ABSTRACT
The introduction of piling techniques for new buildings at the beginning of this century was one of the great advances in modern construction methods. Steel piles, precast concrete piles and bored cast-in-situ concrete piles replaced the old shallow foundation systems. The most important feature of piling techniques was the opportunity to design foundations on the basis of the loadbearing capacity of a single pile which could be verified, when necessary, by direct load test. Pile diameters, according to early European Rules, could not be less than 400mm.
