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(12-01-2018 11:58 PM)bit_9 Wrote:  It is really interesting. My coworker used to drive piles. His job was literally to watch it go in and count how many strikes per foot the pile was getting. Once it got to a certain point he would tell them to kill it. You risk exploding the pile or it means you've hit something serious.

That is what happened to the bridge over in Deep Creek. Someone did the math wrong and/or had bad soil samples. The piles that held up one side of the bridge went into the soil and as they go in at the base not only do the cause the soil below to compact but the soil on either side expands and causes friction on the sides of the pile. That creates a giant compacted ball and the soil under that giant ball sank. When that soil sank it literally pulled the pile down with it and away from the roadway above leading up to the bridge. Our bridge team inspecting the bridge found that the road was separated from the pile cap so there was literally nothing holding up the road. The weight limit went from 30 Tonnes to 5 Tonnes immediately and they ended up having to rip up the road and drive new piles besides the old piles and rebuild.

With this many piles that also could be a issue if they're too close and as one pile goes in it impacts with a the expanded ball of stuff from the pile next door. it's kind of like creating a giant subterranean pressurized floor, I think. At least that's how I inferred the stories.

He was telling me all sorts of stories of wood piles exploding under pressure and way more than I ever wanted to know about what's going on. =]