MODULE 2

DEEP FOUNDATION
 INTRODUCTION
• Deep foundations are those in which the depth of foundation is
very large when compared to its width.
• 3 types – pile foundation, pier foundation and caisson or well
foundation

Pile foundation

Pier foundation
Caisson / well foundation
 Pile foundation
• Most commonly used
• Pile foundation is preferred when
1. Load of superstructure is heavy and its
distribution is uneven.
2. Top soil has poor bearing capacity
3. Subsoil water level is high
4. Large fluctuations in subsoil water level
5. The structure is situated on sea shore/river bed
6. Canal /deep drainage lines exist near
foundations
 Type of piles based on function
• Bearing Piles or End Bearing Piles
• Friction Piles or Skin Friction Piles
• Compaction Piles
• Tension Piles or Uplift Piles
• Anchor Piles
• Fender Piles
• Batter Piles
• Sheet Piles
 End bearing piles
• Driven into the ground until
a hard stratum is reached.
• Acts as pillars supporting the
super-structure and
transmitting the load to the
ground.
• Piles, by themselves do not
support the load, rather acts
as a medium to transmit the
load from the foundation to
the resisting sub-stratum
 Friction piles
• Piles are driven at a site where soil is
weak or soft to a considerable depth
and it is not economical or rather
possible to rest the bottom end of the
pile on the hard stratum
• Load is carried by the friction
developed between the sides of the
pile and the surrounding ground ( skin
friction).
• The piles are driven up to such a
depth that skin friction developed at
the sides of the piles equals the load
coming on the piles
 Classification based on Materials
1. Timber Piles
2. Concrete Piles
3. Composite Piles
4. Steel Piles
 Iron ring

Timber Piles
• Transmission of load takes place by the frictional
resistance of ground and the pile surface.
• Economical to support light structure.
• May be circular, square in cross-section.
• Piles are driven with the help of pile driving
machine in which drop hammers delivers blows
on the pile head.
• Broonming of pile head is prevented by providing
an iron ring of less than 25mm in diameter than Steel strap Conical shoe
the pile head at the pile top.
• To facilitate driving, the lower end is pointed and
provided with a cast iron conical shoe.
• The best spacing is 90 cm c/c. Piles should not be
spaced less than 60 cm center to center as closer
spacing destroys frictional resistance.
• Max load should not exceed 20 tonnes.
• Piles are subjected to decay for alternate dry and wet
condition (on account of variation of ground water
level)
• Diameter varies from 30 to 50cm.
• Length should not be more than 20 times the least
sectional dimension.
 Advantages of Timber Piles

• Economical where timber is easily available.

• Can be driven rapidly & as such saves time.
• Because of elasticity, timber piles are
recommended for sites subjected to unusual
lateral forces e.g. ship, ferry terminals.
• Do not need heavy machinery and expensive
technical supervision.
• Being light, they can be easily handled.
• They can be easily withdrawn if needed.
 Disadvantages of Timber Piles

• Liable to decay or deteriorate by salt

water/insects.
• Restricted length. It is rather difficult to procure
piles in required size and length.
• Low load bearing capacity.
• They are not very durable unless suitably treated.
• It is difficult or rather impossible to drive these
piles into hard stratum
 Concrete piles
Concrete piles fall into 2 basic categories:
• precast and
• cast-in-place.
Precast piles can be divided into the 2 general classes of normally reinforced
piles and prestressed piles.
Cast-in-place piles can be further subdivided into piles with casing and piles
without casing.
Concrete
piles

Precast Cast in situ

reinforced With casing

Without
prestressed
casing
 Advantages of Concrete piles
• Durability is independent of ground water level.
• For large size and greater bearing power number
of piles required is much less.
• Can be cast to any length, size or shape.
• Can be used to marine work without any
treatment.
• Material required for manufacture is easily
obtainable.
• Concrete piles can be monolithically bonded into
pile cap which is not possible in wooden piles.
 Disadvantages of Concrete piles

• Costlier than timber piles.

