Assessment of Lateral Load Capacity of Single Pile at Bettiah Site: A Parametric Study

Abstract

Pile foundations are widely used and accepted approach to transfer superstructure load to a deeper and stronger stratum. This work has been focused on the assessment of the effect of different parameters associated with piles such as pile diameter, pile length, grade of concrete and pile head condition (i.e., free or fixed) on the lateral load capacity. To evaluate the lateral load capacity considering the aforementioned parameters ‘IS Code’ and ‘Matlock and Reese’ methodologies have been utilized. The soil exploration data has been collected from ten different boreholes near to the railway bridge at Bettiah site, Bihar. The results of lateral pile load at different boreholes reflects that the lateral load capacity of pile significantly increased with the increase of pile diameters and grades of concrete. The lateral load capacity of pile was increased approximately by 13%, from both IS Code and Matlock and Reese methods, when the grade of concrete was increased from M25 to M40. It was also found that the condition of pile head also plays a major role in lateral load capacity. The lateral load capacity of pile obtained from IS code method under fixed head condition was found to be higher as compared to free head condition. It has also been observed that the lower values of ultimate lateral load capacity for fixed head and lower values for free head condition was obtained by IS Code as compared to Matlock and Reese method.