Pore pressures and settlements generated from two different pile drilling methods

Abstract: For piling works in sensitive soil, especially in inner city projects, it is essential to be aware of the available methods and to choose the most suitable method to minimize the risk of damaging existing buildings or endanger the workers at the construction site. Down-the-hole drilling of piles is a relatively safe method and can be separated into drilling with air powered hammers and water powered hammers. This study compares water powered drilling with air powered drilling and shows that the impact on the soil generated by air powered drilling is larger than that from water powered drilling. A field study was carried out where 4 piles were drilled, two with air powered DTH drilling and two with water powered DTH drilling. The drilling was carried out in clay resting on an approximately 4 m layer of silt and friction soil. The total soil depth was about 12- 15 m. To analyze the soil influence, settlements were measured at ground level and in depth and pore pressure was measured in the middle of the clay layer. This study distinguished two major problems when drilling through this type of soil. The first is the risk of over-drilling in the friction layer. The second problem is the risk of increasing the pore pressure in the clay. Both these problems were experienced when using air powered drilling but for the water powered case only a small pore pressure increase and no over-drilling was observed. In conclusion, drilling with water has less influence on the soil in the sense that it gives a smaller effect on the pore water pressure and causes smaller settlements.