PLANNING FOR DRIVING OFFSHORE PIPE PILES

Difficulties in driving offshore piles to design penetrations are not infrequent and result in costly delays. Some of the more frequent problems are illustrated by six case histories of long piles driven to penetrations from 200 feet to 300 feet in various offshore regions. Drivability of the installed piles for each of these cases was investigated in retrospect using the one-dimensional wave equation, a technique that can also be applied as an important step in preconstruction planning. The need for supplemental procedures to aid pile driving because of unfavorable installation conditions can frequently be anticipated from combined evaluation of wave equation results and practical pile driving experience. Some of the conclusions based on the six case histories presented in this paper are: that if pile driving operations in normally consolidated or moderately sensitive over consolidated clays should be delayed for a significant period, then the gain in clay shear strength, or pile setup, can be sufficient to prevent further driving of the pile; also pile driving operations and supplemental installation procedures, such as jetting and predrilling, should be performed under the control of an experienced foundation engineer to assure that pile installation is consistent with pile design.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Presented at ASCE Offshore Technology Conference held in Houston, Texas, May 1-3, 1972. Abstract prepared by Texas A&M University.
• Corporate Authors:

  American Society of Civil Engineers

  345 East 47th Street
  New York, NY  United States  10017-2398
• Authors:
  • SULLIVAN, R A
  • Ehlers, G J
• Publication Date: 1973-7

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: p. 59-79
• Serial:
  • Journal of the Construction Division
  • Volume: 99
  • Issue Number: CO1

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Offshore structures; Pile driving; Pile foundations
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Marine Transportation; Terminals and Facilities;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00050912
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Maritime Research Center, Galveston
• Report/Paper Numbers: ASCE #9844 Paper
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 31 1974 12:00AM