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

Abstract

Pile foundations are a widely used and accepted approach to transferring superstructure load to a deeper and stronger stratum. This work has been focused on the assessment of the effects 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. Soil exploration data has been collected from ten different boreholes near the railway bridge at Bettiah site, Bihar. The results of lateral pile load at different boreholes show that the lateral load capacity of the pile significantly increases with the increase of pile diameters and grades of concrete. The lateral load capacity of the pile was increased approximately by 13%, from both the IS Code and the Matlock and Reese methods, when the grade of concrete was increased from M25 to M40. It was also found that the condition of the pile head also plays a major role in lateral load capacity. The lateral load capacity of the pile, obtained from the IS code method under fixed head conditions, was found to be higher as compared to the free head condition. It has also been observed that the lower values of safe bearing capacity for fixed heads and lower values for the free head condition were obtained by the IS Code as compared to the Matlock and Reese method.