MEASUREMENT OF PILE DOWNDRAG BENEATH A BRIDGE ABUTMENT

Steel H piles for a bridge abutment were driven through 25 ft (7.6 m) of fill, 13 ft (4.0 m) of sand, and 50 ft (15.2 m) of soft clay into a dense glacial till. Seventeen years after the bridge was completed, the differential settlement between the bridge deck and the approach fill had exceeded 18 in. (46 cm). To determine the amount of downdrag loading carried by the piles, which were designed to carry a total loading of 60 tons (530 kN) per pile, measurements of strain and movement were made at the top of one of the piles as the pile was cut free from the abutment and as the skin friction forces were removed through a combination of excavation and electro-osmosis. The measured vertical load and moment at the top of the pile were 114 tons (1015 kN) and 1,140 in.-kips (130 kN-m), respectively. The total vertical load at the top of the glacial till, back-figured from the movement at the top of the pile, was 230 tons (2050 kN), indicating over 100 tons (890 kN) pf pile downdrag.

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1974/517/517-005.pdf
• Summary URL:
  • http://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=MEASUREMENT+OF+PILE+DOWNDRAG+BENEATH+A+BRIDGE+ABUTMENT&author=J.+Garlanger&publication_year=1974
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/03611981
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on Foundations of Bridges and Other Structures. 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.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

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• Authors:
  • Garlanger, John E
• Conference:
  • 53rd Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board
  • Location: Washington District of Columbia, United States
  • Date: 1974-1-21 to 1974-1-25
• Publication Date: 1974

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 61-69
• Monograph Title: PERFORMANCE OF EARTH RETAINING STRUCTURES AND PILE FOUNDATIONS
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 517
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bridge abutments; Downwash; Engineering moments; Fills; Ground settlement; Loads; Measurement; Sand; Soft clays; Steel; Support piles; Till
• Uncontrolled Terms: Steel piling; Vertical loads
• Old TRIS Terms: H bearing piles; Moments
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Geotechnology; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00084127
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309023610
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Apr 22 1975 12:00AM