Thejobsite

A solution was sought that would

enable the driving of open-ended
steel pipe piles, with diameters
between 400 and 600 mm, and
lengths varying between 15 and
60 meters, in those adverse
conditions.

During the rainy season

During the dry season

The compressive design load for

the piles varied from 600 KN to
1100 KN, and the uplift loads
varied from 400 to 700 KN.

Localgeologyandsoildescription
Cenozoic sedimentary deposits, typical of the
sedimentary plains associated with the fluvial
system where they are located .

Local subsoil consists of sandy and clayey sediments,

with layers of gravel and unconsolidated and semiconsolidated organic material.
Depth(m)

SoilDescription

0 3.00

Siltyclay,mediumtosoft

3.00 21.00

Finesiltysand,loosetomediumdense

21.00 26.00

Finesiltysand,densetomediumdense

26.00 48.00

Siltyclay,mediumtostiff

48.00 49.45

Sand,poorlygraded,dense

Table 2: Soil boring for Tower 205

Theneedforanexperimentalsite
The initial dimensioning of the diameters and lengths of the piles was done utilizing semiempirical methods widely used in Brazil.
A minimum total number of hammer blows and a minimum penetration depth were established as
field verification criteria.
Early in the pile driving process it became clear that the criteria defined in the project were not
adequate for the job.
The discrepancies between the predicted and actual behaviors were too great. This was
attributed to the inadequacy of the semi-empirical methods used, which were developed based
on correlations between NSPT and Static Load Tests (SLT) results carried out in the Southern
part of Brazil.
The conditions in the Alagados region made the execution of SLT difficult and expensive.
Dynamic Load Tests using the Pile Driving Analyzer (PDA) would allow the testing of a larger
number of piles.
In order to validate the PDA results, comparisons of SLT and PDA results on test piles were
deemed necessary.

TheExperimentalSite

Depth(m)

Comparison of SPT results

between a typical boring in the
"Alagados" region and in the
Experimental Test Site in Porto
de Moz (Campo).
0
1 0
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35

The tests performed in the Experimental Test Site indicated good

agreement between the results of static load tests carried to failure
with those obtained with the PDA combined with the CAPWAP
method.

10 15 20 25 30 35 40

EP01

EP02

EP03

EP04

Diameter

400 mm

600 mm

400 mm

400 mm

EP05
600 mm

Length of Penetration

23.0 m

21.5 m

22.0 m

22.0 m

22.0 m

Driving date

24/02/2012

25/02/2012

04/03/2012

05/03/2012

07/03/2012

Total nr. of blows

1502

1985

1694

917

1768

Static Load Test

27/02/2012

29/02/2012

24/03/2012

23/03/2012

22/03/2012

SLT Uplift

1550 KN

1370 KN

1570 KN

1470 KN

1710 KN

PDA Test

25/02/2012

25/02/2012

15/03/2012

15/03/2012

15/03/2012

Days after EOD

11

10

PDA Shaft

1460 KN

1275 KN

1180 KN

1130 KN

1670 KN

Main results of Static and Dynamic Load Tests at the Experimental Test Site

SPT(blows/0.3m)
Alagados

Campo

PileDrivingAnalyzer(PDA)tests

Results from the Experimental Test Site led to

choosing the PDA test results as the pile
acceptance criteria.
At least one pile was tested on each tower.
The piles for testing were chosen mainly based
on their position in relation to the barge, so that
the least amount of time would be spent on its
positioning.

Results

Attempting to determine the rate of increase in skin

friction with time due to the setup effect, 17 tests
were selected among the almost 300 performed.
Knowing that the soils in the region most of the time
exhibited a substantial gain in skin friction with time,
if the results of a first test were not satisfactory a
new test was carried out a few days later.
Retesting the piles with the PDA at different times
after initial driving confirmed that the uplift and
compression loads of the piles had increased to the
levels required by the project, allowing great savings
in time and cost.

140%
120%
Skinfrictionincrease

The tests in the Experimental Test Site indicated an

increase in the capacity due to the setup effect,
between end of drive and a restrike test performed
ten days later.

100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
0

10

15

20

25

30

EODBORtime(days)

Wide dispersion of skin friction

increase with time along 80 km of
Transmission Line

Conclusions
Adequately dimensioning the navigation of the equipment is important, since installing the
foundations in the flooded areas is much more expensive than in other areas of the job, and
for environmental reasons.
Large and heavy driving equipment is not adequate for navigating the floodplains of the rivers
in the Amazon region.
Light driving rigs on low draft barges seem to be the ideal solution.
It is necessary to limit the diameter of open-ended steel pipe piles to about 600 mm (24
inches), since the ram weights should not exceed 50 KN.
The use of tugs is discouraged due to the submerged vegetation; light barges, using the shell
of a hydraulic excavator for propulsion should be used instead.
Traditional foundation design methods are not adequate for this region. New geotechnical
studies are necessary in the floodplains of the rivers in the Amazon region, aimed at
establishing more reliable design methods.
Intensive use of Dynamic Load Tests with the PDA, confirmed by Static Load Tests should be
mandatory.

Thankyou
Acknowledgment:
Wewanttothanktheownerofthisproject,Isolux Infraestruturas,fortheirsupport
andgoodwillwiththistestprogram.