Foundation Engineering Foundation Engineering

Lecture #20 Lecture #20

Drilled Shafts
L. Prieto-Portar 2009
Introduction.
Drilled shafts are the most popular of deep foundations, because they have the
capability that one single shaft can easily carry the entire load of a large column from a
tall building. This means that a pile cap is not needed, which not only reduces that
expense, but also provides a smoother flow of the stresses from the column into the
bearing soils.
Drilled shafts are similar to auger-cast shafts, although drill shafts are much larger,
usually greater than 2.5 feet in diameter.
Background of Drilled Shafts. Background of Drilled Shafts.
Started as an extension of shallow foundations, and developed by General Gow in
Chicago; until 1920's most were hand dug. The Chicago Well Method used a wooden
"barrel" form to prevent collapse of the soil.
Drilling rigs first used in states with oil drilling whose technology was applied to shaft
drilling.
Technology of cutting tools, casing and drilling mud, then advanced on its own.
Drilled shafts are widely used today in a wide variety of geographical areas.
The Advantages of Using Drilled Shafts.
1. A single drilled shaft replaces a group of piles and their pile cap.
2. Can be constructed in dense soils easier than driving piles.
3. There is no noise or ground vibration from hammering.
4. Piles driven into soils may produce ground heaving which can cause previously
driven piles to move laterally.
5. The base of a drilled shaft can be enlarged to provide a greater resistance to 5. The base of a drilled shaft can be enlarged to provide a greater resistance to
uplift (under-reaming or bell).
6. The surface over which the base of the drilled shaft is constructed can be visually
inspected.
7. Drilled shafts have very high resistance to lateral loads.
Disadvantages of Drilled Shafts.
- The designer needs a greater knowledge of the subsurface conditions.
- The large concrete volumes require careful supervision.
- Drilled shafts may induce ground loss to adjacent retained structures, and thus,
possible increased liability.
- Inspections and supervision are far more complex.
Types of Drilled Shafts.
Soft
soil
Soft
soil
Soft
soil
Soft
soil
$lf8l00l808ll08 0l0f
Rock or hard soil
80ll08 0l0f
Good Bearing soil
80ll08 0l0f
Good Bearing soil
$lf8l00l808ll08 0l0f
800k0l08 ll0 l00 f00k
Rock
Construction Methods: the Chicago and the Gow
methods.
A) The Chicago Method.
1. Circular holes are excavated by hand
for depths of 2 to 6 feet.
2. The sides of the hole are lined with vertical
Steel Ring
Lagging
2. The sides of the hole are lined with vertical
lagging boards.
3. The boards are then held together with steel
rings.
4. The excavation continues for the next 2
to 6 feet, etc.
The Construction Sequence of Drilled Shafts using the Chicago Method.
Initiating drilling Introducing casing
Cohesive Soil
Caving Soil
Cohesive Soil
Cohesive Soil
Caving Soil
Cohesive Soil
Soil
Slurry
Drilling with slurry
Casing is sealed and slurry is being
removed from interior of casing
Cohesive Soil
Caving Soil
Cohesive Soil
Cohesive Soil
Caving Soil
Cohesive Soil
B. The Gow Method.
Steel
Casing
1. The hole is excavated by hand.
2. Telescopic metal shells are used to
maintain the vertical faces of the shaft.
3. The shells are removed one section at a
time as concreting progresses.
4. Shafts as deep as 100 feet have been
installed using this method.
Installing a drilled shaft for the foundations of the Bunker Hill cable-stayed bridge over
the Charles River, Boston (CE Dec. 98).
New drilled shaft foundations for the Bunker Hill cable-stayed bridge must avoid the
existing Bostons Orange Line subway and penetrate strata to bedrock (CE98).
A 6-foot diameter drilled shaft cutting bit.
A 7-foot diameter drilled shaft cutter head.
A special cutting tool for loose or collapsing soils.
Drill bit used to drill into hard rock.