• Can not be driven rapidly.
• Required costly technical supervision and
heavy driving machines.
• Must be reinforced to withstand handling
stresses
 CAST-IN-PLACE CONCRETE PILES
• In general foundation work, the cast-in-place pile is more
commonly used than the precast pile.
• Cast-in-place concrete piles generally need no storage space, are
made in place to correct length, do not require special handling,
and are not subject to damage from handling.
• Cast-in-place piles can be subdivided into 2 basic types: those that
are formed in a steel shell in the ground and those that are
uncased.
• Cased permit an inspection of the pile prior to placing concrete, and
allow for more accurate control in placing concrete.
• Uncased piles are generally more economical; however, they bear a
great inherent risk in their installation.
 Cast-in-Place Cased Concrete Pile
• Cast-in-place cased concrete piles are formed by
pouring concrete into a tapered or cylindrical form
previously driven into the ground.
• The form or encasement could be a light-gage metal
shell, or a heavy steel shell
• The shell is driven into intimate contact with the
surrounding soil and remains in place to maintain
driving resistance and protect the concrete filling
during the placing of other adjacent piles and during
critical setting period.
• Cased piles can be easily cut or extended to meet
variations in shell length.
 Types of cased cast in situ concrete
piles
• Raymond standard pile
• Mc Arthur cased pile
• Union metal monotube pile
• Swage pile
• Western button bottom pile
• Simplex pile
 Raymond standard concrete pile

• Is used primarily as a friction pipe.

• It has uniform heavy taper of 1 in 30.
• Length of piles varies from 6 to 12m.
• Diameter of piles vary from 40 to 60cm at top and 20 to 30 at
bottom
• Shell consists of a thin corrugated steel shell closed at bottom.
• The shell is driven into the ground with a collapsible steel core in it
having the same taper.
• When the pile is driven to desired depth the core is mechanically
collapsed and withdrawn, leaving the shell inside the ground.
• Shell is inspected internally by using the flash or drop light.
• Shell is gradually filled with concrete up to the top.
Collapsible
Steel core
 Mac-Arthur Piles
• In this type of pile the diameter is uniform.
• Driving of the pile uses an additional steel casing of heavy gauge.
• A heavy steel casing with a core is driven into ground. After
reaching the desired depth a core is withdrawn and corrugated
steel shell is placed in the casing.
• After that concrete is placed in the shell, by gradually compacting it,
and withdrawing steel casing.
• These piles are used in place where the driving soil is very hard and
it is designed to keep water tight before filling the concrete in shell.
 Swage Piles
• Used in soils were driving is very hard.
• Designed to leave water tight shell for sometime
before filling concrete.
• In this type, a precast concrete plug of conical shape
provided at the bottom of a steel shell.
• 1st shell and core are fixed at top and driven on the top
of concrete plug.
• 2nd the core reaches the top of concrete plug and the
shell is forced round the taper of the plug forming a
watertight joint.
• 3rd remove the core and fill the shell with concrete.
Uncased cast in situ concrete piles
These piles are used only where neither soil nor
water will fall into the hole and reduce its size
after withdrawing the shell before concreting.
The common type of uncased cast-in-situ concrete
pile are:
• Simplex Piles
• Franki Piles
• Vibro Piles
• Pedestal Piles
 Simplex Piles
• Steel tube fitted with cast iron shoe is driven into the
ground up to required depth.
• The reinforcement, if required, is put up.
• The concrete is poured into the tube and the tube is
slowly withdrawn, leaving the shoe into the ground.
• The concrete is not tamped and the pile is complete.
Such pile is known as simplex standard pile.
• If tamping of concrete is done at regular intervals as
the tube is withdrawn , it is known as simplex tamped
pile.
 Franki piles
• In this type of piles, a heavy removable pipe shell is set vertically on
the ground and a plug of dry concrete is formed as shown in fig. the
plug is rammed by a hammer and in doing so, the plug drags the
tube into the ground.
• After achieving the required depth, the hammer is applied to the
concrete forcing it down.
• This results in the enlargement of base into a mushroom shape
• Some quantity of concrete is then laid and rammed with such a
pressure that the concrete is separated out from the tube.
Successive layers of concrete is then laid and rammed, the tube is
partly removed.
• The surface of complete pile is corrugated will offered more
fictional resistance.
 Vibro Piles
• A steel tube with a cast iron
shoe is driven up to
required depth. The tube is
connected with hammer.

