What is a Drilled shaft?
Deep foundation solutions such as drilled shafts, also known as drilled piers, caissons, or bored piles, are employed to support structures that are subjected to significant axial and lateral loads. Drilled shafts are created by excavating cylindrical shafts into the ground and then filling them with concrete.
These high-capacity deep foundation systems are also referred to as drilled piers, caissons, bored piles, or cast-in-drilled-hole piles. Drilled shafts are another name for bored piles.
Common applications include providing structural support, stabilizing slopes, and retaining earth for use in retaining walls and sound barriers.
Process
There are three different ways that drilled shafts can be installed for structural support: the dry method (open hole), the stabilizing polymer slurry method, and the steel-cased method. In most cases, the permanent casing is only required in corrosive environments, voided (open cavity) conditions, or when drilling shafts through the water. In the event that adverse subsurface conditions are present, the installation of a temporary casing may also be necessary for open hole shafts (i.e., groundwater, caving soils, granular soils, sidewall loss, etc).
One example of a versatile foundation system that sees widespread application on a global scale is the drilled shaft, which also goes by the names drilled pier, drilled caisson, caisson, and bored pile, among other names. To construct a drilled shaft in its most fundamental form, a cylindrical excavation must first be made, followed by the installation of a reinforcing cage (if one is required), and finally, the excavation must be concreted. Shaft diameters of up to 20 feet (or 6 meters) and depths of more than 250 feet (or 76 meters) are both possible with the drilling equipment that is currently available. On the other hand, the diameters that are typical for most normal applications fall somewhere in the range of one meter to three meters. Due to the size versatility of these piles, it is possible to use a single drilled shaft in place of a driven pile group, thereby doing away with the requirement for a pile cap. In addition, standard construction practices for drilled shafts effectively eliminate the noise and intense ground vibrations that develop during pile driving operations. This is the case because drilled shafts are typically driven into the ground. Because of these and other secondary reasons, drilled shafts have become the foundation of choice for many design applications, both because of their technical merits and their economic advantages. In many geologic settings all over the world, they have even supplanted other types of foundations as the most common choice.
Advantages
-A wide selection of apparatus and instruments suitable for almost any circumstance
-Proficient in both dry and wet shaft construction -Ability to construct drilled shafts in diameters ranging from 12 to 240 inches -Capability to construct drilled shafts at restricted access locations
-Manufacturing facility to design and build, repair, maintain and modify equipment and tools needed to complete the work -Capability of completing alternate foundation systems if required by changed conditions -Manufacturing facility to design and build, repair, maintain, and modify equipment and tools needed to complete the work -Manufacturing facility to design
-A diverse range of possible applications
WHY YOU CAN’T DO WITHOUT THEM:
In order to accommodate significant axial, lateral, and overturning forces, drilled shafts offer a cost-effective and versatile solution that can be installed in a wide range of ground conditions.
The assurance of quality
Call RLM Retrofit Foundation at the number provided above to schedule a Foundation Inspection Bel Air 90077 and repair. They can also provide you with additional information about your foundation.
