BIDIRECTIONAL STATIC AXIAL PILE LOAD TEST: GARCA RIVER BRIDGE –

BRAZIL

Paul George Alexander C., GEO - Ground Engineering Operations India Pvt Limited,
paul.alexander@geosoil.com

ABSTRACT:

The Bi- Directional Load Test provides us with the Unique ability to determine both the skin friction and
the end bearing capacity of a bored pile at a single test simultaneously. To understand this methodology
and the advantages of this pile load test a case study was conducted on an of shore pile across the River
Garcia in Brazil. Where the pile was 1.4 m in Día, 20m in depth and had a working load of 8000kN. The
methodology included the installation of load cells in the reinforcement at the fabrication stage which was
completed in one single day and the test which was conducted at the end of 28 days. The testing was done
to the twice of the piles working loaded which was exactly 16632kN. The results gathered at both the skin
friction and end bearing was recorded and found satisfactory. The installation of the load cells and the entire
testing process was conducted in less than 48 hrs. This test’s methodology is different to the conventional
load test as there is no limit to the load that can be applied to the pile. This paper submitted with the intention
that the paper will help us develop a better understanding of the methodology of the Bi- Directional load
test, advantages and limitations, feasibility, interpretation of the results in hope that this will be a valuable
addition to our esteemed field of deep foundations.

Keywords:

Bi-direction. Load test, load cells, bored pile

:
INTRODUCTION:

This paper includes the case study done on the Bi-directional load test done on a working pile in off-shore
conditions to observe the advantages and limitations of the load test type that has been accepted in various
parts of the world and to study the impact and changes that this type of load test could provide to the
dynamic and divergent Indian market.

The Bidirectional static axial plate load test consists of inserting the dynamic expansive cells in the
reinforcement of the pile and concreting the pile and after 28days of concreting. During the testing the load
cells are expanded within the pile and measuring the displacement achieved by the pile. Unlike other load
tests in this test both the skin friction and the end bearing capacity can be recorded simultaneously hence
the name Bi-directional.

One test was chosen to study the Bi-directional load test. The piling work on the river bridge of Garca in
Brazil consisted the challenging situation in which executing a conventional load test will be more difficult
and the team decided to conduct the Bi-directional load test due to difficult conditions.

Pile Details:

The pile was done in offshore conditions in running river water the pile was of depth 20 m and with a dia
of 1.4 m. The required working load of the pile was set at 8000 kN so the load test was determined to be
done at 16000 kN which is double that of the design working load. The soil strata was mainly consisted of
fractured rock and weathered rock.

286 © 2018 Deep Foundations Institute

The Pile was done with hydraulic rig and the pile was in middle of the river, the excavation of the pile
started and completed without any incidences as the Polymer fluid and the Polymer engineer was available
at the site to monitor the stability. During the process of the excavation the pile reinforcement cage was
introduced with dynamic expansive cell at the depth of 7m from the bottom by sectioning the reinforcement.
Once the excavation is completed the pile toe was thoroughly cleaned with the cleaning agent provided by
the polymer supplier was used and the proper cleaning of the toe was ensured by calculating the density
gradient of the fluid. A clean pile toe is mandatory to measure the end bearing load of the pile in order to
ensure the proper reaction for the load cells when it is expanded.

Fig 1: Soil strata of the Pile

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FIRST PHASE:

Defining cell assembly and equilibrium position:

The reinforcement drawing and the applicable soil strata details were delivered by the clients team in
advance in order to determine the equilibrium position of the pile so that the load cells position can be fixed.
The working load of the pile and the test load of the pile was provided in advance by the client and the
ARCOS designer determined the equilibrium position at 7m from the bottom of the pile.

Once the equilibrium position of the pile was determined and the test load was computed the number of
load cells was determined to be three.

The load cells were fabricated at Belo Horizonte in accordance with the project and then was shipped to
site with all the other auxiliary materials that are required to conduct the test.

