Challenges and Recommendations for Steel H-Piles Driven in Soft Rock

Abstract

The capacity of a pile driven in soft rock depends on soil confinement along the pile and rock at its toe; these are rarely known during design. This design challenge often leads to a large discrepancy between estimated and measured resistances. Results of six bridge projects completed in Wyoming, USA, are presented to highlight the challenges pertaining to present design and construction practices of driven piles in rock. The results show that static analysis methods, dynamic analysis methods, and structural analyses yield inconsistent pile resistance estimations. A recommendation considering the structure-geo-material interaction is proposed to improve the design and construction of steel H-piles driven in soft rock.