Results of an Instrumented Static Loading Test and Its Application to Design Compilation of an International Survey

Abstract

Results of a static loading test were used together with soil exploration records in a survey comprising analysis of the test records and estimating settlement of piled foundation to support a pipe rack. The test pile was a strain-gage instrumented, 400-mm diameter, precast, prestressed concrete pile driven into a clay and silt deposit to 25 m embedment. Two main issues were expected to be addressed by the survey participants: First, realization that the strain records were affected by presence of residual force in the pile and, second, calculation of the settlement of the piled foundation expected from the foundation load. A total of 52 submissions were received from 20 different countries. Only 12 of the submissions realized the presence of residual force. Most submissions reported a calculated settlement of the piled foundations ranging from 10 mm through 50 mm; however, 11 reported values between 60 and 200 mm. Surprisingly, only 20 submissions reported ground surface settlement close to the 200-mm value resulting from textbook analysis based on the available information. The subsequent construction of the piled foundations coincided with placing a fill across the site and lowering of the groundwater table, thus, causing a general subsidence.