DEEP FOUNDATION

Deep foundation is required to carry loads from a structure through weak compressible soils or fills on
to stronger and less compressible soils or rocks at depth, or for functional reasons.

Deep foundations are founded too deeply below the finished ground surface for their base bearing
capacity to be affected by surface conditions, this is usually at depths >3 m below finished ground level.

WHEN DO WE USE DEEP FOUNDATIONS?

• Low Bearing Capacity of soil.
• Non-availability of proper bearing stratum at shallow depths.
• Heavy loads from the super structure for which shallow foundation may not be economical or
feasible.

CLASSIFICATION OF DEEP FOUNDATIONS

1. Pile Foundation
2. Pier Foundation
3. Caissons Foundation
4. Well-foundation
5. Sheet Piles

PILE FOUNDATION

A timber, steel or reinforced concrete post usually vertical, used as a

structural element for transferring the loads at the required depth in the
deep foundations is called PILE.

These are the long slender members either driven or cast-in-situ and may
be subjected to vertical or lateral or vertical plus lateral loads.
Steps for pile execution:

1. Pile boring,

2. Reinforcement cage lowering,

3. Flushing Pile

4. Concreting

5. Preparing Pile Cap

CLASSIFICATION OF PILES
Piles can be classified on the following basis:

• Mode of construction
• Material of construction
• Material of load
• Function of pile
• Shape
• Size

MODE OF CONSTRUCTION
1. Pre-cast (Driven Piles)
Driven pile foundations can be made
from concrete, steel or timber. These
piles are prefabricated before placing
at the construction site. When driven
piles are made of concrete, they are
precast. These piles are driven using a
pile hammer.

When these piles are driven into the granular soils, they displace the equal volume of soil.
This helps in compaction of soil around the sides of piles and results in the densification of
soil. The piles which compact the soil adjacent to it is also called as compaction pile. This
compaction of soil increases its bearing capacity.

Saturated silty soils and cohesive soils have poor drainage capability. Thus these soils are
not compacted when driven piles are drilled through it. The water have to be drained for
the soil to be compacted. Thus, stresses are developed adjacent to the piles have to be borne
by pore water only. This results in increase in pore water pressure and decrease in bearing
capacity of the soil.
 2. Cast in-situ Piles (Bored Piles)

Cast-in-situ piles are concrete pile.

These piles are constructed by drilling
holes in the ground to the required
depth and then filling the hole with
concrete. Reinforcements are also
used in the concrete as per the
requirements. These piles are of small
diameter compared to drilled piers.

Cast-in-situ piles are straight bored piles or with one or more bulbs at intervals are casted.
The piles with one or more bulbs are called as under-reamed piles.

3. Driven and Cast-in-situ Piles

Driven and cast-in-situ piles have the advantages of both driven and cast-in-situ piles. The
procedure of installing a driven and cast-in-situ pile is as follows:

A steel shell of diameter of pile is driven into the ground with the aid of a mandrel inserted
into the shell. After driving the shell, the mandrel is removed and concrete is poured in the
shell. The shell is made of corrugated and reinforced thin sheet steel (monotube piles) or
pipes (Armco welded pipes or common seamless pipes). The piles of this type are called a
shell type piles.

The shell-less type is formed by withdrawing the shell while the concrete is being placed.
In both the types of piles the bottom of the shell is closed with a conical tip which can be
separated from the shell. By driving the concrete out of the shell an enlarged bulb may be
formed in both the types of piles. Franki piles are of this type. In some cases the shell will
be left in place and the tube is concreted. This type of pile is very much used in piling over
water.

MATERIAL OF CONSTRUCTION
1. Timber piles
2. Concrete pile
3. Steel pile
4. Composite pile: (Certain portion by one material and certain
portion by other material)

MATERIAL OF LOAD
1. End bearing piles
2. Friction bearing piles Composite Piles
3. Combination of end bearing and friction bearing piles.
1.End Bearing Pile Foundation

End bearing piles also called as point-bearing piles are selected when the
depth of hard soil strata or bedrock at site is within reasonable depth. The
length of pile to be used can be easily computed based on bedrock depth
obtained from soil exploration borehole records.

In this case, the loads from structures are directly transferred the hard soil
through bearing action of pile bottom tip and it does not require the use of
skin friction to resist loads. The cost of construction of piles in such cases
is optimum.

