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Detailing Corner

Grade Beam
Depth and Dowel
Embedment

S hallow grade beams can cause congestion problems


at the tops of drilled pier foundations or pile caps.
Achieving proper embedment of the column vertical
Options
Figure 1 shows an example of a grade beam-drilled pier
connection as originally detailed. The drilled pier is 18 in.
reinforcing bars, dowels projecting from the foundation, (460 mm) in diameter with eight No. 8 (No. 25) vertical
or both often requires that the reinforcement be hooked bars. The grade beam is 2 x 2 ft (0.6 x 0.6 m) with No. 11
in the grade beam. The resulting congestion may make it (No. 36) top and bottom longitudinal bars and No. 5
very difficult for the grade beam longitudinal bars to (No. 16) stirrups. The dowels for the columns are eight
pass unobstructed over the foundation. The problem No. 8 (No. 25) bars.
is compounded if two grade beams intersect over a As shown in Fig. 1, the reinforcing bars can barely
foundation element. fit—even with ideal placement. If there were more bars in

DETAILING CORNER
Joint ACI-CRSI Committee 315-B,
Details of Concrete Reinforcement—
Constructibility, has developed forums
dealing with constructibility issues for
reinforced concrete. Staff at the Concrete
Reinforcing Steel Institute (CRSI) are
presenting these topics in a regular series of articles.
CRSI staff will also respond to requests for information
(RFIs) regarding design, detailing, and construction. If
you’d like to suggest an article topic or submit an RFI
for this feature, please send an e-mail to Neal Anderson,
CRSI’s Vice President of Engineering, at nanderson@
crsi.org with the subject line “Detailing Corner.”
Fig. 1: Drilled pier to grade beam connection, as designed

Concrete international / may 2009 53


Fig. 4: Option 3—Increase grade beam depth only at the
drilled pier

Fig. 2: Option 1—Column dowels extended straight into the


drilled pier

Fig. 3: Option 2—Increase grade beam depth Fig. 5: Option 4—Add a pile cap under the grade beam

54 may 2009 / Concrete international


the beam, drilled pier, or column or if the bars were
larger, it would be impossible to fit all of the bars in the
cross section. Moreover, if there was an intersecting
beam, there would be no room to install the bars.
One option would be to extend the column dowels
straight into the drilled pier as shown in Fig. 2. This
option, however, presents some difficulties:
■■ In many parts of the country, the contract for installation
of piles and drilled piers is separate from the contract
for construction of the remaining building structure, so
different contractors normally execute each portion.
While the foundation contractor’s workers will place
the steel in the drilled piers, union rules may not allow
them to place the column dowels. This would require
coordination at a time when the building concrete
contractor may not be on site yet;
■■ If they are cast in the drilled pier, the column dowels
can’t be moved or adjusted to accommodate beam
reinforcement or column locations;
■■ For large diameter drilled piers, the tolerance on pier
location is much larger than that for the column
location. If the column dowels are installed according to
the foundation tolerances, they may be located farther
away from their intended location than the tolerances Fig. 6: Option 5—Hold back the concrete from the pile top
for column location can accommodate; and
■■ If the dowels are out of tolerance, who is responsible dowels. This would be acceptable to most designers.
for corrective actions—the building concrete contractor Some designers, however, insist on hooked dowels
or the foundation contractor? because they feel this provides more accurate placement
A second option would be to design a deeper grade of the dowels, ensuring proper lap length projecting
beam as shown in Fig. 3. Deepening the beam may above the grade beam. For that reason, the column
eliminate the need for the drilled pier vertical reinforcing dowels are shown hooked in those figures. Another
bars to be hooked, which eases the congestion to a large consideration may center on whether or not any moment
extent. Without the hooks, it’s possible to accommodate is transferred into the foundation.
an intersecting grade beam. Although this option increases A fifth option could be used if the grade beam is
the volume of concrete, it may reduce the amount of steel supported by a concrete-filled steel pile or casing, as
required in the grade beam. shown in Fig. 6. In this case, the steel jacket is filled with
A third option would be to deepen the grade beam concrete to an elevation sufficiently below the top so the
only at the drilled pier as shown in Fig. 4. This thickened column dowels could project into the pile to give the
section would be placed concurrently with the grade proper embedment length. This option is similar to
beam concrete and gives results similar to Option 2. It Option 1 in Fig. 2, except in this case the column dowels
eliminates the need for hooks on the drilled pier vertical are placed with the grade beam. This allows a certain
bars, easing congestion. This option only slightly increases amount of adjustment in placing the dowels. The top of
the volume of concrete and adds a slight amount of steel the pile is filled with concrete when the concrete for the
at each drilled pier. It does not significantly affect the grade beam is placed.
reinforcing steel required in the grade beam. A sixth option would be to place a blockout in the top
A fourth option would be to add a pile cap under the of the drilled pier as shown in Fig. 7. This option has
grade beam at the drilled pier as shown in Fig. 5. This advantages similar to those of Option 6. There is room for
would likely require a separate placement, independent adjusting the location of the dowels for more accurate
of the grade beam work. placement. As in Option 6, the blockout is filled with the
In the options shown in Fig. 3 to 5, there is enough grade beam concrete placement. Yet another option may
depth to achieve straight embedment of the column be to use headed bars.

