Pile Civil Engineering: Foundation Solutions for Any Structure

Pile driving engineering is the design, construction and maintenance of these piled foundations. The piles employed in buildings are either straight or slightly sloping, vertical supporting members that transfer the building loads downwards to deeper layers of solid earth below. Within the scope of the foundation profession are those for serving as supports at structures built on poor or soft ground, resisting settlement, and providing uplift forces from another direction. This chapter describes the main technological properties of pile engineering, including different types such as driven piles, bored piles (bored and cast-in-situ), as well as sheet piling constructions. These types of pile have their own methods for installation and materials used. The technologies involved in pile engineering involve the assembly and application of different kinds of piles: driven piles, bored piles and sheet piles. As high-rise buildings need deep foundations to support them because of their extreme height, shallow traditional foundations cannot be employed here. For example, in the 88-story Shun Hing Square Tower at Shenzhen there are 840 bored piles which reach a depth 48 meters on average. Bridges are also constructed using piles. Wharves use piles to support themselves in water. Whether a pile foundation is deemed necessary will depend on the distance that a traditional spread footing type of structure extends into the ground and on the kind of soil or rock in which this extends.