An investigation of the Bearing Capacity of Some Bored and Driven Piles in London Clay

Synopsis The article describes a soil investigation and loading tests which were made on bored and driven concrete piles in London clay to study their bearing capacity and settlement. It was found that the shearing strength of the fissured clay decreased rapidly with time after sampling, due to opening of the fissures which could not be closed sufficiently by large triaxial pressures. Water from concrete of bored piles installed in an unlined auger borehole softens the clay and this softening could not be avoided except by an unworkable dry mix. Whilst the point resistance can be based on the natural shearing strength, the skin friction of these bored piles is closely given by the fully softened strength. On the other hand, the skin friction of concrete piles driven into stiff to hard clay seems to have an upper limit of 2,000 lb. per square foot. At a factor of safety of 3 against shearing failure, the settlement of widely spaced bored and driven piles in London clay is unlikely to be greater than 1 inch...