ABSTRACT
In total, only about 25% of the land area in Norway is covered by soil deposits. The major part is dominated by bedrock, or just a very thin cover of morainic materials, normally not representing serious geotechnical challenges. Areas covered by deep soil deposits are particularly concentrated in the lowlands, in the bottom of the valleys and in a narrow strip along parts of the coastline. During the Quaternary period, the climate was generally very cold and glaciers covered large land areas. This last ice-age represented several sequences where the Scandinavian peninsula was covered by a massive ice-cap. The soil stratification, geotechnical properties, depth bedrock or firm ground and ground water level are important parameters for the selection of pile type and pile design. More complex problems such as axially loaded piles in a pile group subjected to soil lateral movements due to an adjacent excavation can be analysed using finite element codes such as, for example, PLAXIS or ABAQUS.
