Author(s):
Hafez, M. A¹, Hanif, M.H.², Sidek, H.N³, Moustafa Z. Ibrahim⁴, Almkahal, Z⁵, Sandra, J.A⁶

Doi: 10.7508/aiem.01.2019.07.09

Author Affiliation:
¹Department of Civil Engineering, Universiti Uniten, Malaysia
²Kumpulan Ikram Sdn Bhd, Jalan IKRAM-UNITEN, 43000, Kajang
³Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Technology MARA
⁴Faculty of Civil Engineering, Alexandria University- Egypt.
⁵ Department of Civil Engineering, Universiti Uniten, Malaysia
⁶Department of Civil Engineering, Universiti Uniten, Malaysia

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

The precise prediction of the ultimate load carrying capacity of bored piles is a complex problem because it is a function of several factors. These factors include a method of boring, a method of concreting, quality of concrete, the expertise of the construction staff, the ground conditions, cost of the projects and others constraint. The performance of pile load tests is, therefore, of paramount importance to establish the safer and economical design of piles especially where bored piles are to be provided to support a structure. This paper study the experience gained from four pile load tests at a site in the Kota Bahru, Kelantan. Geotechnical investigations at the site were carried out to a maximum depth of 60 m. The general geology of the site is underlain by Quaternary deposits. Most area of the site, is originally deposited by the coastal plain alluvium i.e marine and continental deposits, where deformed during the Quaternary period. Four piles of diameter 600 mm to 900 mm and length ranging between 45 m and 55 m were subjected to axial loads. The load test data were analysed using various states of the interpretation techniques including Chin, De Beer, Brinch Hansen 90 per cent and Butler& Hoy and Fuller & Hoy. Based on a comparison of pile capacities from these methods with the pile digital analyser values, recommendations are made on the approach to estimate the pile capacity in alluvium formation. Using the pile load test results, the comparison was also carried out to estimate the reliability of pile design using semi-empirical methods.

KEYWORDS:
Ultimate, Quaternary period, Geotechnical, coastal plain alluvium, pile digital analyser