Behavior of Driven Ultrahigh-Performance Concrete H-Piles Subjected to Vertical and Lateral Loadings

Abstract

In the United States, an estimated $1 billion is spent annually on repair and replacement of deep foundations. In a recent study, the possibility of using ultrahigh-performance concrete (UHPC) for deep foundation applications was explored with the objectives of increasing the service life of deep foundations supporting bridges to 75 years and reducing maintenance costs. This paper focuses on field evaluation of two UHPC piles and references a steel H-pile. An UHPC pile with an H shape was designed to simplify the process of casting the pile and reduce the volume (i.e., cost) of the material needed to cast the pile. Two instrumented UHPC piles were driven in loess on top of a glacial till clay soil and load tested under vertical and lateral loads. This paper provides a complete set of results for the field investigation conducted on UHPC H-shaped piles. The results presented in this paper prove that the designed UHPC piles can be driven using the same equipment used to drive steel H-piles through hard soil layers without a pile cushion. The vertical load capacity of the UHPC pile was over 80% higher than that of the steel H-piles.