ABSTRACT
Piles in frictional soils subject to uplift forces carry their load by skin friction forces, which develop on the sides of the pile. These side resistance forces are normally computed using an empirical formula, of which a large number exist. The purpose of the present project is to compare the uplift capacities found by some of the most common codes and standards and also to see how well these values match with results from field tests. This project has been dealing with three different codes and standards and a striking thing is the fact, that according to some codes, the carrying capacity in uplift is almost independent of the strength of the soil, provided the quality of the soil is above a certain lower limit, whereas other methods put much more emphasis on the strength of the soil. This is quite remarkable, as all methods are based on results from field tests.
