Research and Analysis for Manufactured Housing Foundations: Ground Anchor Verification Testing

The performance of conventional ground anchor assemblies is critical to the overall quality and structural integrity of manufactured housing installations. Consequently, a draft Ground Anchor Assembly Test Protocol (GAATP) has been developed to fulfill the role of a "nationally recognized testing protocol" as required in the Model Manufactured Home Installation Standards. Therefore, it is important that this test protocol is practical and that it produces reliable and repeatable data characterizing the structural performance of ground anchors. This report provides an assessment of the proposed GAATP based on actual implementation of the test protocol with a variety of conventional ground anchor assemblies, test configurations, and site soil conditions. In addition, a new test rig was developed in compliance with the GAATP rig requirements and implemented in this study to facilitate an efficient and repeatable method of ground anchor testing.