Low clearance rigs can be used to install small drilled shafts in confined areas.
This 15-foot diameter drilled shaft is contained by a steel casing in a marine environment.
An extremely large drilled shaft
with a diameter of 36-feet is
installed in a sea lane for a large
cable-stayed bridge.
The Reinforcement of Drilled Shafts.
Installing the reinforcing steel of a drilled shaft for the Bunker Hill cable-stayed bridge over
the Charles River, Boston. Notice the connectors for the rebars.
Steel workers are preparing the reinforcing cage for an
eleven foot diameter drilled shaft.
Picking up the reinforcing cage is a delicate operation that requires experienced crane
operators.
Concrete is placed in the drilled hole using a tremie trunk pipe to prevent the segregation of
the components of the concrete, the erosion of the sides of the drilled hole, and damage to
the rebars that would occur if the concrete was allowed to free fall.
A bentonite slurry is being used to prevent the collapse of the sides of the hole, which has
been drilled in an unstable soil. When the concrete flows out of the tremie pipe at the
bottom of the shaft, it displaces the slurry, which is lighter. As the slurry is displaced
upward, overflowing the hole, it is pumped into a storage tank for cleaning and re-use on
the next drilled shaft.
Completed drilled shafts inside a caisson.
The use of steel casing for drilled shafts versus slurries.
In some cases a steel casing is needed. When making this decision a careful
subsurface investigation is required and several questions must be asked:
What is the time required ?
Is a slurry needed ?
Are we working in a hard versus soft rock; do they have rock fractures ?
Is the groundwater artesian ?
Is the shaft subjected to lateral loads and/or moments ?
Placing concrete using a dry or cased method means free-fall through a hopper and
only the top 5 feet are vibrated, and not at all if a high-slump is used (nine inches).
The minimum bar spacing is 3 with a maximum aggregate size of 3/8-inch.
DRILLED SHAFT MINIMUM DIAMETER:
Where:
Q
w
= working load of the drilled shaft
D
s
= diameter of the shaft
f'
c
= 28-day compressive strength
D
s
2.257
Q
w
f'
c
The Design of Drilled Shafts.
f'
c
= 28-day compressive strength
MINIMUM REINFORCEMENT FOR DRILLED SHAFTS WITHOUT CASING:
Where:
A
gs
= gross cross-sectional area of drilled shaft
A
s
= area of reinforcment
A
s
1%A
gs
The Bearing Capacity of Drilled Shafts.
The general equation is,
where, Qu is the ultimate load of the drilled shaft,
Qp is the capacity of the tip or base of the shaft, and
Qs is the capacity of the vertical walls (shaft) portion.
The contribution of Qp is found from the equation,
Qu u p s
Q Q Q = +
Q
p
Q
s
The contribution of Qp is found from the equation,
where, Nc and Nq are the bearing capacity factors,
q is the effective vertical stress at the bottom of the shaft,
Ap is the area of the base,
Dp is the diameter of the base,
c is the cohesion of the soil, and
Qp net is the net load capacity of the base.
' ' '
[ ( 1)]
pnet p c q
Q A cN q N = +
Q
u
= 2,000 kN
6 m
loose sand
= 16.2 = 16.2 = 16.2 = 16.2 kN/m
3
D
s
Example 1.
Determine the diameter of the shaft and the bell using a FS = 4 (ignore skin friction).
Solution.
(1) Determine the diameter of the shaft.
' 2
2
(2.257) (2.257)
21 /
0.697 1
u
s
c
Q MN
D
f MN m
D m use meter
= =
=
D
b
2 m
dense sand and
gravel
=19.2 =19.2 =19.2 =19.2 kN/m
3
D
s
Avg. corrected standard penetration number N
corr
= 40
f
c
=21 MN/m
2
(2) Determine the bell diameter.
But in sand, c = 0, and the value for Nq can
be found from the Ncorr via the angle of
internal friction .
0.697 1
s
D m use meter =
' ' '
[ ( 1)]
pnet p c q
Q A cN q N = +
So, therefore,
'
2
' '
a value of 40 corresponds to a 39
reduce by 10% 35 for which 60
(2, 000 )(4)
1
( 1) [(6 )(16.2) (2 )(19.2)](60 1)
therefore,
4
4(1)
1.13
3.14
corr
q
p net
p
q
p
b
N
N
Q
kN
A m
q N m m
A
D m