• The tube is filled with

concrete and it is extracted
by a succession of upward
extracting and downward
tamping blows.
 Pre cast concrete piles
• Reinforced concrete piles, moulded in circular, square, rectangular
or octagonal form.
• Cast and cured in the casting yard, then transported to the site of
driving.
• If space available it can be cast and cured near the work site.
• Driven in similar manner as timber piles with the help of piles
drivers.
• Diameter normally varies from 35cm to 65cm, length varies from
4.5m to 30m
• Reinforcement may consist of longitudinal steel bars of 20-40 mm
dia, 4 to 8 no.s with lateral ties of 5-10mm wire spaced at 10 cm c/c
for top and bottom 1m length and 30cm c/c for the middle length.
• Function of reinforcement in a pre-cast pile is to resist the
stresses during handling, driving and final loading on the
pile rather than strengthen the pile to act as a column.
• Longitudinal reinforcements usually 20mm to 50mm in
diameter, stirrups 6mm to 10mm in dia.
• For 90 cm length at head and toe, stirrups spacing is 8cm
c/c and for remaining intermediate length it is about 30cm
c/c.
• Circular piles are seldom tapered. When tapered piles
length is restricted to 12m.
• A concrete cover of 5cm is maintained throughout, over the
main steel bars
 PRESTRESSED PRECAST CONCRETE
PILES
• Stronger than normal RCC piles
• Lesser cross sectional area, hence lighter and
can be easily handled.
• Greater stability to withstand extremely hard
driving
• More durable in sea water
 BORED PILES
• Formed by forming a bore hole in the ground and then
concreting it, either with the help of a casing tube or
without a casing tube.
• can be used in those locations/congested sites where
the vibrations and noise caused by driving of piles are
to be avoided,
• Where heavy pile driving machinery cannot move in
and
• Where strata of adequate bearing capacity is so deep
that they are difficult to reach by driven piles.
• 3 types – pressure piles, under reamed piles, bored
compaction piles.
 PRESSURE PILES
• Formed with the help of casing tube, boring auger and compressed air equipment.
• A 1.2 to 1.4 m long section of steel tube, 400m dia is sunk in the ground, while a
boring tube such as an auger excavates the soil.
• Further sections of casing tubes are screwed successively as boring proceeds till
the required depth is reached.
• The bored soil is continuously taken out and at the end the boring tool is taken
out and the hole is cleaned.
• A charge of concrete is placed in the tube and the upper end of the tube is closed
with the help of pressure cap.
• Compressed air is introduced through the air pipe of the pressure cap, thus forcing
the concrete down and out against the surrounding soil.
• The tube is slowly extracted. The diameter of the pile exceeds that of the tube and
rough irregular surface is formed which increases the frictional resistance of piles.
• Fresh charges of concrete are placed in the tube, before the end of the tube
comes above the previous charge of concrete and the process of compressed air
application is repeated till the complete pile is cast and the tube is completely
taken out.
 UNDER REAMED PILES
• They are bored cast in situ concrete piles having one or more bulbs
formed by enlarging the bore hole for the pile stem by an under
reaming tool.
• Used for black cotton soil, filled up ground, and soil having poor
SBC, sandy soil and high water table.
• The ground is levelled and the boring guide is correctly positioned.
• Soil inside the round collar is taken out. A spiral auger is lowered
into the round hole so formed and is then rotated making a bore
hole.
• When the auger becomes full of soil, it is taken out. The process is
repeated till the desired depth is reached.
• Thus a straight vertical bore of specified diameter is obtained.
• The under reaming tool attached with a bucket at its end is then
lowered with the help of boring guide.
• This tool consists of an assembly of two blades fixed around a
central shaft and a detachable bucket for holding the cut soil.
• When the pressure is applied, the blades gradually widen out and
cut the soil which drops in the bucket.
• When the bucket is full, a pull is applied to the handle, due to which
the blades fold out vertically and the assembly is taken out for
emptying the bucket. this process is continued until the required
size of under ream is obtained.
• The bulb so formed is inspected and measured with the help of
guide tool.
• The reinforcement cage is then lowered and concrete is gradually
placed in the hole and compacted.
 BORED COMPACTION PILES
• Modification of under reamed piles
• Advantages of both bored and driven pile.
• Method of boring similar to under reamed but
reinforcement cage is not placed in the bore hole before
concreting.
• After concreting, reinforcement cage is driven through the
freshly laid concrete.
• due to this, compaction of surrounding soil as well as
concrete are effected and the load carrying capacity is
increased by 1.5 – 2 times over the normal under reamed
piles.
• These piles are suitable in loose to medium dense sandy
and silty strata.
 STEEL PILES
• Steel piles are useful where driving conditions are difficult
and other types of piles are not suitable.
• Usually used for building and bridge foundations.
• The piles are in form of I, H sections and steel pipe piles.
They can be used for:
• Foundation piles
• Sheet piles
• Superstructure column
 Steel - H Piles
• Steel H-piles are rolled steel sections with wide flanges so that the depth
