Bored Piles Production Method

Bilfinger Berger Spezialtiefbau GmbH Goldsteinstrasse 114 D-60528 Frankfurt Phone: +49-69 6688-345 Fax: +49-69 6688-277 Email: spezialtiefbau@civil.bilfinger.com www.foundation-engineering.bilfinger.com

Large Diameter Bored Piles Large bored piles are used as foundation elements to carry concentrated building loads into deeper, more stable soil layers. Furthermore, they can be utilized as piles for retaining walls if there is not enough space for flat foundation. In the same way, retaining walls for excavation pits are constructed by using multiple bored piles as bored pile wall, which later can be incorporated into the final building. Bored piles can be easily adapted to the various load and soil requirements due to the large variety in diameter and construction techniques. Single pile diameter can vary between 30 and 300 cm. Piles can be constructed in all kinds of soil condition. In contrast to driven piles, bored piles enable the immediate In-situ evaluation of drilled soil layers to revise foundation length due to changed soil conditions.

Pont de Normandie

Maumee River Crossing

The specific pile construction method depends on the soil condition, the ground water elevations, site conditions and the length of the pile. Construction methods can be distinguished between The bore hole stabilization process during excavation Fully cased, partial cased, uncased and fluid stabilized excavation can be distinguished The method of installing the casing Here one can distinguish between driving the casing with a free fall hammer or weight, vibrating the casing, pneumatic installation or hydraulic installation with the help of a rotary drive, an oscillator or rotator. The method of excavation Here one can distinguish between grab excavation, rotary drilling, airlifting, and flush boring.

Bridge L71 across the Heilsau

Pont de Normandie

Lilla Bommen Tunnel

Bore Hole Stabilization Uncased bore holes can only be excavated in stable soil layers. In general a short starter casing is been used at the pile top. If uncased excavations run through unstable soil layers, the bore hole wall has to be stabilized by fluid overpressure. Water or bentonite as well as polymer suspension is used as stabilizing fluid. Partially cased bore holes are cased in areas with unstable soils and deeper and stable soil layers are stabilized by water, bentonite or polymers, while rock layers do not require any support. The casing of the borehole has to stabilize the soil and minimize the relaxation of the surrounding ground. It is always required whenever unstable soil layers cannot be stabilized with fluids and there is a risk of soil caving. CFA piles (Continuous Flight Auger) are drilled uncased by the use of a continuous hollow auger stem. Stabilization of the borehole wall during excavation is provided by the soil filled auger. During pulling of the auger stem, concrete is pumped through the stem, preventing any soil instability of the bore hole wall.

High Speed Rail Nrnberg Ingolstadt, Tunnel Offenbau

Center for Innovative Medicine, Hamburg

Gallileo Tower, Frankfurt

Methods of casing installation During casing installation, tip resistance and skin friction of the casing has to be overcome. Installation by free fall weight Casings in single length up to 6 m are installed using a fee fall weight. Suitable soil conditions are required for such driving practice. During this installation method, casings with extra collars will be driven, excavated and so-called Jumbo piles are constructed. Installation by vibratory hammer Casings are installed into the ground using externally induced vibration. Friction between casing and surrounding soil is reduced by vibration generated from an attached vibro hammer. The casing penetrates the ground due to this vibration, the weight of the hammer and its own weight. This installation method has a limited use due to the soil densification inside the casing and possible vibration damage on adjacent buildings or structures.

Driving by vibratory hammer

Driving by free fall weight

Free wall weight

Pneumatic installation by the HW method The HW-method, named after Hochstrasser/Weise, uses a pneumatically-driven swinging arm, sitting on top of the casing, to drive the casing in a horizontal back and forth movement. End stops transfer the rotation impulse of the swinging arm into the casing, which rotates slightly at each stroke. This considerably reduces the skin friction between soil and casing. The casing is excavation by the wire rope guided grab at the same time. The casing is driven into the ground as a result of the reduced skin friction and under the weight of the casing and swinging arm. A major advantage of this method is that the excavating crane does not have to be placed right next to the casing to support the reaction forces from the swinging movements of the equipment. The HW unit can therefore be utilized as a separate unit from the excavating crane, which is an advantage when piles need to be installed in steep slopes or over water.

