Pile foundation selection depends on the soil data received from soil exploration bore holes at

different depths.
Selection of pile foundation types and length depends on following conditions:
1. Soil conditions
2. Loads from structures
3. Nature of loads
4. Number of piles to be used
5. Cost of construction
There are three types of pile foundation based on load transfer mechanism:
1. End bearing piles
2. Friction bearing piles
3. Combination of end bearing and friction bearing piles.

Selection of 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 this case,
QU = QP
Where QU is the ultimate load capacity of pile foundation
QP is the load carried by the end bearing pile or pile group.

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.

Selection of 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 length of friction pile to be selected in this case depends on the shear strength of soil, loads
from structures and size of piles. The capacity of individual pile is calculated based on skin
friction resistance provided by selected length of pile. Optimum length of this pile should be
used considering economy. The number of piles required in a group can be calculated from
individual pile capacity.
In this case,
QU = QS
Where QU is the ultimate load capacity of pile foundation
QS is the load carried by the friction pile or pile group.
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.

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.
In this case,
QU = QS + QP
Where QU is the ultimate load capacity of pile foundation
QS is the load carried by the friction pile or pile group
QP is the load carried by the end bearing pile or pile group.
The load is transferred to the soil through friction in case of sandy soil and adhesion in case of
clayey soil.

WHAT CONDITIONS REQUIRE USE OF PILE FOUNDATION?

Suryakanta | May 25, 2015 | Foundation | No Comments

Piles are structural members that are made of steel, concrete, or timber. They are used to build
pile foundations, which are deep and which cost more than shallow foundations. Despite the
cost, the use of piles often is necessary to ensure structural safety. The following list identifies
some of the conditions that require pile foundations:
Conditions That Require the Use of Pile Foundation
1. Compressible or Weak Upper Soil Layer

When one or more upper soil layers are highly compressible and too weak to support the load
transmitted by the superstructure, piles are used to transmit the load to underlying bedrock or a
stronger soil layer, as shown in Figure-a. When bedrock is not encountered at a reasonable depth
below the ground surface, piles are used to transmit the structural load to the soil gradually. The
resistance to the applied structural load is derived mainly from the frictional resistance developed
at the soil-pile interface. (See Figure-b)

Fig-a

Fig-b
2. Presence of Horizontal Forces

When subjected to horizontal forces (see Figure-c), pile foundations resist by bending, while still
supporting the vertical load transmitted by the superstructure. This type of situation is generally
encountered in the design and construction of earth-retaining structures and foundations of tall
structures that are subjected to high wind or to earthquake forces.

Fig-c
3. Presence of Expansive Soils

In many cases, expansive and collapsible soils may be present at the site of a proposed structure.
These soils may extend to a great depth below the ground surface. Expansive soils swell and
shrink as their moisture content increases and decreases, and the pressure of the swelling can be
considerable. If shallow foundations are used in such circumstances, the structure may suffer
considerable damage. However, pile foundations may be considered as an alternative when piles
are extended beyond the active zone, which is where swelling and shrinking occur. (See Figured) Soils such as loess are collapsible in nature. When the moisture content of these soils
increases, their structures may break down. A sudden decrease in the void ratio of soil induces
large settlements of structures supported by shallow foundations. In such cases, pile foundations
may be used in which the piles are extended into stable soil layers beyond the zone where
moisture will change.

Fig-d
4. Subjected to Uplifting Forces

The foundations of some structures, such as transmission towers, offshore platforms, and
basement mats below the water table, are subjected to uplifting forces. Piles are sometimes used
for these foundations to resist the uplifting force. (See Figure-e)

Fig-e
5. Soil Erosion

Bridge abutments and piers are usually constructed over pile foundations to avoid the loss of
bearing capacity that a shallow foundation might suffer because of soil erosion at the ground
surface. (See Figure-f) Although numerous investigations, both theoretical and experimental,
have been conducted in the past to predict the behavior and the load-bearing capacity of piles in
granular and cohesive soils, the mechanisms are not yet entirely understood and may never be.
The design and analysis of pile foundations may thus be considered somewhat of an art as a
result of the uncertainties involved in working with some subsoil conditions. This chapter
discusses the present state of the art.

Fig-f

pile is basically a long cylinder of a strong material such as concrete that is pushed into the
ground to act as a steady support for structures built on top of it.
Pile foundations are used in the following situations:
1. When there is a layer of weak soil at the surface. This layer cannot support the weight of
the building, so the loads of the building have to bypass this layer and be transferred to
the layer of stronger soil or rock that is below the weak layer.
2. When a building has very heavy, concentrated loads, such as in a high rise structure,
bridge, or water tank.
Pile foundations are capable of taking higher loads than spread footings.
There are two types of pile foundations, each of which works in its own way.

End Bearing Piles

In end bearing piles, the bottom end of the pile rests on a layer of especially strong soil or

rock. The load of the building is transferred through the pile onto the strong layer. In a sense, this
pile acts like a column. The key principle is that the bottom end rests on the surface which is the
intersection of a weak and strong layer. The load therefore bypasses the weak layer and is safely
transferred to the strong layer.

Friction Piles
Friction piles work on a different principle. The pile transfers the load of the building
to the soil across the full height of the pile, by friction. In other words, the entire
surface of the pile, which is cylindrical in shape, works to transfer the forces to the
soil.
To visualise how this works, imagine you are pushing a solid metal rod of say 4mm
diameter into a tub of frozen ice cream. Once you have pushed it in, it is strong enough to
support some load. The greater the embedment depth in the ice cream, the more load it can
support. This is very similar to how a friction pile works. In a friction pile, the amount of load a
pile can support is directly proportionate to its length.

what are piles made of?

