Construction of Bored Cast-In-Situ Marine Piles and Related Quality Control Techniques—A Comprehensive On-Site Study
摘要
Foundations provide support to the structure and transfer the load to the soil. In places where the soil does not have adequate bearing capacity, the requirement of a deep foundation becomes an automatic choice. One of the most convenient choices for the deep foundation is a pile foundation, long and slender in nature, typically made of tubular steel or reinforced concrete for larger load-carrying capacity and transmitting the load at a desired depth in combination with end bearing and skin friction as relevant. For the construction of maritime structures like jetties, wharfs, etc., piles are installed off-shore or near-shore termed as marine piles. These piles are long slender members and subjected to a higher horizontal thrust, making them different in terms of design philosophy and construction techniques compared to land piles. Working over water necessarily needs a robust mobile platform (piling gantry) capable of carrying the load of all plant and machineries including manpower for the installation of piles in a sequential manner. A feeding mechanism via barges is developed from shore to transport casings, reinforcement cages, etc. Concrete, suitably designed, is pumped from the shore with the help of a high-capacity concrete pump for placement in pile through tremie pipes. The concrete being used for the pile is a highly durable triple blend mix with very high chloride penetration resistance in view of aggressive saline weather conditions and is sustainable as well with a low amount of OPC to reduce carbon footprint. While the construction technique is very much technically driven, each step of the entire pile installation process must pass through stringent quality control checks to assure the quality of the pile to meet long-term service life as a sustainable concrete structure. To ensure long-term performance, an extra high-class quality assurance plan is implemented right from procurement of raw materials, concrete mix design, construction methodology, and workmanships followed by verification of integrity and load capacity of piles installed. This paper will further illustrate a case study on installation techniques of larger dia. RCC marine piles and related QA/QC mechanisms are to be followed at the project site.