Influence of Ground Water Table Fluctuation on Lateral Load Behavior of Rigid Drilled Shafts in Stiff Clay

A series of static one-way lateral load tests was performed on prototype-scale drilled shafts installed in a stiff surface clay crust to investigate the effect of ground water on lateral load behavior. Tests were conducted under different ground water conditions at the National Geotechnical Experimentation Site at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. The load-displacement results of the tests are presented herein. The results of the tests show that the load-displacement behavior was significantly influenced by the ground water regime at the time of testing. The ultimate lateral load capacity, defined as the load at a displacement of 10% of the shaft diameter, and the initial stiffness increased as the water table dropped. A drop in the ground water table from 0.4 m to 2.3 m below ground surface increased the ultimate lateral load from 30 kN to 95 kN. The paper presents a summary of the testing and illustrates the influence that ground water can have on field tests.

• Availability:
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• Supplemental Notes:
  • Full conference proceedings are available on CD-ROM.
• Corporate Authors:

  American Society of Civil Engineers

  1801 Alexander Bell Drive
  Reston, VA  United States  20191-4400
• Authors:
  • Lutenegger, Alan J
  • Dearth, Amy E
• Conference:
  • GeoSupport 2004: Innovation and Cooperation in the Geo-Industry
  • Location: Orlando Florida, United States
  • Date: 2004-1-29 to 2004-1-31
• Publication Date: 2004

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 395-404
• Monograph Title: GeoSupport 2004. Drilled Shafts, Micropiling, Deep Mixing, Remedial Methods, and Specialty Foundation Systems

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Clay soils; Groundwater; Load tests; Stiffness; Water table
• Identifier Terms: National Geotechnical Experimentation Site; University of Massachusetts, Amherst
• Uncontrolled Terms: Drilled shafts; Lateral loads
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways; Hydraulics and Hydrology; I42: Soil Mechanics; I51: Earthworks and Soil Drainage;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01000170
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0784407134
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 5 2005 2:40PM