=
=
= = =
+
= = =

1.13
3.14
The steel reinforcing is (0.01) (0.01
b
s p
D m
A A

= = =
= =
6 2
2
2
)(10 )
10, 000
Provide 10 # 25 reinforcing bars (10, 000 )
mm
mm
mm
=
Example 2.
Design a drilled shaft for the load and soil conditions shown below.
(1) Determine shaft diameter Ds
ft kip 3
kips 500
2.26 =
D
f
Q
2.26 =
D
2
s
c
all
s

use D
s
= 2.5 feet
Ignore load frictional capacity of shaft
(2) Determine "bell" diameter
Check D
s
with an estimate of D
b
via
Q
b
= A
b
q'(N
q
*-1)
for N
corr
= 40 36 N
q
*
60
1) - (60 6ft) x
ft
k
0.122 + 20ft x
ft
k
(0.103 )
D
(
4
= )(FS) Q (
2 2
2
b
all

D
b
2
= 9.1 ft
2
, D
b
3.0 ft > 2.5 ft for D
s
(3) Check D
b
using for 1" base movement as a limit
Q 1.028
Q
=
D
Q
D
1.028 = Q
D
qb
D
4
1.309 = (kips) q
D
A
1.309 = Q
b(net)
b
b
b
b(net)
b
2
b
b
b
b
b(net)

limit 1" for ft 7.8 =

q 1.028
500kips

Q 1.028
=
D
b
b
b

(4) Determine settlement

elastic mod. E
s
766 N (kN/m2)
16 N (ksf)
E
s
= 16(40) = 640 ksf
D
b
= 3' is ultimate
ie does not consider settlement 15% D
b
ie 5.4"
for shaft
0.057ft =
S
ft
n i
12 x
n
i
k

10
x 3 x ) ft (2.5
4
ft 20 x k 500
=
.
E A
L Q
=
S
for
1
2
3
2
conc s
all
1

3.18" =
ft
n
12i x 0.88 )
3
0. - (1
k
ft 3 x
ft
k
70.7
ksf 70.7 =
) ft (9
4
k 500
=
D
4
Q
= q and
factor influence = 0.88 =
I
whence
I
) - (1
E
D
q
=
S
for
2
2
2
2
b
all
b
b
b
2
s
soil
b
b
2

ft
k
640
ft 3 x
ft
70.7
=
S

2
2
2

Total settlement = 3.24 in

if too large then iterate using a bell D
b
= 4.0 ft until s
t
1 in
Example 3
You have chosen to design a drilled shaft to carry a single columnar load Q
design
= 630 kips.
Use f
c
' = 3 ksi.
Determine: a) is the shown shaft diameter adequate ?
b) the net ultimate shaft resistance.
c) the ultimate point load capacity.
d) the FS (Q
ult
/Q
design
)
e) the total elastic settlement of the shaft under Q
design
.
Asssume * = 0.4 (usually 0.35 * 0.60)
N
c
* = 9
= 6 (Vesic)
E
p
= 3 x 103 ksi
kips 2,300 = ) (10ft x
4
x 9 x
ft
kips
3.26 =
ft
kips
3.26 =
A N c
= Q
2
2 2
b
*
c u
b

kips 261 = (0.4)

ft
kips
ft)(1.92) ft)(36 (3 =
C L D
= Q
2
*
u 1 s
s

Good 4.1 =
261) + 2300
=
Q
= FS the
ult
Given: Shaft diameter = 3ft
(1)
(2)
(3)
Good 4.1 =
630
261) + 2300
=
Q
Q
= FS the
design
ult
(4) Elastic settlement of shaft
ft
n
i
144 x
n
i
k

10
x 3 X ) (3ft
4
ft
ft
in
12 x ft 261]42 (o.6) +
369
[
=
E A
s)L Q + b Q
=
S
2
2
2
3
2 2
k
p s
des des
1

