136

Piling equipment and methods

The American Concrete Institute(6.13) recommends using an over-sanded mix for placing
concrete in raking pile shells or tubes. A concrete mix containing 475 kg/m3 of coarse
aggregate with a corresponding increase in cement and sand to give a slump of 100 mm is
recommended. This mix can be pumped down the raking tube.
3.4.12

Positional tolerances

It is impossible to install a pile, whether by driving, drilling or jacking, so that the head of
the completed pile is always exactly in the intended position or that the axis of the pile is
truly vertical or at the specified rake. Driven piles tend to move out of alignment during
installation due to obstructions in the ground or the tilting of the piling frame leaders.
Driving piles in groups can cause horizontal ground movements which deflect the piles. In
the case of bored piles the auger can wander from the true position or the drilling rig may
tilt due to the wheels or tracks sinking into a poorly prepared platform. However, controlling the positions of piles is necessary since misalignment affects the design of pile caps and
ground beams (see Sections 7.8 and 7.9), and deviations from alignment may cause interference between adjacent piles in a group or dangerous concentrations of load at the toe.
Accordingly, codes of practice specify tolerances in the position of pile heads or deviations
from the vertical or intended rake. If these are exceeded, action is necessary either to
redesign the pile caps as may be required or to install additional piles to keep the working
loads within the allowable values.
Some codes of practice requirements are as follows:
BS 8004: Driven and cast-in-place, and bored and cast-in-place piles should not deviate by
more than 1 in 75 from the vertical, or more than 75 mm from their designed position at the
level of the piling rig. Larger tolerances can be considered for work over water or raking piles.
A deviation of up to 1 in 25 is permitted for bored piles drilled at rakes of up to 1 in 4.
BS EN 1536: Plan location tolerances are given in Clause 7.2 for diameters of vertical and
raking bored piles less than 1000 mm diameter: 100 mm, between 1000 and 1500 mm:
0.1  diameter, and greater than 1500 mm: 150 mm. Deviation in inclination of vertical
piles and piles designed for a rake less than 1 in 15 is limited to 20 mm/m run of pile. For
piles designed with a rake of between 1 in 4 and 1 in 15 the deviation is limited to 40 mm/m.
BS EN 12699: The plan location tolerance (at working level) given in Clause 7.3 for
vertical and raking displacement piles is 100 mm. Deviation for vertical and raking piles is
40 mm/m. The deviations in this code must be taken into account in the design. Both the
new codes allow other tolerances to be specified.
BS 6349: Part 2 Code of Practice for Maritime Structures: A deviation of up to 1 in 100
is permitted for vertical piles driven in sheltered waters or up to 1 in 75 for exposed sites.
The deviation for raking piles should not exceed 1 in 30 from the specified rake for sheltered
waters or 1 in 25 for exposed sites. The centre of piles at the junction with the superstructure
should be within 75 mm for piles driven on land or in sheltered waters. Where piles are
driven through rubble slopes the code permits a positional tolerance of up to 100 mm, and
for access trestles and jetty heads a tolerance of 75 to 150 mm is allowed depending on the
exposure conditions.
Institution of Civil Engineers(2.5): Positional maximum deviation of centre point of pile
to centre point on the setting out drawing not more than 75 mm, but additional tolerance for
pile cut-off below ground level. Verticality maximum deviation of finished pile from the

Piling equipment and methods 137

vertical is 1 in 75. Maximum deviation of finished pile from the specified rake is 1 in 25 for
piles raking up to 1:6 and 1 in 15 for piles raking more than 1:6. Relaxation permitted in
exceptional circumstances subject to implications of this action. Other more stringent tolerances are specified for diaphragm walls and secant and contiguous piles.
American Concrete Institute Recommendations: The position of the pile head is to be
within 75 to 150 mm for the normal usage of piles beneath a structural slab. The axis may
deviate by up to 10% of the pile length for completely embedded vertical piles or for all
raking piles, provided the pile axis is driven straight. For vertical piles extending above the
ground surface the maximum deviation is 2% of the pile length, except that 4% can be
permitted if the resulting horizontal load can be taken by the pile-cap structure. For bent
piles the allowable deviation is 2% to 4% of the pile length depending on the soil conditions
and the type of bend (e.g. sharp or gentle). Severely bent piles must be evaluated by soil
mechanics calculations or checked by loading tests.
The significance of positional tolerance to piling beneath deep basements is noted in
Section 5.9.

3.5

Constructing piles in groups

So far only the installation of single piles has been discussed. The construction of groups of
piles can have cumulative effects on the ground within and surrounding the pile group.
These effects are occasionally beneficial but more frequently have deleterious effects on the
load/settlement characteristics of the piles and can damage surrounding property.
Precautions can be taken against these effects by the installation methods and sequence of
construction adopted. Because the problems are more directly concerned with the bearing
capacity and settlement of the group as a whole, rather than with the installation of the piles,
they are discussed in Sections 5.7 to 5.9.

3.6
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6

3.7
3.8
3.9

References
GEDDES, W. G. N., STURROCK, K. R., and KINDER, G. New shipbuilding dock at Belfast for Harland and
Wolff Ltd, Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Vol. 51, January 1972, pp. 1747.
FAWCETT, A. The performance of the resonant pile driver, Proceedings of the 8th International
Conference, ISSMFE, Moscow, Vol. 2.1, 1973, pp. 8996.
RODGER, A. A. and LITTLEJOHN, G. A. Study of vibratory driving in granular soils, Geotechnique,
Vol. 30, No. 3, 1980, pp. 26993.
VIKING, K. The vibratory pile installation technique, Pile Driver, Pile Driving Contractors
Association, USA, Spring 2005, pp. 2735.
American Petroleum Institute, Recommended Practice for Planning, Designing and
Constructing Fixed Offshore Platforms, API RP2A, 2000 edn.
WILLIS, A. J. and CHURCHER, D. W. How much noise do you make? A guide to assessing and managing noise on construction sites, Construction Industry Research and Information Association
(CIRIA), London, Report PR 70, 1999.
WELTMAN, A. J. (ed.), Noise and vibration from piling operations, Construction Industry Research
and Information Association (CIRIA), London, Report PSA/CIRIA PG7, 1980.
SHELBOURNE, H. Decibel rating-the important factor, Construction News, Piling and foundations
supplement, 13 December 1973, p. 47.
Building Research Establishment. Damage to Structures from Ground-borne Vibration, BRE
Digest 403, Watford, 1995.