To determine the settlement of pile
GROUP ACTION OF PILES
PILE GROUP
A structure is never founded on a single pile
Action of the entire pile group must be considered
CONTD…
Column and wall loads are usually transferred to the pile group
through a pile cap
CONTD…
The spacing of piles in a group depends upon:
Overlapping of stresses of adjacent piles
Cost of foundation
Desired efficiency of the pile group etc
STRESS ISOBARS
GROUP CAPACITY OF PILES
SINGLE EQUIVALENT LARGE PILE
CONCEPT FOR A GROUP
EFFICIENCY OF GROUP PILE
The efficiency of pile group depends on the following factors;
Spacing of piles
Total number of piles in a row and number of rows in a group
Characteristics of pile ( material, diameter and length)
WELL FOUNDATION
PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED IN WELL
SINKING
Tilt and Shift is the main problem during well sinking
Well Sinking Through Stiff Clay Strata:
• If a stiff clay layer is encountered during the well sinking, a very tough and
challenging situation is faced.
• The well becomes stationary and does not move at all.
• The well may start tilting due to the action of horizontal water current force.
• It may lead to an expensive and time-consuming affair for attempting to make the
well straight and vertical.
CONTD…
Sinking of Well Through Boulder Strata:
• If Boulders are lying in loose condition, then by standard grabbing and
chiselling is suitable.
• If they are cemented but not very firmly, then by underwater blasting is
effective by sending experienced divers.
• If they are cemented very firmly, pneumatic sinking may have resorted to
Alternatively.
• Drilling through holes kept in steining and bottom plug and by anchoring
METHODS TO RECTIFY TILTS AND SHIFTS
Rectifying methods for Rectification of shifting and tilting problems in well
foundations are as follows:
➢ Eccentric loading
➢ Excavation on higher side
➢ Water jetting
➢ Pulling the well
➢ Using hydraulic jacks
➢ Using struts
➢ Excavation under cutting edge
➢ Wood sleeper under cutting edge