On the quality of driven piles construction based on risk analysis

Driven Precast Reinforced Concrete Piles (DPRCP) is extensively used as a foundation for bridges constructed over canals in Egypt in order to avoid the diversion of water canals. The objectives of this research include identifying the main activities of DPRCP execution in the bridge-construction industry in Egypt and the risk factors affecting them. In addition, assessment of the effects of these risk factors on the quality of activities of DPRCP. Four activities are identified in order to execute the process of construction of DPRCP. These activities include: preparing and casting piles, positioning piles and steering the driving machine, handling piles, and driving piles. Thirty one risk factors affecting the DPRCP activities execution are identified. A survey was executed in Egypt concerning probabilities of occurrence of these factors and their impacts on the quality of activities of DPRCP. In addition, a new membership function is introduced to represent the quality of activities and used in a fuzzy model for factors assessment. Results showed that the proposed membership function can be used effectively to assess the quality of activities associated with the construction of DPRCP. A list of risk factors is highlighted to show the most critical risk factors that help in preparing the quality management plan for the upcoming similar projects. The gentile distribution of data obtained for the different activities proved that the investigated risk factors for the DPRCP in this study are significant.