From Bored to Driven: Demystifying Pile Foundation

Choices
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In this video, we're going to dive deep into the most popular pile types, from driven piles
and screw piles to board piles and even micro piles. We're going to investigate the pros
and cons of each type of pile, learn the installation process and how to decide what pile
foundation to use in your project. But before we start, let's understand what a pile
foundation is.

A pile foundation is a type of deep foundation that provides support to structures by

transferring loads from the structure to a deeper level within the earth. It consists of
long, slender columns or piles, typically made of materials like concrete, steel or timber,
that are driven or installed into the ground. There are various types of pile foundations,
but basically I would classify them into two categories and three subcategories.

The first two categories are displacement and non-displacement piles. So in simple
words, if you're drilling a hole, taking out soil and replacing with concrete, that's a non-
displacement pile. On the other hand, if the pile is pushing through the soil and
displacing it laterally and compacting around, that's a displacement pile.

And the three subcategories are related to their load-bearing mechanisms, which are
base bearing, shaft friction, and a combination of both. Essentially, base bearing piles
get most of their strength from the bottom part of the pile, which sits on either rock,
hard or a dense soil. On the other hand, shaft friction piles get their strength mainly from
the sides of the pile rubbing against the surrounding soil.

And the third subcategory are piles that get their strength from a combination of side
friction and base bearing. Now that you know what a pile foundation is, let's navigate the
decision-making process. When do we choose pile foundations over other options? The
first and most obvious factor is the soil bearing capacity.

Footings must be founded on a material that satisfies the minimum bearing capacity
nominated by the engineers. For instance, most residential projects require a minimum
of 100 kPa bearing capacity. If the geotechnical report describes a weak top layer of soil
with less than 100 kPa, you should start considering piles as the footing for the building.

In this house we designed on the Gold Coast, for example, there was a 1.5 m deep layer
of uncontrolled fill underlayed by another meter of loose sand and soft silty clay, which
required 3 m deep screw piles for the footings. The next case is for light structures
subject to lateral and uplift forces. When structures face large upward or lateral forces
like tall buildings, free roofs, carports, sheds, transmission towers, and even retaining
walls, piles are an efficient way to ensure the stability of the system due to their friction
capacity.

You could possibly utilize the self-weight of shallow footings to resist the overturning and
uplift forces, but in light structures, shallow footings can get massive depending on the
intensity of the wind loads and the costs would outweigh the use of piles. They also play
a crucial role in preventing the overload of existing structures by mitigating the pressure
exerted by shallow footings. When a new structure is introduced, its footings can create
additional loads that might adversely affect neighboring structures or utilities.

And I'll give you some examples that you might relate to. The footings of a high-rise
building in the city will surcharge the existing basement walls of the building next door.
A pad footing next to an existing retaining wall will exert pressure on the retaining wall.

The footings of a house will surcharge the walls of an existing pool previously installed
on the site. The footings of a building will surcharge the council storm waters and sewer
pipes running across the property. And that's when piles come into play.

A deep footing will transmit the loads to the foundation through end bearing and prevent
that extra load on the existing structure. If the water table is close to the ground surface,
the process of construction of shallow footings can be tricky. Piling would avoid the mass
of constant dewatering and ensuring a stable construction environment.

And the last case of our list are footings on slopes. The lack of soil on the slope side of
the footing will tend to reduce the stability if a shallow footing is used. I'm not saying you
cannot use shallow footings in this case, but you could consider a pile foundation to
avoid any problems.

Not to mention landslide and unstable foundation problems, which ties back to our first
point about bearing capacity and soil conditions. There is a case though that you must
be very careful when using piles, because if you don't, the consequences could be
devastating. And I will disclose that information after we go over the most common pile
foundation types.

So let's proceed to understand how those piles are constructed and the pros and cons of
each one of them. First type we will discuss are the board piles or board piers. They are
high-capacity drilled piers constructed by drilling a cylindrical hole of the required depth
and subsequently filling it with concrete.

They might or may not require a reinforcing cage, and some board piles can be
constructed with an enlarged base to help with bearing and uplift. Another type of drilled
pier is the CFA continuous flight auger. They're similar to board piles.

The difference is that CFAs have cutting blades that span the entire length of the drill
shaft and a hollow tube that allows for the pumping of concrete as the auger is retracted
from the hole. Unlike the board piers, the excavated soil is not removed progressively,
but instead remains in the hole between the cutting blades, and the reinforcement cage
is inserted into the still wet concrete. Pros.