of the section and width of the flanges are of about equal dimension.
• well adapted to driving through compacted granular materials and into
soft rock.
• Suitable for structure in which piles extend above the ground level and
continue as columns.
• Useful to driving close to existing structures since they cause little
displacement of soil.
• Can be spliced by riveting, bolting or welding.
• Steel plates are welded on top of H piles to transfer the pile loads to the
concrete pile cap.
 BOX PILES
• Formed of steel sheeting
• Used to support a wharf or other sea structures
where deep water, silt and sliding banks are
present.
• Formed by welding together two sections.
• Pile is driven either with closed/ open bottom.
• May be filled with concrete to desirable depth for
strength.
• Shoes can be provided at its bottom if desired.
 Tube/pipe piles
• Made of welded pipes
• May be driven close/ open ended
• When driven with open end, the material insid
is removed and concrete is then filled inside
for strength.
 SCREW PILES
• Made of hollow cast iron or
steel shaft.
• External diameter -15 – 30 cm
which may terminate into a
helix or screw base.
• Various types of point are used.
• Blunt point – sand or clay
• Gimlet point – gravel
• Hollow conical point – sand,
sand and gravel mix
• Serrated point – soft rock.
 Disc piles
• Consists of hollow cast iron pipe with a disc or casting of enlarged
size at bottom to enlarge the bearing area to great extent.
• Diameter of disc may vary from 60 – 120 cm.
• Hole is provided at the bottom to facilitate jetting of harder strata.
• Disc is supported by a number of radial ribs
• Useful in subsoil consisting of sands or sandy silt and for marine
structures.
 COMPOSITE PILES
• Made of two portions of different materials
driven one above the other.
• Two common types
1) timber and concrete
2) steel and concrete
 TIMBER AND CONCRETE COMPOSITE
PILES
• Timber portion used below permanent or lowest water
level while concrete piles usually cast in situ is formed
above it.
• Advantages of both piles are combined
• Total cost of the pile is reduced.
• A steel casing tube and steel core are driven into the
ground well below the lowest water level.
• Core is withdrawn and timber pile is placed.
• Timber pile is driven down to the predetermined level and
a charge of concrete is placed in the casing on top of timber
pile.
• Pressure is maintained on concrete and the tube is slightly
withdrawn.
Steel and concrete composite piles
• Is used where the required length of pile is greater than that
available for the cast in situ type and where satisfactory penetration
of the pile into rock is required for heavy loads.
• Consists of steel pile or H pile attached to the lower end of concrete
piles.
• The steel H section is driven first guided through steel casing tube
and concrete pile is then formed above it gradually removing the
casing.
• H section extends 1.5 to 2 m into the concrete.
 Sand piles
• Usually compaction piles
• A bore of required diameter 20 -40 cm is
formed and is filled with sand which is then
well rammed.
• Water is added to sand while compacting it.
• Top of pile is filled with concrete to prevent
the upward movement of sand.
• may be 2 to 5m deep with 1m filled with
concrete.
 Sheet piles
• Thin piles made of plates of concrete, timber or steel driven
into the ground for either separating members or for
stopping seepage of water.
• Not meant for carrying vertical load.
• Functions include:
1) to enclose a site to prevent escape of loose subsoil or sand
2) to retain sides of trenches
3) to form watertight enclosure
4) for retaining walls in marine structures
5) protect river banks
6) to confine soil
 Concrete sheet piles
• Reinforced precast units
• Width – 50-60 cm and thickness – 2-6 cm
 Timber sheet piles
• Used for temporary works
• Width – 225-280cm , thickness not less than
50mm.
 Steel sheet piles
• Most commonly used
• Trough shaped and when driven, piles ae
interlocked with with alternate ones reversed.
• Available in different shapes.
• Width – 20 -30 cm and 4-5m long.
 PILE CAP
• When the load carrying structural component is supported
one more than one pile, the piles should be connected
through a rigid pile cap to distribute the loads to individual
piles.
• It consists of rigid, deep, RC slab of uniform thickness.
• Piles should be arranged symmetrically about the axis of
column so that the load from column is distributed
uniformly to all the piles.
• Pile cap should be extended beyond exterior piles by 10 to
15 cms
• Piles should be embedded by at least 15cm in the pile cap
and the reinforcement placed at least 10 cm above pile
head.
 CAISSONS – WELL FOUNDATION
• A box like structure, round or rectangular,
which is sunk from the surface of either land
or water to some desired depth.
3 types –
• box caissons,
• open caissons(well) and
• pneumatic caissons
 Box caissons
• Open at top and closed at bottom
• Can be made of timber, reinforced concrete or steel.
• Built on land, transported to site and sunk in position
• Used where bearing strata is at shallow depth and where loads are not
heavy.
• Closed box caissons- for breakwaters and seawalls.
• Before placing, bearing surface is prepared.
• In normal practice, the soft natural bottom soil of the river bed is dredged
out to some depth and the trench thus formed is filled with sand to have a
levelled base.
• The function of the sand layer is to uniformly distribute the superimposed
loads over the soil below and thus avoid tilting of the caisson.