Fig 2: Cell Assembly with the support plate

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SECOND PHASE:

Fixing of the cell assembly:

The steel reinforcement cage shall be sectioned at 7m from the bottom of the pile at the location of the cell,
so the cell assembly could be welded or clipped at this point of the cage. (Alternatively, reinforcement cage
shall be prepared in two parts in such a way to enable fixing of cell assembly). The bearing plates are
designed specifically and individually for each project.. The cells are accurately positioned on the bearing
plate and welded into place. Temporarily lifting arrangements are often used to facilitate handling of the
plates and cells.

Fig 3: Load Cell Assembly with tremie Cone

Fixing of Ancillary Materials:

1- An individual pressure supply pipe for each cell is fixed. The cells are connected in parallel with
an external manifold that guarantees that the same flow and pressure are applied in the cells.

2- Adequate guide pipe(s) like PVC are connected to cell upper level and extended to the pile top to
measure cell upper displacement through telltale rods inserted at time of testing in PVC pipes. PVC pipes
are clamped to cage reinforcement.

3- Adequate guide pipes like PVC are connected to each cell lower level and extended to the pile top
to measure cell bottom displacement through telltale rods inserted at time of testing in PVC pipes.

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 Fig 4: Load cells inside the excavation

Fig5 : Fixing of PVC pipe along with load cells.

Lifting of Cage:

1. The lifting of each cage to vertical should be carried out using a lifting beam or several pick points
to ensure the cage remains reasonably straight during lifting.

2. A suitable number of spacers should be used to ensure that the reinforcing cage remains central to
the bore as the cage is lowered.

3. The reinforcing cage or a support assembly will have extended beyond the concrete cut off level to
above ground level, where appropriate, to support telltales, instrumentation wiring, and hydraulic supply
lines above the concrete level for testing purpose.

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 Fig 6: Lifting of Reinforcement Cage along with the load cells

Precautions:

 Ensure clean bore hole including Pile Toe before concreting. This is Mandatory.
 Maintain concrete’s properties with desired slump while tremie concreting;
 Signalize the work area and mark it if necessary for pile to be executed for running the test;
 Keep the work area clean and unobstructed.
 Pile should be executed according to construction methodology approved by Engineer;
 Necessary Pile platform in case of marine piles and work area to be provided to fix the reference
beams and placing instrumentation for fixing, running the test.
 Equipment shall be protected against the weather so there is no variation of the test results.

THIRD PHASE:

Conducting the Load Test:

The load test may be conducted as per the requirement of the site. But the recommended days of waiting is
28 days for the full load test. In this pile the test was done after the 28 days from the day of casting of the
pile.

1- Reference beams / frame are set up properly for instrumentation set up.
2- Initially, tell-tales shall be installed in the guide PVC pipes and telltale are connected to dial gauges
and mounted on the reference beam to measure displacements at designated points.
3- The tell-tales are extending from the cell top to the ground surface to measure the displacement of
the pile above the cell, also tell-tales attached to the bottom cell plate to measure the pile toe movement.
The pile head movement shall be measured with a separate gauge to record pile head displacement.
4- Pressure pipes extended to pile top are connected to main pressure line of supply pump.
5- A calibrated, high-pressure gauge will be used to read the pressure on the pump.

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6- The cell will be pressurized with hydraulic fluid, typically water and pump by oil. An electric pump
is used to pressurize the galvanized pipes connected to cells.
7- The load test commences by applying hydraulic pressure to cell connected pressure pipes using an
electrical pump with pressurizing the cells to break the concrete to create fracture zone which separate the
two elements of the pile at cell level.
8- It is to be noted that the loads applied by bi directional hydrodynamic expansive cells act in two
opposite directions, resisted by upper skin friction above the cell and by the combined end bearing and
lower skin friction below the cell assembly.
9- Load Increments: The loading was done in equal increments at equal intervals at the rate of 20 kgf.
In this test quick loading method was applied and the entire load of 16632 kN was applied in 5 hrs and 20
mins
10- Maintaining Full Load: The full test load 16632 kN was maintained and held for 1 hour.as per
consultant/Engineer In charge directives.
11- Load Decrements: The unloading of the test was done in equal parts of 2000kN at equal intervals
of 15mins
12- Maintaining Zero Load: The zero load was maintained for 30 mins
13- The testing is deemed completed once either one of the following situations occur:
a. A predetermined maximum test load has been applied.
b. The Cells approaches its maximum nominal stroke of 150 mm.
c. Ultimate capacity of the pile above or below the cell’s location has been reached.