HW principle

HW swinging arm

Dike rehabilitation Emmerich

Hydraulic casing installation The hydraulic installation method uses an oscillating motion (Oscillator) or a continuously rotating motion (Rotary Drive or Rotator) of the casing to reduce the skin friction between casing and soil. All of these machines also induce a vertical downward force into the casing, which in combination with the casings own weight enables penetration of the casing. The casing normally consists of separate sections, which are connected and bolted during installation. During the casing installation, the excavating equipment is always placed right next to the casing and receives the reaction forces from the rotary motion.

Rotary drilling rig, Galeria Kaufhof, Alexanderplatz, Berlin

Rotator (RDM)

Oscillator (VRM)

The Method of Excavation Grab Excavation Excavation using a free fall or spherical grab is mostly used when boreholes are very deep and other methods come to their limits or in combination with the HW method. The borehole is advanced using grabs consisting of a base body, the grab shells and the closing mechanism for the shells. One distinguishes between single-rope and double-rope operated grabs. The single-rope grab also uses the lifting rope as a closing rope for the grab shells. The double-rope grab is used with two ropes, one for grab lifting and one for closing the shells. Performance of the grab mainly depends on the correct shell shape, which is chosen according to soil parameters. For excavations below the groundwater level, in-the-wet drilling tools such as gravel pumps or mud cans are available for the various drilling diameters. Free-fall chisels are used to drill through large obstructions such as bricks, boulders or rock layers as well as for the pile penetration into bedrock. Various sizes and shapes such as cross, flat, stellar, ring shapes are available. These chisels are equipped with different blades depending on the various soil properties.

HW Grab, long version with parallel shells

Ball grab with spherical shells

Flat chisel

Ring chisel

Rotary drilling methods During the rotary drilling method, the excavation is advanced using drilling augers and buckets. The drilling rig consists of a base carrier and the drilling unit mounted on top of the carrier. One distinguishes between short augers and continuous flight augers. When drilling with short augers or buckets, the torque and downward crowd is transferred to the drilling tools via a telescopic drilling rod (Kelly bar). Drilling and discharging of the excavated material are alternating operations, which are performed in a swift order. Depending on soil conditions and pile diameter, various augers are used. For excavations below the ground water level, drilling or digging buckets are used. Obstructions or rock layers can be removed with the help of core barrels. To increase the pile base area, belling buckets or under-reamers can be employed. When drilling with continuous flight augers, the auger is connected directly with the rotary drive without an intermediate drilling rod and is rotated into the ground for its full length. After reaching final drilling depth, the filled auger is pulled out of the bore hole. Therefore the empty bore hole has to be stable enough or concrete needs to be pumped through the hollow auger stem immediately. Pile length is limited by the length of the auger and the size of the drilling rig.

Sketch - drilling rig

Drilling rig with bucket

Drilling rig with continuous auger

Flush drilling / wet drilling methods In contrast to the dry drilling method, where the soil is loosened and excavated by the drilling tools, the wet drilling method only uses drilling tools to loosen the material and requires a flushing stream for transportation. Cutting tools like tri-cone bits, roller bits or under-reamers are used. When using the direct flushing method, bentonite or polymer suspension is pumped down to the piles tip through the hollow drilling rod. The suspension is then raised up to the piles top in the annulus between drilling rod and bore hole wall. This method is most suitable for smaller bore hole diameters. When using the reversed circulation method, the flushing suspension is poured directly into the bore hole. Using a vacuum pump, the soil/suspension mixture is then sucked through the drilling rods to the piles top. Pile length up to 50 m can be drilled efficiently. The air-lifting method also pours flushing suspension directly into the bore hole. By inducing compressed air into the lower end of the drilling rod below the water level, the expanding air creates an upward flow, which therefore transports the soil/suspension mixture to the top of the pile. Combinations of air-lifting and reversed circulation drilling can drill bore holes up to 150 m depth efficiently, depending on soil conditions.

Sketch air-lifting drilling method for bored pile construction

Air-lifting drilling method