A Driven Pile Advantage: ...

A Driven Pile Advantage: Batter Piles

Introduction The ability to install driven piles on an angle, or batter, gives them a distinct advantage with respect to their ability to carry lateral loads. Batter piles carry lateral loads primarily in axial compression and/or tension while vertical deep foundations carry lateral loads in shear and bending. When subjected to lateral loading, batter piles will therefore generally have a greater capacity and be subject to smaller deformations than vertical piles of the same dimensions and material. Large shear and moment loads induced at the pile head have been a source of performance problems with batter piles in some cases. However, these problems can be mitigated by appropriate design and detailing of the pile-structure connection. Until the 1990s, batter piles were a common means for carrying lateral loads, particularly when the lateral loads were large, there was a large unsupported length, or there were weak soils at the ground surface. Examples of such situations include seismic design of bridges and design of marginal wharfs and other port and harbor structures. In the 1990s, following the poor performance of batter piles in a series of earthquakes, some engineers began advising against the use of batter piles. However, once the reason for the poor performance of batter piles was understood, engineers developed design strategies to address these problems. Using these strategies, batter piles have once again become an important weapon in the engineer’s arsenal for designing foundations subject to lateral loads.

Link to the PDF "a Driven Pile Advantage: Batter Piles By Edward Kavazanjian, Jr., Ph.D., P.E., Associate Professor and Interim Chair, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Arizona State University

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