PreliminaryTestPiles

According to the guidance furnished by Stems Consultants (Pte) Ltd, Geotech Ltd carried out the soil investigation at this site during the period of December 2010 to January 2011 in a dry spell with intermittent rain. A soil investigation report (dated 3rd January 2011) was compiled by Prof. B L Tennakoon based on the information gathered from eight numbers of bore holes. It has been found out that the rock has vertical fractures and due to this reasons Rock Quality Designation (RQD) is found to be very low and the end bearing capacity of rock (allowable load bearing capacity of rock) is also very low. If this low capacity is used to design foundations (piles) will not be economical and will appear almost not practical. Since the initial investigation has been carried out by using a double core barrel, we requested to use a triple core barrel and bore two additional holes to verify whether good rock sample could be obtained. There has been a little improvement, however the improvement is insignificant. Therefore Prof. B L Tennakoon has recommended carrying out two numbers of 1000mm diameters preliminary test piles at this site. These piles should be docketed into the hard rock approximately, a length of 5.0m. Further the piles are to be tested by Pile Dynamic Analizer (PDA) method for a failure load to establish the design load carrying capacity of the pile based on the stresses of rock in end bearing and also on skin friction of soil and rock.

METHOD STATEMENT FOR PILE DYNAMIC ANALYZER ( PDA ) INTRODUCTION 1.1 Geotech Testing Services (Pvt) Ltd introduced the electronic pile testing technology using the Low Strain Pulse Echo Pile Integrity Testing (PIT) and High Strain Pile Dynamic Analyzer (PDA) to Sri Lanka. Since then more than 3500 PIT tests and 500 PDA tests have been conducted. The capacity of piles tested using the PDA technique exceeds 2500 tons. 1.2 Dynamic pile testing is performed using the Pile Driving Analyser (PDA). The PDA/CAPWAP system has been developed by Pile Dynamics Inc, USA and has been in use worldwide for more than 30 years. Dynamic Pile Testing is now officially recognized in the ASTM standard D-4945-89 and ICE (UK) standard. The Pile Driving Analyzer (PDA) is both a field data acquisition unit as well as a computer unit for onsite data assessment. The CAPWAP computer software allows full and accurate analysis of the PDA field data. The CAPWAP facility, is office based, and will be available for the analysis of data. Only an engineer with extensive experience on the usage of PDA will analyze the data with the CAPWAP program package. This will guarantee quality results.

1.0 DYNAMIC PILE TESTING EQUIPMENT The testing equipment include a Pile Driving Analyzer (PDA) which is Manufactured by Pile Dynamics Inc. USA Dynamics measurements of force and Velocity waves are captured by two pairs of gauges attached on the pile. These Gauges are connected to the PDA via a transducer cable.

2.0 TEST PROCEDURE

3.1

Dynamic pile test can be conducted on pre cast piles by means of a heavy impact at the pile head. The impact is often provided by a suitable drop weight and the response is measured in terms of force and acceleration close to the pile head. The pile driving hammer can also be used for this purpose at the end of the driving operations. It is necessary that then hammer is allowed to drop freely to impart adequate energy to the pile. This is done using either a freefall facility of the crane used to handle the drop weight or by using a tripping mechanism. The weight of the drop hammer used depends on the test capacity of the pile. The requirement is to be able to impart adequate energy to mobilize the pile capacity by moving it under the hammer blow to offer the full resistance. This consists of the end toe resistance as well as the viscous resistance offered by the soil surrounding the pile. The energy required is derived by the weight f the hammer as well as the drop height In general 1.0 to1.5 % of the test capacity is used .The

