Pile load test of cohesion pile in soft clay
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | PEAB ANLÄGGNING AB - E45 Lilla bommen, Marieholm |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 403 000 |
| Project duration | December 2016 - April 2018 |
| Status | Completed |
Important results from the project
The purpose of this study is to static test load a pile and investigate the behaviour and its geotechical bearing capacity. The behaviour and bearing capacity was successfully observed.
Expected long term effects
The ultimate bearing capacity of the pile was 1820kN where the load couldn’t be held for more than 6 minutes until it failed. A residual capacity of 1435kN was found where the pile stabilized immediately after the failure. The bearing capacity is somewhat lower than expected. Just before failure the lower 10m of the pile bears more than 50% of the load. The vibrating wires indicates significant drag loads just after pile driving which needs to be further investigated.
Approach and implementation
The test was done by adding loadsteps with a hydraulic jack in 130kN increments, each step 7.5 minutes up to 910kN where the timesteps was increased to 15 mintutes per step. After failure an attempt to find a residual capacity where the pile head will stop deform was done. After this to quickly unload and reload the pile again to obtain the stiffness for short term loading.