Concrete international / may 2009 55


RFI on stainless steel
reinforcing bars
RFI 09-2: I’m considering the use of stainless
steel reinforcing bars on a project where I need the
level of corrosion resistance this material provides.
What are some of the issues that I need to under-
stand about stainless steel?

Response: Stainless steel reinforcing bars are


not stocked in quantities as large as for traditional
reinforcing bars. Therefore, it’s recommended that
the contractor coordinate early with the stainless
steel reinforcing bar supplier to ensure timely
delivery to the job site. The bars are typically only
available in lengths up to 40 ft (12.2 m), which may
require detailing changes to accommodate lap
splice locations. Also, keep in mind that bar
supports have to be made of stainless steel or
plastic. Similarly, tie wire has to be stainless steel
or plastic-covered carbon steel. Mechanical couplers,
if needed, will also have to be stainless steel.
Reinforcing bar fabricators and contractors
need to recognize that stainless steel reinforcing
Fig. 7: Option 6—Form a blockout in the top of the drilled pier bars are pickled. Pickling (cleaning with an acid
mixture) is required by ASTM A9551 to remove
mill scale and iron particles. This prevents the
Design Considerations particles from corroding and damaging the stainless
Designers should always look carefully at the embedment steel, but the bars must be handled in such a way that
lengths of the reinforcing bars passing from one member the surface is not recontaminated with carbon
into another. The possibility of congestion should be steel during fabrication, storage, transportation,
reviewed whenever the drilled pier vertical reinforcing and placement. In practice, this means the stainless
bars have to be hooked. Frequently, the difference steel bars cannot be fabricated using the same
between requiring a hooked bar rather than a straight bar pieces of equipment used to fabricate traditional
is a matter of only a few inches. Wherever it’s possible reinforcing bars, have to be handled with nylon
without jeopardizing the integrity of the structure, the slings, and should be stored inside or under a
designer should opt for a straight bar embedment to protective cover. For additional information, see
minimize congestion. “Stainless Steel Rebar Guidelines for Shipping,
Relative advantages and disadvantages of the options Handling, Fabrication and Placement.”2
discussed depend on the specifics of each case. The cost
impact is usually not significantly different from one to References
the other if the deeper beam in Option 2 allows a reduction 1. ASTM A955/A955M-07a, “Standard Specification for
in the amount of beam reinforcement required. Deformed and Plain Stainless-Steel Bars for Concrete
Reinforcement,” ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA,
Thanks to Joint ACI-CRSI Committee 315 member Dick 2007, 11 pp.
Birley, President of Condor Rebar Consultants, Inc., in 2. “Stainless Steel Rebar Guidelines for Shipping, Handling,
Vancouver, BC, Canada, for providing the information in Fabrication and Placement,” Nickel Development Institute,
this article. Toronto, ON, Canada, and Specialty Steel Industry of North
America, Washington, DC, 6 pp.
Selected for reader interest by the editors.

56 may 2009 / Concrete international

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