Some observations on Statnamic pile testing

Abstract

Limited guidance on usage and methodology is currently available to engineers for the most common rapid load pile test, known as Statnamic. In order to improve the analysis of Statnamic testing in clay soils a full-scale instrumented auger bored pile was installed and tested in glacial lodgement till. As a result, improvements have been suggested in the test methodology and analysis. The inclusion of an accelerometer at the pile head would allow direct measurement of acceleration and verification of displacement measurements and velocity calculations. High-precision optical levelling of the pile before and after test cycles would allow multiple loading cycles to be considered cumulatively with greater confidence. The separation of the laser reference source from the test pile should be sufficient to avoid surface wave disturbance.