CASED AUGERED PILES IN PALERMO

Trevi and Soilmec taking part in railway network modernisation in Sicily.

The FS, Italian railway society, has started a large series of interventions for the modernisation of
the railway network in the Palermo area. The jobs include, in particular, the addition of a second
track. The job site project cov-
ers over 30 Km of railway exten-
sion, 20 Km crossing the urban
area, with the construction of 17
stations and 22 stops. Further-
more, in order to smooth Palermo
chaotic traffic and secure direct
connection to the airport, there is
7 km of track to be moved from
the city surface to an under-
ground tunnel.
The Trevi jobsite spreads from the east outskirts of Palermo, Brancaccio zone, crossing the city to
the extreme west and completing the connection to the Falcone-Borsellino airport. In total
23,0000 m of secant piles have to be carried out across the site. It was necessary to perform the
job without any interruption to train schedules and at the same time limiting pollution and noise.
The jobsite conditions were solved by using the CAP/CSP pile application.

The CAP/CSP method consists of pile augering with casing protection, it has been chosen as it
eliminates vibrations and disturbance to adjacent structures, reduces noise emissions and avoids
the use of bentonite mud for drilling.

With the CAP/CSP method it is possible to execute piles in contact with existing foundations, avoid-
ing decompression of the surrounding soil and ensuring the accurate and precise positioning of the
pile. In addition, the use of protection casing secures vertical drilling, with less than 0.7% devia-
tion.

In CAP/CSP method, piles

are augered simultane-
ously with the driving of
the protection casing into
the soil (when necessary
augering may be carried
on below the depth of the
casing). Concreting is
made through the auger
shaft during auger extrac-
tion. Then, the reinforce-
ment cage is driven into
the fresh concrete, after
which the temporary cas-
ing is removed.

To construct secant pile

diaphragms, the wall
continuity is secured by
secant primary and sec-
Pict. 1‐ CAP/CSP method ondary piles overlapping.
In this case, the guiding
wall will secure the alignment of the diaphragm and guide the casing from the top.

For the execution of CAP/CSP piles, Trevi chose the multifunctional Soilmec rigs: the R-825 and
the SR-90 . Rigs have reached 25 m depth with a diameter of 920 mm. The primary and secon-
dary piles were overlapping by 80mm.

The different phases in the construction of tunnels and underground road passages have been de-
signed in order to secure permanent railway and urban traffic.
For example, the WBS GA17 tunnel, where both original and new tracks have been installed, the
soils are mainly composed of soft and dense calcarenites up to 10 m depth approximately, fol-
lowed by clay and silts, the construction phases have been as follows:
• Construction of CSP piles side wall, without interruption of the railway existing track.

• Execution of intermediate wall with micro piles to reinforce the structure.

• Construction of the half coverage slab on the tunnel.

• Excavation of the first-half gallery (pict.2).

• Traffic diverted on the temporary track inside the half gallery or above the half coverage.

• Execution of second side wall with CSP piles.

• Completion of the tunnel coverage.

• Construction of the two definitive railway tracks inside the artificial gallery.

 
Pict. 2‐ Tunnel WBS GA17 during the development of the first half gallery 
Trevi has undertaken numerous underground passages as showed in the following pictures:

 
Pict. 3‐ Road job marking 

 
Pict. 4‐ Construction of the underground passage, during the job the traffic was diverted around the tunnel. 
  
Pict. 5‐ Passage complete: The traffic starts to flow. CSP piles at sight

 
Pict. 6‐ Underground passage and roundabout with the piles CSP at sight 
  
Pict. 7‐ CAP/CSP rigs at work in Palermo

In the light of the production figures, the choice of CAP/CSP method, executed with powerful
Soilmec rigs R-825 and SR-90 created excellent results. In fact, despite the necessity of frequent
moves in the city –in two years the rigs have traveled around 30 km!- a daily pile production of
65 m per rig has been reached during the year 2009, and has been already broken reaching 70 m
per day per rig this year.