Research on ground anchors in non-cohesive soils

Full scale field tests on anchors have been performed in one and the same gravelly sand compacted to various densities. During the pullout tests the distribution of skin friction along the fixed anchor length was determined from strain gauge measurements. The results of 5 series of tests comprising 30 anchors complement a previously published design chart and give an additional correlation between carrying capacity of anchors and number of blows of penetration tests. The variation of skin friction along fixed anchor length with increasing load or with load kept constant over a longer period of time, helps to explain the influence of soil density and fixed anchor length on the carrying capacity and longterm behaviour of anchors.