Abstract
Pile load tests were conducted on cast-in-place concrete piles founded in oil sand at three industrial plant sites located north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. The tests included static (top-down) tests with applied vertical loads of up to 10 MN, single cell and multi cell Osterberg Cells (O-cell) with applied loads of up to 22 MN, and Statnamic tests with loads of up to 16 MN. In addition, a creep test was held for 16 days on a static load test pile and a 21 day creep test was performed on an O-cell test, to assess creep characteristic of piles in oil sand. All piles were instrumented with load cells, embedded vibrating wire strain gauges, and in the case of the Statnamic tests, with accelerometers. The results of the pile load test programs indicated that straight shaft piles founded in oil sand are capable of sustaining high capacities due mainly to the high shaft friction in the oil sand at small deflections. This paper describes the installation and instrumentation of the piles, presents the test results and compares these to historical design values.
Published Version
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