Piles can be made of wood, concrete, or steel.
In traditional construction, wooden piles were used to support buildings in areas with weak soil.
Wood piles are still used to make jetties. For this one needs trees with exceptionally straight
trunks. The pile length is limited to the length of a single tree, about 20m, since one cannot join
together two tree trunks. The entire city of Venice in Italy is famous for being built on wooden
piles over the sea water.

Cross sections of various pile foundations

Concrete piles are precast, that is, made at ground level, and then driven into the ground by hammering - more

how piles are used

As pile foundations carry a lot of load, they must be designed very carefully. A good engineer will study the so

Every pile has a zone of influence on the soil around it. Care must be taken to space the piles far enough apart s

The load pattern of the piles on the soil surrounding them. This is also called a zone of influence.

Engineers will usually group a few piles together, and top them with a pile cap. A pile cap is a
very thick cap of concrete that extends over a small group of piles, and serves as a base on which
a column can be constructed. The load of this column is then distributed to all the piles in the
group.

how piles are constructed

Piles are first cast at ground level and then hammered or driven into the ground using a pile
driver. This is a machine that holds the pile perfectly vertical, and then hammers it into the
ground blow by blow. Each blow is is struck by lifting a heavy weight and dropping it on the top
of the pile - the pile is temporarily covered with a steel cap to prevent it from disintegrating. The
pile driver thus performs two functions - first, it acts as a crane, and lifts the pile from a
horizontal position on the ground and rotates it into the correct vertical position, and second, it
hammers the pile down into the ground.
Piles should be hammered into the ground till refusal, at which point they cannot be driven any
further into the soil.

Special Piles
Pile driving is very noisy and causes massive vibrations through the soil. For this reason, it is
sometimes difficult to use them in sensitive locations. For example, if an operational hospital or
science lab is to be extended, driving piles would cause unwanted disturbance. Their use is also

restricted in residential areas in many countries. The vibrations could also cause structural
damage to older buildings that are close by. In such situations it is possible to use micropiling or
helical piling, neither of which rely on hammering.
Micropiles or minipiles are small piles that are constructed in the following way:
Step 1: a hole a little larger than the pile diameter and the full length of the pile is dug into the
ground using an apparatus like a soil boring machine.
Step 2: a precast concrete pile is lowered or pushed into the hole.
Step 3: a concrete grout is poured into the gap between the pile and the earth.
Helical piles are steel tubes that have helical (spiral) blades attached to them. These can be
drilled into the ground, meaning that the pile acts as a giant drill bit, and is rotated and pushed
into the ground from above, much like a screw drills into wood. Once the steel pile is driven into
the ground, a pile cap is poured on top of the pile to prepare it for the construction above.

Pile foundation is required when the soil bearing capacity is not sufficient for the structure to
withstand. This is due to the soil condition or the order of bottom layers, type of loads on
foundations, conditions at site and operational conditions.
Many factors prevent the selection of surface foundation as a suitable foundation such as the
nature of soil and intensity of loads, we use the piles when the soil have low bearing capacity or
in building in water like bridges and dams
A pile foundation consists of two components: Pile cap and single or group of piles. Piles
transfers the loads from structures to the hard strata, rocks or soil with high bearing capacity.
These are long and slender members whose length can be more than 15m.
Piles can be made from concrete, wood or steel depending on the requirements. These piles are
then driven, drilled or jacked into the ground and connected to pile caps. Pile foundation are
classified based on material of pile construction, type of soil, and load transmitting characteristic
of piles.
The use of pile foundations as load carrying and load transferring systems has been for many
years. Timber piles were used in early days, driven in to the ground by hand or holes were dug
and filled with sand and stones. The use of steel pile started since 19th century and concrete piles
since 20th century.
With the change in technology and industrial revolution, many advance systems have been
devloped for pile driving from the invention of steam and diesel pile driving machines.

The use of pile foundations is increasing day by day due to non-availability of land for
construction. Heavy multi-storyed building are being constructed, and load from these structures
can not be directly transferred to ground due to low bearing capacity issue and stability issues of
building during lateral load application. So, demand for use of pile foundations are increasing
day by day. Due to this demand for piles, there have been many improvements in piles and pile
driving technology and systems. Today there are many advanced techniques of pile installation.

Function of Pile Foundation:

As other types of foundations, the purpose of pile foundations is:

To transmit the buildings loads to the foundations and the ground soil layers whether these
loads vertical or inclined
To install loose cohesion less soil through displacement and vibration.
To control the settlements; which can be accompanied by surface foundations.
To increase the factor of safety for heavy loads buildings
The selection of type of pile foundation is based on site investigation report. Site investigation
report suggests the need of pile foundation, type of pile foundation to be used, depth of pile
foundation to be provided. The cost analysis of various options for use of pile foundation should
be carried out before selection of pile foundation types.
Unless the ground condition is rocks, for heavy construction and multi-storied buildings, the
bearing capacity of soil at shallow depth may not be satisfactory for the loads on the foundation.

In such cases, pile foundation has to be provided. The number of piles in a pile groups required is
calculate from the pile capacity of single pile and the loads on the foundation. Piles are a
convenient method of foundation for works over water, such as jetties or bridge piers.