PERVIOUS CONCRETE PILE

YOGESH R V
M V TARUN KUMAR
IDDP
AcSIR
CSIR-CBRI
Foundation Issues
Soil supporting foundations of structures or embankments need to
satisfy two conditions:
• Bearing capacity: can resist applied loads without failure
• Allowable settlement: does not experience excessive settlement
Large
Non uniform settlement
Settlement

Sandy Soil Sandy Soil Sandy Soil

Soft/Loose Soil Soft/Loose Soil Soft/Loose Soil

Bed Rock Bed Rock Bed Rock

• When saturated soils are loaded, the water will be squeezed out.
• This process is very slow in fine (clay or silt) soils.
• This process is called consolidation.
• Engineers can make this process happen faster during construction, if
allowed by construction schedule.
• If not, soil can be improved or deep foundations could be used.
What is Pervious Concrete Pile(PCP) ?
It is a slender column or long cylinder made of mixture of Portland
cement, gap graded aggregate and water with or without a small amount
of fine aggregates.

Core sample of PCP

source: Zhang,j(2017)
Properties of pervious concrete pile
• High permeability
• High porosity
• Compressive strength is more compared to granular piles
• High bearing capacity
Advantages
• It has  large number of connective pores within the aggregate skeleton.
• The permeability is typically between 6 to 10 mm/s.
• Therefore, piles made by pervious concrete have fast
drainage with high bearing capacity.
• The fast drainage capacity of PCP can accelerate the
dissipation of excess pore water pressure and prevent
liquefaction.
• It accelerates rate of consolidation of subsoil, and reduce the
post-construction settlement of the upper construction such
as road embankment.
Disadvantages
• Clogging of pervious concrete pile
1.clogging occurrence during the operation period by soil piping.
2.clogging due to micro bridge network formation which leads to
soil piping formation.
3.clogging during installation of pile.
 Clogging occurrence during the operation period by soil
piping.

Schematic of pervious concrete pile (PCP) clogging caused by soil piping

Source: X.Cui(2018)
Clogging due to micro bridge network formation which
leads to soil piping formation

Micro bridge network formation

Source: Rollin and Lombard (1988)
clogging during installation of pile
During the installation of a PCP via vibratory construction methods,
the natural subsoil adjacent to the pile may experience local liquefaction
due to strong vibration induced by the migration of excess pore pressure
fine soil particles into the piles during pervious concrete hardening.
Summery
The various properties of PCP has made engineers
choice over other ground improvement techniques ,but
the clogging of PCP limited the use of this pile.
References
• Cui, X., Zhang, J., Chen, D., Li, S., Jin, Q., Zheng, Y. and Cui, S., 2018. Clogging of pervious concrete
pile caused by soil piping: an approximate experimental study. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, [online]
55(7), pp.999-1015. Available at: <https://doi.org/10.1139/cgj-2018-0339> [Accessed 16 June 2020].
• Rollin, A. and Lombard, G., 1988. Mechanisms affecting long-term filtration behavior of
geotextiles. Geotextiles and Geomembranes, [online] 7(1-2), pp.119-145. Available at:
<https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0266114488900210?via%3Dihub> [Accessed 16
June 2020].
• Zhang, J., Cui, X., Lan, R., Zhao, Y., Lv, H., Xue, Q. and Chang, C., 2017. Dynamic Performance
Characteristics of Pervious Concrete Pile Composite Foundations under Earthquake Loads. Journal of
Performance of Constructed Facilities, [online] 31(5), p.04017064. Available at:
<http://10.1061/(ASCE)CF.1943-5509.0001056> [Accessed 16 June 2020].