ABSTRACT

The design of piles is covered by Section 7 of Eurocode 7 Part 1, ‘Pile foundations’, whose contents are as follows:

§7.1 General (3 paragraphs) §7.2 Limit states (1) §7.3 Actions and design situations (18) §7.4 Design methods and design considerations (8) §7.5 Pile load tests (20) §7.6 Axially loaded piles (89) §7.7 Transversely loaded piles (15) §7.8 Structural design of piles (5) §7.9 Supervision of construction (8)

Section 7 of EN 1997-1 applies to end-bearing, friction, tension, and transversely-loaded piles installed by driving, jacking, screwing, and boring (with or without grouting). [EN 1997-1 §7.1(1)P]

Annex B.3 of Eurocode 7 Part 2 provides outline guidance on the depth of investigation points for pile foundations, as illustrated in Figure 13.1. (See Chapter 4 for guidance on the spacing of investigation points.)

The recommended minimum depth of investigation below the base of the deepest pile, za, is the greatest of:

investigation for pile foundations

†i.e. weaker strata are unlikely to occur at depth, structural weaknesses such as faults are absent, and solution features and other voids are not expected.