Abstract
During construction of an oil tanker loading terminal in the northern Arabian Gulf, two vertical, singly standing piles failed due to fatigue damage in girth butt welds near the mudline. The failures were reported ten days after an unusually strong storm on December 4–6, 1974. On‐site inspection revealed through‐thickness cracks in two additional vertical piles. A total of 17 vertical, singly standing piles were thus presumed to contain severe fatigue damage. They were cut off at the mudline and overdriven with larger diameter piles. Batter piles in sets of two or more were inspected in situ by X‐ray radiography. One unacceptable crack was found in a sample of 90 piles. Analytical and experimental studies supporting field inspection showed that piles exhibiting no detectable cracks should perform in a safe manner during the service life of the terminal. The mechanism that produced the fatigue damage could not be fully explained at the time.
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