TESTS OF STEEL TUBULAR PILES DRIVEN NEAR SAIGON RIVER, VIETNAM
ONE OF THE FOREIGN AID PROJECTS OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT CONSISTS OF BUILDING 30 KILOMETERS OF NEW HIGHWAY FROM THE CITY OF SAIGON NORTH. THIS HIGHWAY CROSSES MANY SMALLER STREAMS AND CANALS AS WELL AS THE TWO LARGE RIVERS, THE SAIGON AND THE DONG NAI. CORE DRILLINGS SHOWED QUITE A VARIATION IN SUBSOIL CHARACTERISTICS. AT THE SOUTHERN END OF THE HIGHWAY, NO ROCK WAS FOUND WITHIN THE LIMITS OF THE DRILLING EQUIPMENT. THE SUBSOIL CONSISTED OF VARYING DEPTHS OF ORGANIC MUCK OVER LAYING STRATA OF CLAY AND SAND. THE NORTHERN END OF THE HIGHWAY SHOWED A GOOD GRADE OF ROCK AT DEPTHS OF LESS THAN 100 FEET. THE SUBSOIL CONDITION ON THE SOUTHERN END DICTATED THE USE OF PILES FOR ALL STRUCTURES. ON THE NORTHERN END, POINT-BEARING PILES OF STEEL ROLLED SECTIONS WERE USED. PILES OF HIGH CAPACITY WERE ACHIEVED FOR THE SOUTHERN END BY THE USE OF FRICTIONAL DISPLACEMENT PILES CALLING FOR STEEL TUBULAR PILES OF SOME TYPE. A 20-IN. TUBULAR PIPE PILE WAS SELECTED FOR THE SUBSTRUCTURE OF PRESTRESSED CONCRETE BEAM BRIDGES. A CONTINUOUS PLATE GIRDER WAS THE DESIGN SELECTED FOR THE MAJOR 880-FT. CROSSING OF THE SAIGON RIVER. THIS BRIDGE WAS TO INCORPORATE 80-FT. PRESTRESSED BEAM APPROACH SPANS ON PILE TRESTLE BENTS. PILES WERE DRIVEN FROM A FLOATING BARGE WITH A MCKIERNAN-TERRY C-5 DOUBLE ACTING STEAM HAMMER. TEST PILES WERE DRIVEN NEAR EACH BANK OF THE SAIGON RIVER WITH THE IDEA OF USING A 20-IN. TUBULAR PILE ON THE APPROACH SPANS AND A FLUTED PILE UNDER THE MAIN PIERS. ONE PILE OF EACH TYPE WAS DRIVEN ON BOTH THE NORTH AND SOUTH BANKS. AFTER THE PILES WERE DRIVEN, THEY WERE CUT OFF AT THE REQUIRED ELEVATION AND LEFT TO SET SEVERAL DAYS AND THEN FILLED WITH CONCRETE. LOAD TESTS WERE CONDUCTED ON THESE PILES. THE FOLLOWING GENERAL CONCLUSIONS WERE MADE FROM THESE TESTS: (1) LARGE LOAD CAPACITY CAN BE OBTAINED FROM LARGE DIAMETER STEEL PIPE PILES DRIVEN DEEPLY INTO SEDIMENTARY DEPOSITS OF CLAY AND SAND, (2) THE PREDICTED CAPACITY FROM THE DYNAMIC FORMULA WAS QUITE LOW AS COMPARED TO THE ACTUAL LOAD TEST (3) THE MODIFIED ENGINEERING NEWS-RECORD FORMULA WILL GIVE TOO SMALL A FACTOR OF SAFETY FOR SMALL PENETRATIONS OF PILES OF THIS SIZE, AND (4) LOAD TESTS SHOULD ALWAYS BE CONDUCTED WHEN USING PILES OF THIS SIZE DRIVEN INTO CLAY AND SAND DEPOSITS.
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Supplemental Notes:
- No 242, pp 28-42, 13 FIG, 2 TAB Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
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Authors:
- Firmage, D A
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Discussers:
- Peck, Ralph B
- Publication Date: 1960
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Pagination: 15p
- Monograph Title: Bridges: bearing pads, foundations, scour and waterways
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Serial:
- Highway Research Board Bulletin
- Issue Number: 242
- Publisher: Highway Research Board
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Approach lanes; Barges; Beams; Bearing capacity; Bents; Bridge substructures; Clay; Continuous structures; Core samples; Friction piles; Hammers; Highway bridges; Load tests; Mud; Organic soils; Pile driving; Pipe; Plate girders; Prestressed concrete; Prestressing; Sand; Steam; Steel; Subsoil; Support piles; Test piles; Trestles
- Uncontrolled Terms: Pipe piles; Steel piling
- Old TRIS Terms: Approaches; Coring; Steam hammers
- Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Geotechnology; Highways; Marine Transportation;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00208822
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS, TRB
- Created Date: Sep 16 1994 12:00AM