Evaluation of Axial Capacity and Plugging Condition of Pipe Piles Installed in Variable Clay and Sandy Alluvial Soils: Fid-Bau Portal

Evaluation of Axial Capacity and Plugging Condition of Pipe Piles Installed in Variable Clay and Sandy Alluvial Soils

Givens, Michael J. / Khosrojerdi, Mahsa / Taylor, Lucy

Based on current design approaches for highway bridge foundations, the total axial resistance of open-ended steel pipe piles should be chosen as the minimum axial resistance determined for the fully plugged condition and the unplugged (coring) condition. Several studies have been conducted to investigate the plugging condition of the driven pipe piles considering different soil properties; however, there is still a need to investigate the actual behavior of large-scale driven piles and evaluate the axial capacity and plugging condition compared to the design assumptions. To expand the data inventory, this study presents findings from two bridge sites constructed as part of San Diego Freeway (I-405) Improvement Project located between State Route 73 and Interstate 605 in Orange County, California. The bridge abutments and bents are supported by grouped 24-inch-diameter x 0.5-inch wall thickness steel pipe piles. This paper presents the calculated axial capacities that were evaluated using a CPT based direct approach and the subsequent pile driving analyzer (PDA) test results that were performed on production piles to evaluate the capacities. The PDA tests provide insight into the plugging condition of full-scale driven piles from the first hours of pile installation and up to four days after driving. The direct method provided good estimation of the production piles’ axial capacities, and the PDA tests showed variable results in the improvement of the end bearing capacities with time. The findings of this study will be useful for practitioners in driven pile design.