ABSTRACT
Structures such as transmission towers, highway overhead signs, quays and train gantries are subject to high lateral loadings from wind force, wave action and traction forces. These structures are often supported by large diameter piers with high stiffness, which behave as short rigid piles. A short rigid pile fails by rotation, mobilising passive resistance on the opposite pile faces above and below the point of rotation. The momentcarrying capacity of the pile is therefore the principal design requirement, as the lateral force acts at a lever arm at the pile head. If the pile is constructed near a slope, the lateral soil resistance will be reduced due to the reduction of initial confining pressure acting around the pile on the slope side.