• Caisson is then sunk by filling it with suitable material like sand, gravel, or
concrete in the empty space inside.
 Open caissons
• Open at both top and end.
• Building and bridge foundation
• Foundations more than 5 to 7m depth – costly and
uneconomical.
• Available in different shapes.
a) Single circular
b) Rectangular
c) Twin circular
d) Dumb well
e) Double D
f) Twin hexagonal
g) Twin octagonal
 Well components
• Cutting edge
• Curb
• Steining
• Bottom plug
• Well cap
• Top plug
• Sand filling
• Cutting edge : provides sharp edge to cut the soil below
during sinking operation.
• Curb : during sinking it acts as extension of cutting edge
and provide support to the well. It is made of RCC.
• Steining : it is main body of the well. Made of RCC or
masonry with minimum thickness of 45 cm.
• Bottom plug : made of concrete and designed for an
upward load.
• Top plug : it supports the well cap.
• Well cap : it transfers the load from pier to the well.
• Sand filling : it transfers a portion of load from well cap to
the bottom plug
• Choice of a particular shape depends on –
• Dimensions of base of pier
• Care and cost of sinking
• Considerations of tilt and shift during sinking
• Vertical and horizontal forces to which the
well is subjected.
 Pneumatic caissons
• Closed at top and open at bottom
• Compressed air is used to remove water from the
working chamber at the bottom and excavations
are carried out in dry conditions
• Working chamber is kept airtight
• pressure of air in working chamber is kept higher
than that of surrounding water pressure.
• Used where it is difficult to use bulky equipment
for sinking.
 TIMBERING OF TRENCHES
• The trenches for foundation of walls and columns
should be excavated to the exact width and depth.
• If the soil is firm and depth of foundation is low, sides
of trench may remain vertical for days.
• But if the trench is deep and the soil is not firm, the
sides of the trenches may be sloped or if vertical, must
be supported by wooden planks or boarding known as
timbering.
• Timbering of trenches also known as shoring consists
of providing timber planks or boards and struts to ive
temporary support to the sides of trenches.
 Methods of timbering
• Stay bracing
• Box sheeting
• Vertical sheeting
• Runner system
• Sheet piling
 Stay bracing
• For supporting sides excavated in
firm soil
• Used when depth of excavation do
not exceed 2 metres.
• Consists of placing vertical sheets or
polling boards opposite each other
against the two walls of trench and
holding them in position by one or
two rows of struts.
• Sheets are placed at an interval of 2-
4 m and extend to full height of the
trench.
• Polling board may have a width of
200mm and thickness of 40 to
50mm.
 Box sheeting
• Adopted in loose soils
• Depth of excavation do not
exceed 4m
• Consists of vertical sheets
placed very near to each
other and keeping them in
position by longitudinal rows
of wales.
• Struts are then provided
across the wales
• For very loose soils, sheeting
is provided longitudinally and
are supported by vertical
wales and horizontal struts
• If height is more braces are
provided along with struts.
 Vertical sheeting
• Adopted for deep
trenches(upto 10m) in soft
ground
• Similar to box sheeting, except
that the excavation is carried
out in stages and at end of each
stage, an offset is provided so
that the width of trench goes
on decreasing as the depth
increases.
• Each stage is limited to 3m in
height and offset may vary from
25 to 50 cm per stage.
 Runner system
• Used in extremely loose and
soft ground which needs
immediate support as
excavation progresses.
• In this system, vertical sheeting
or runners made of long thick
wooden sheets with iron shoe
at the ends are provided.
• Wales and struts are provided
as usual.
• These runners are driven about
30 cm in advance of the
progress of work by hammering.