Precautions:

Air Purge: Air purge is carried out to ensure there is no air trapped through the pressure pipe. To ensure
this, the supply of water in the pipe shall be injected slowly and repeatedly. The amount of water must be
at least equal to the volume of cell and pressure pipe.
Injection of water: At the start of the test, the cell system is saturated by injecting water to the cell-pressure
pipe.
Grouting:
When doing the test, it is mandatory to grout of the pile in case of working pile as it is a destructive test. In
this test the cement grout was used a total of 115l of cement grout was used to fill all the voids and pipes
of the tests.
The grout is a cement slurry with a water/cement radio of 0.50 that is prepared in a mixer after the test.
With the support of an injection pump, one extremity of a 1/2-inch hose is connected to the pump and the
other inserted into the iron pipe (1-inch) to grout the space inside the cell and the pipes as well. The hose
works as a tremie tube, so the grout is injected under low pressure (0,5 to 2 kgf/cm²) from the bottom to the
top expelling all oil and water from the cells and pipes and leaving the grout inside.
The PVC pipes are also connected to the injection pump which injects grout under pressure (0,5 to 2
kgf/cm²) to fill the voids. Being the PVC pipes connected to each other by the fracture zone, the system
works as a return line, so the grout is injected in a pipe and goes out in another. If the return line is
obstructed, all PVC pipes shall be individually injected until reaches the pressure of 10 kgf/cm2. That
guarantees that all voids are fulfilled.

FOURTH PHASE:

Reporting of the Test Results:

 The test detailed report indicates all information required by the engineer such as project
identification and location, test site location, date and type of test, methodology used, pile data, description
of measurement instrumentation, test data, tables, various graphs and results.


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 The following test results along with curves shall be delivered along with detailed report:
1. Cell Top displacement VS Load
2. Cell Bottom displacement VS Load
3. Pile Head displacement VS Load
4. Lateral side shear (skin friction) above cell VS displacement of above cell
5. The equivalent top loaded load VS Settlement curve (similar to static load test)

Fig 7: Graph of Load Applied and Displacement (Loading)

Fig 8: Graph of Curve load with displacement (Unloading)

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 Fig 9: Graph of Load and Displacement (Combined)

. Conclusions:
1. The pile qualified the test as it sustained twice the working load and the displacement was within the
specifications.
2. The pile required less time for installation of the load test equipments and the ancillary set up.
3. Most of the setup required were done simultaneously along with the pile excavation.
4. Off- shore conditions did not require any major setup.

Advantages:
• The bi directional load test required less equipment and man power to execute the test.
• The load applied did not have any limitations.
• The test was concluded much more quickly.
• The preparations that were required for a load test at an off shore location was minimum and very easy.
• The risk involved in performing the test was minimum.
• The reports were available immediately after completion of the test
•
Limitations:
Eventhough there are no direct disadvantages in this process there are some limitations when engaging the
bi-directional load test at a divergent market like India.
1. The Project owner or the Consultant would like to choose a pile for load test at random. In the case of Bi-
directional load test that is not possible. About 100 % of the preparations involved are to be done prior to
the concreting was done.
2. This test involves sectioning of main bars in the reinforcement cage. That might be a problem with some
of the consumers if it was not explained properly.
3. This test needs to be done by the qualified Engineers and designers in the ARCOS only as there are many
patents involved and the load test are manufactured by themselves. Unlike the conventional static load test
where the contractor can conduct the tests themselves by training their staff in the load test.

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