They eliminate the need for pile caps. Fewer piles can be used. No vibration or noise.

Can go through boulders and be socketed into rock. High load capacity. Base can be
enlarged for higher capacity.

And they can form a composite pile with steel columns. Looking at the cons, they're not
ideal for collapsible soils. They're not ideal in shallow water table zones.

Bad weather conditions might make drilling and concreting difficult. And disposal of soil
from drilling. Attention structural engineers, mark your calendars for December 9th
because we will be running our final workshop of 2023, and this time we will be talking
about foundation engineering.

Our structural engineer Jordan will be going over geotechnical reports, explain how he
deals with Class E extremely reactive sites, share practical on-site knowledge, build a
spreadsheet to design board piers, and show how your decisions above ground impact
on the design below ground. Spots are limited. Don't miss out on this opportunity and I'll
see you at the workshop.

Next are the screw piles. Screw piles consist of circular steel hollow sections fitted with a
single or double helix at the tip. Installation involves using a hydraulic excavator to
screw four meters long sections of steel piles connected to each other into the ground.

Diameters range from 76 millimeters to 273 millimeters and they're widely used in the
construction industry in Australia, especially in the residential market. Pros, no vibration
or noise, speed of installation, low mobilization costs due to small and inexpensive
equipment, ideal in shallow water table zones, no spoil to be removed from site, weather
conditions don't affect installation, can be installed in confined spaces which makes
them ideal for remedial works. Looking at the cons, not suitable for rock without pre-
drilling, difficult installation in trash filled with concrete and other building material
debris, load-bearing capacity is limited.

For example, a typical 76.1 millimeters with 300 millimeters helix can take
approximately 100 kilonewtons in stiff soils. Buckling limits its capacity in very soft soils.
Next are the driven piles.

Driven piles are installed using impact or vibration hammers with a steady succession of
bolts on the top of the pile. They can be constructed from steel, timber and precast
concrete. They're classified as displacement piles and gain substantial capacity by
displacing the soil around the shaft and compacting the soil.

Let's look at the pros. No spoil to be removed from site, can be used in aggressive soil
conditions, speed of installation and they are ideal in shallow water table zones. The
cons, noisy and considerable vibration might damage adjacent properties, typically not
suitable for rock.

Timber piles might need treatment, especially if subjected to alternate wetting and
drying and their uplift capacity is limited if the pile cannot be driven deep enough into
the ground. Next are the frankie piles, also known as enlarged base driven cast in-situ
piles and they are installed on site using a drop weight and temporary casing. In the
frankie piles construction process, a dry concrete mix is compacted at the bottom of the
casing using a drop hammer creating a driving plug.

The temporary casing is then driven into the ground until the desired depth. Additional
dry concrete mix is added and expelled to form the enlarged base. After forming the
enlarged base, reinforcing steel and high slump concrete are placed in the casing and
finally the casing is removed.

Pros, high bearing and uplift capacity due to the enlarged base, ideal in shallow water
table zones due to the casing, no spoil to be removed from site and the cons, limited
depth of installation, noisy and considerable vibration, not suitable for rock. Next on the
list are the micro piles. Micro piles are essentially mini board piles.

Their diameter ranges from 50 to 300 millimeters and they are mainly used to
strengthen existing footings. Initially, a steel casing is pressed into the soil to the
required depth and a flushing method removes soil by introducing pressurized water.
Concrete is then placed using the tramming method with the steel casing simultaneously
extracted.

Following this, a single centralized bar is typically plunged into the steel wet concrete.
Pros, can be installed in confined spaces which makes them ideal for remedial works,
minimal spoil to be removed from site, minimal noise and vibration. Cons, not suitable
for large loads.

I remember back when I lived in Brazil, there was a social housing program called My
House My Life and they built hundreds of brick houses on a low bearing capacity soil. Not
long after the houses were built, the walls were all cracked due to differential sediment
and they used micro piles to fix these houses. And as I mentioned earlier in this video,
there is a special case you should be very careful when using piles and that's when the
site is situated above a closed landfill or hazardous waste sites.

You should treat those sites with extreme caution as drilling the ground can expose
hazardous materials to the surface, including gases that can be dangerous if inhaled or
even worse, the possibility of an explosion. There is also critical information about piles
that you must understand and I talk about them in this video here, so check that out and
I'll see you there.
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