Response of Large Diameter Bored Piles in Clayey Soils under Axial Compression Loads

Abstract

Recently, significant growth is experienced in construction of the high rises buildings, offshore ports, wind power mills, storage silos and many other types of heavy loaded structures. In these cases, bored piles with large diameters are the most qualified elements of the deep foundations that efficiently can be utilized in various subsurface conditions. They are employed most frequently both to support heavy loads and to minimize settlement. The in-situ full scale pile loading test is the most recommended methodology by several international geotechnical codes to determine the ultimate capacity of large diameter bored piles. However, loading of this type of piles till reaching apparent failure is practically seldom. In this thesis, the behavior of the large diameter bored piles in clayey soil under axial load was investigated utilizing in situ measurements of two instrumented large diameter bored piles loading tests. Apparent failure was achieved by end of the first loading test. This test was performed on short large diameter bored pile at the Alzey Bridge site in Germany. In contrast, apparent failure was not achieved in the second in situ loading test of Damietta Port New Silo long large diameter bored pile, although this long pile was tested under load of about three times its working load