Pile Damage Assessments Using the Pile Driving Analyzer

The use of the Pile Driving Analyzer (PDA) for monitoring piles during driving has been advanced significantly over the past several years. While the pile capacity and energy transferred to the pile head are usually considered the most important output quantities, the measured pile stresses are also of significant value. Often the driving stresses control how piles are to be installed as excessive stresses will result in pile damage. Identifying such damage may often be difficult if dynamic measurements are not employed. Even when dynamic measurements are used the observed damage may be difficult to predict and/or identify during the testing procedures. This paper will present the results from the several dynamic pile testing programs where pile damaged has been observed. Examples of damaged piles will include steel, concrete, and timber pile types. The dynamic stress waves will be shown both before and after pile damage occurs and the suspected pile failure mode will be discussed. This information will be discussed to help other professionals who may use PDA data on an occasional basis, better understand how the PDA data is analyzed.