ABSTRACT
The various factors of safety for designing axially loaded piles in ultimate limit state situations are reviewed, as given in Eurocode 7−1 (CEN 1994) and in the French code Fascicule 62-V (MELT 1993). The overall safeties of both codes are compared, whether the bearing resistance is determined from ground test results (PMT rules) or from load test results. The results are found to be quite consistent. Finally, a proposal is made for replacing cases B and C (for fundamental combinations) of Eurocode 7−1 by a unique case, which is easy to establish for the bearing resistance of axially loaded piles.