The ultimate capacity of pile or pile group depends on the bearing capacity
of bedrock or hard strata. Number of piles to be used in this case depends
on the loads from structure and individual capacity of piles.

In case when the hard bedrock is not available at reasonable depth and fairly compacted hard strata of
soil exists, then piles should be extended a few meters into the hard soil strata.

2. Friction Pile Foundation

Friction piles resist the loads from structures due its skin friction with soil.
This type of pile foundation is selected when a hard stratum is available at
large depth and construction of end bearing pile becomes uneconomical.
Then number of piles in a group is selected to resist the load from structure
through its skin friction. This type of pile foundation also resists loads due
to end bearing but its value is small, thus it is neglected in calculation.

The load is transferred to the soil through friction in case of sandy soil and
adhesion in case of clayey soil. Loose sand and soft clays may not provide
sufficient skin friction or adhesion resistance to heavy loads from structures.

3. Combined End Bearing and Friction Pile Foundation:

This type of pile foundation is mostly used in construction. The advantage of using this pile is that it
can resist loads from structures through both end bearing and friction resistance. This pile has high pile
capacity and is economical.

This pile is used when the soil exploration results shows hard bedrock or fairly compacted soils at
reasonable depth and soil above bed rock supports skin friction resistance.

FUNCTION OF PILE
1. Compression pile - To resist the compression load.
2. Tension pile or Anchor pile
3. Compaction pile - Granular soil i.e. very loose sand can be compacted by driving the piles at
one place, then are pulled out and driven at the next place, in this way sand is densified.
4. Fender piles - Used near sea-part to protect the Harbour, just to absorb the impact of floating
objects.
5. Batter piles - Provided at an inclination their stability is more against overturning.
6. Sheet piles - To reduce seepage or to provide lateral stability.
ON THE BASIS OF SHAPE
1. Round Piles
2. Square Piles
3. Octagonal Piles
4. I-Shaped Piles
5. Straight Piles
6. Tapered Piles
7. Bell-Bottom Piles
8. Screw Piles

ON THE BASIS OF SIZE

1. Large Dia Pile: (> 24”)
2. Small Dia Pile: (> 6” to 24”)
3. Micro Dia Pile: (= 4” to 6”)

PILE DRIVING METHODS

Methods of pile driving can be categorized as follows:

1. Dropping weight
2. Explosion
3. Vibration
4. Jacking (restricted to micro-pilling)
5. Jetting

DROPPING WEIGHT (Drop Hammer Method of Pile Driving)

A hammer with approximately the weight of the pile is

raised a suitable height in a guide and released to strike the
pile head. This is a simple form of hammer used in
conjunction with light frames and test piling, where it may
be uneconomical to bring a steam boiler or compressor on
to a site to drive very limited number of piles.

There are two main types of drop hammers:

1. Single-acting steam or compressed-air hammers

Single-acting steam or compressed-air comprise a massive weight in the form of a cylinder. Steam
or compressed air admitted to the cylinder raises it up the fixed piston rod. At the top of the stroke,
or at a lesser height which can be controlled by the operator, the steam is cut off and the cylinder
falls freely on the pile helmet.

2. Double-acting pile hammers

Double-acting pile hammers can be driven by steam or compressed air. A piling frame is not
required with this type of hammer which can be attached to the top of the pile by leg-guides, the
pile being guided by a timber framework. When used with a pile frame, back guides are bolted to
the hammer to engage with leaders, and only short leg-guides are used to prevent the hammer from
moving relatively to the top of the pile. Double-acting hammers are used mainly for sheet pile
driving.
VIBRATION

Vibratory hammers are usually electrically powered or hydraulically

powered and consists of contra-rotating eccentric masses within a
housing attaching to the pile head. The amplitude of the vibration is
sufficient to break down the skin friction on the sides of the pile.
Vibratory methods are best suited to sandy or gravelly soil.

JACKING

Jacked piles are most commonly used in underpining

structures. By excavating underneath a structure, short
lengths of pile can be inserted and jacked into the ground
using underside of existing structure as a reaction.

JETTING: to aid the penetration of piles in to sand or sandy gravel, water jetting may be employed.
However, the method has very limited effect in firm to stiff clays or any soil containing much coarse
gravel, cobbles, or boulders.