ABSTRACT
The number of piles installed in pile foundations on granular soil can be strongly reduced, simply by adopting another design philosophy than the conventional one. Thus, instead of assuming that the load is carried in its entirety by the piles, a more cost-effective and equally safe design is attained if the load bearing capacity of the pile cap is taken into account. The piles only serve the purpose of keeping settlement within permissible limits. Results of recent research on the behaviour of piled footings with the pile cap in contact with the soil are presented. Design principles based on these results are suggested.
