DFI Journal - The Journal of the Deep Foundations Institute

Volume 19, Issue 1, April 2025
DOI: 10.37308/DFIJnl.20220316.266

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Revisiting Meyerhof et al. (1981) and McGammon and Golder (1970) - Analysis of tests on piles in want of instrumentation
Article Type: Case Study

Bengt H. Fellenius

Abstract


Two old case history papers comprising static loading test on single piles are reanalyzed. Both address separating shaft and toe resistances from the capacity determined from the pile-head load- movement curve. The first paper, Meyerhof et al. (1981), involved a precast concrete pile driven into a clay till where the toe response was estimated by theoretical analysis. The second paper, McGammon and Golder (1970), involved pipe piles in sand and clay, where the toe response was determined as the differ-ence of resistance between a test on a open-toe pipe pile for which all toe resistance had been removed by drilling out the pile core and a following test on the pile after restoring the toe resistance by grouting the pile and redriving it a short distance. The test data are digitized and presented in graphics with, for the 1981 paper, a discussion on the relevance of the theoretical analysis. For the 1970 paper, because the capacities were not obtained at the same movements relative to the soil, the suitability of comparing the two tests is questioned. The today available software resources of analysis enabled additional insights of the old case histories to be extracted, revitalizing their value to the profession.

Keywords:
driven piles, load-displacement performance, experimental testing, case history revisit, toe and shaft resistance