STEEL AND TIMBER PILE TESTS - WEST ATCHAFALAYA FLOODWAY -NEW ORLEANS, TEXAS AND MEXICO RAILWAY

A description and analysis of tests made on hollow steel and timber bearing piles in the swamps of southern Louisana on the New Orleans, Texas and Mexico Railway. The tests were made during the driving of the piles, and under static loading of the piles to shear failure in some cases, and to the practical limit of the loading in others. Single hollow steel piles and a group of nine hollow steel piles were tested to failure or near failure by placing large concrete blocks on specially built loading platforms on the top of the piles. The stresses were measured and the strains were recorded. Single timber pile and two groups of nine timber piles each were tested to shear failure in the same manner as the steel piles, but no effort was made to record the dynamic strains or the strains along the length of the pile. Distribution of load to the various piles of the group was determined by strain gages. Soil test borings were tabulated. The results indicate how the load, both dynamic and static, was transferred from the pile to the penetrated material, and how the load was distributed to the individual piles of the various groups. Among the conclusions are: 1) The measured driving stresses in the top of the steel piles increased with an increase in pile penetration. 2) The tapered steel piles driven into clays with a high moisture content acted as friction piles. 3) The single tapered steel pile carried more load than the single straight pile. The load distribution was fairly uniform for both the groups of steel pipes and the groups of timber piles.

• Corporate Authors:

  American Railway Engineering Association

  59 East Van Buren Street
  Chicago, IL  United States  60605
• Publication Date: 1951

Media Info

• Features: Figures; Photos; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 149-202
• Serial:
  • AREA BULLETIN
  • Volume: 52
  • Publisher: American Railway Engineering Association

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Dynamic loads; Piles (Supports); Static loads; Steel; Timber
• Old TRIS Terms: Timber piles
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00052437
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Association of American Railroads
• Report/Paper Numbers: Proceeding
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 15 1974 12:00AM