drop height is about 750 mm to 1.0 m and can be increased if the energy transfer is inadequate to mobilize the required capacity of the pile. However, what is required is the ability to provide enough energy by the falling weight, which is the product of weight and height. As such there is flexibility in choosing the hammer weight. The range indicated is a general range used in practice. It is possible to use higher weights. But a smaller weight is not recommended as this requires greater drop heights, which may cause poor test data. 3.2 The exposed length of pile has to be at least 1.0 diameter or width of the pile or 1.0 m whichever is greater above the penetration level for pile instrumentation. 3.3 The pile head will be protected for the impact by means of steel casing if considered necessary to protect the pile top being damaged. 3.4 A guide frame will be positioned onto the pile. The frame is used to guide the drop weight under the fall. If the pile driving hammer is used this frame would not be necessary. 3.5 Pile head cushion material is usually placed on top of the pile head so as to protect the pile head from damage under the hammer fall. 3.6 3 nos. of 6 mm diameter holes are drilled on two opposite sides of the pile for attachment of gauges at 1.5 diameters (or width) below the pile top. Two pairs of force transducer and accelerometer are bolted onto the pile using wall plugs. 3.7 During testing, the transducers will be connected to the Pile Driving Analyzer and its associated storage computer equipment via a main 19-wire cable (up to 50m long). 3.8 A piling hammer can be used to induce a driving force on to the pile. The drop weight is positioned and drop onto the pile under controlled height (a minimum of two impact records). Dynamic measurement of force and velocity will be collected by gauges attached to the pile. This data will be processed by the PDA to give immediate visual and permanent record onsite. 3.9 Each blow monitored by the PDA will be displayed on the built-in LCD screen/oscilloscope in the form of force and velocity traces for immediate data quality control and computation. The PDA will also provide onsite results such as: 1) Mobilized static load capacity based on the CASE method. 2) Pile Integrity - location and extent of damage. 3) Pile Stresses - maximum compression forces at pile top/ toe. 4) Hammer Performance - maximum energy transferred to the pile. 3.10 The transducers and accelerometers will be dismantled at the end of testing. PDA data will be transferred and stored in a disk for subsequent report and analysis. 3.11 The above procedure will be repeated for the next pile test. 3.12 A survey of the pile top is taken before and after the testing to obtain the permanent set per blow. The client is also to provide the bore log information

and pile construction record for the test pile. 3.13 The arrangement of the pile and the drop weight and frames are illustrated in the drawings and photographs attached.

3.0 SAFETY AND VIBRATION CONTROL

The PDA testing system requires the use of heavy weights and the use of cranes and other lifting and moving equipment for handling such weights. Special safety and precautionary measures are adopted for the safety of the personnel and the surrounding structures. 4.1 All lifting equipment and accessories are checked prior to use for any Damage 4.2 The guide frame is securely placed on the platform surrounding the pile and is tied to suitable anchors to prevent the frame form toppling when the hammer weight is dropped. 4.3 The hammer guide is designed to be stable when placed on the platform which is leveled and confirmed to be firm. The guide is able to ensure that the hammer weight is dropped squarely on the pile. 4.4 All staff is moved away from the testing area before the weight is dropped. 4.5 The tripping mechanism allows the weight to be released without any whiplash on the crane as the load is taken by the hydraulic clutch and the load is released from the crane prior to the drop. 4.6 To avoid any excessive vibrations due to the hammer drop, adequately heavy hammer weights are used to minimize the drop height and thereby the vibration. 4.7 A trench is always dug around the pile to minimize the propagation of any vibrations away from the pile location. 4.8 A suitable vibration monitor is used to measure the strength of any vibrations that may be felt at the boundary of the project site, using a short hammer drop, prior to performing the test proper to evaluate the level of potential vibrations. 4.9 The vibration monitoring will be continued during the entirely of the testing procedure.

4.0 DATA ASSESSMENT AND CAPWAP ANALYSIS

5.1

The pile top force and velocity signals recorded in the field will be processed and a representative blow will be selected for further analysis using the CAPWAP suite of computer software. CAPWAP analysis involves applying the measured pile top force/velocity time

record as a boundary condition to a wave equation model of the pile comprising of continuous segments. The soil model is continuously adjusted in an iterative procedure until the computed pile top force time record is in close agreement to the measured pile top force time record. When good agreement is obtained between measured and computed pile top data the soil resistance parameters are assumed to provide the best accurate model of the actual soil behavior. 5.2
A typical presentation of the CAPWAP results will be as follows: 1) CAPWAP model - a match curve of computed pile top force to the measured pile top force time record. 2) Total computed soil capacity - sum of Skin Friction and Toe Bearing. 3) Computed Load against Settlement curve.

5.0 REPORTING
6.1

Initial results are normally available within two working days of the completion of each test. These shall include the following: a) The assumed damping factor b) The assumed wave speed c) The maximum force applied to the pile head d) The maximum pile head velocity e) The maximum energy imparted to the pile f) The maximum tension force experience by the pile g) The field estimated static resistance h) The maximum driving stresses A full report shall be submitted within 10 days of the completion of testing. This report shall include the following: a. Report all information given in preliminary report b. Information of pile size and working load c. Date of pile installation d. Date of test e. Pile identification and location f. Length of pile below existing surface g. Total pile length, including projection above existing surface at time of h. testing i. Length of pile from instrumentation position to pile toe j. Hammer type k. Best estimated static capacity l. Pile integrity m. Force/velocity versus time trace n. Computed load versus settlement

6.2