Setup Prediction of Piles Driven into Louisiana Soft Clays

Based on the pile restrike data collected by the Louisiana Department of Transportation of Development (LADOTD) from the construction of phase 1B of the LA-1 relocation project, the Skov-Denvor (1988) pile setup prediction model has been implemented as a baseline by using the average unit skin friction and the normalized pile resistances. The pile resistance data were achieved from the CAPWAP analyses on restrikes of the piles from the North Connector segment. The research shows that for the soft clay soils at the LA-1 relocation project site a conservative setup parameter A of 0.2 may be used for predicting the shaft capacities. In addition, a growth-rate based capacity prediction model was developed. The rate-based model was compared with the Skov-Denver model, and it is found that the model gives better predictions. Furthermore, this rate-based model can be employed to estimate the ultimate pile resistance.