Comparison of Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code and AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications regarding pile design subject to negative skin friction

Abstract

Negative skin friction acting on piles has long been included in the design of bridge foundations subject to ground settlement. However, currently there are inconsistencies in how negative skin friction and drag force are incorporated into the calculation of the geotechnical ultimate limit state (ULS), partly due to differences in the design codes. The latest editions of the Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code and AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications are compared with the analysis of a hypothetical steel H-pile, driven through a settling clay layer into a dense, nonsettling layer. The results show that foundation designs can be significantly more conservative and costly when adhering to the AASHTO code because this code includes the drag force in the geotechnical ULS. It is concluded that adhering to the CHBDC can result in a reduced foundation system by considering the actual force distribution in the pile.