= 0.09 inches
like a = PL/AE ie. elastic
assume full mobilization of skin resist. Q
s
= 261 kips
Q
des.
b = 630 - 261 = 369 k
= 0.6, Ep = 3 x 103 ksi
settlement of pile due to load at pile tip
D
q
inches 0.60 =
k) (29.3 x ft (10
ft
in
12 x ft k)(0.04) (369
=
S

ksf 29.3 = (9) overft k 3.26 =
N c
= q and
0.04
C
where
Vesic from
Q
D
C
Q
=
S
I
)
V
- (1
E
D
q
=
S
2
2
2
*
u
u
p
tip at u
b
p
b des
2
wp
2
soil
soil
b
ob
2
c

_
settlement of pile due to load along shaft
inches 0.18 =
k
ft
in
12 x 0.059 k) (261
=
S

0.059 =
C
)
D
L
0.16 + (0.93 =
C
where
q
L
C Q
=
S
3
p s
p
1
s
sh
des
3
inches 0.18 =
ft
k
29.3 ft) (36
=
S

2
3

Total elastic settlement S = S

1
+ S
2
+S
3
= 0.87 inches
Belled Drilled Shafts.
Soft
soil
Soft
soil
Under-reamers are used to shape the bell, once the hole has reached its load bearing
stratum. It consists of two cutting blades which are folded into a cylinder. Upon
reaching the bottom of shaft, blades spread outward and begin to rotate.
80ll08 0l0f
Good Bearing soil
80ll08 0l0f
Good Bearing soil
Under-reamers are used to shape the bell, once the hole has reached its load bearing
stratum. It consists of two cutting blades which are folded into a cylinder. Upon reaching
the bottom of shaft, blades spread outward and begin to rotate.
Shaft Size (inches)
18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60 66 72 78 84 90 96 102 108 114
24 0.6
30 3 2
36 6 4
42 10 7 5
48 16 12 9 5
54 23 19 14 10 6
60 27 22 17 11 7
66 37 31 25 19 13 8
72 49 43 35 28 21 14 8
78 56 48 40 31 23 15














































B
e
l
l

S
i
z
e

(
i
n
c
h
e
s
)
Selection of Bells Volume (in ft
3
).
78 56 48 40 31 23 15
84 72 63 54 44 34 25 17
90 91 81 70 59 48 37 27
96 101 89 77 65 52 41
102 125 112 98 84 70 56
108 151 137 122 107 91 76
114 168 150 133 115 98
120 197 180 162 143 124 105
126 233 214 195 175 153 133
132 253 231 209 187 164 141
138 295 272 248 224 200 172
144 341 317 291 265 238 212 185 158 133 109 86
150 366 339 11 282 253 224 195 167 140 115
156 419 391 361 330 299 268 237 206 176 147 120
162 477 447 415 383 350 316 282 249 216 184 154













































B
e
l
l

S
i
z
e

(
i
n
c
h
e
s
)
Bell volume
D
s
T
ug
L
z
The Uplift Capacity of Drilled Shafts.
D
b
W
Failure
Surface in
soil
L
'
where
the effective weight of the drilled shaft, and
where the breakout factor 2( ) tan [ 1]
u net u gross ds
ds
u gross q p
q u
T T W
W
T B A L
L L
B K m
D D

=
=
=
= +
The net uplift capacity of the drilled shaft is,
'
nominal uplift coefficient
shape factor coefficient
b b
u
D D
K
m
=
=
L / D
b
B
q
Soil friction
angle,

(deg)
m
30 0.15
35 0.25
40 0.35
45 0.50
Soil friction
angle,

(deg)
(L/D
b
)
cr
30 4
35 5
40 7
45 9
Buildings that use drilled shafts.
The Sears Tower, Chicago.
The tower's foundations consist of 203 drilled
shafts ranged up to 10 feet in diameter and
extended to a depth up to 100 feet in order to
reach bedrock.
The drilled shaft bells were cut up to 12 feet in
diameter.
A dozen rock caissons were drilled through layers
of various saturated soil strata above the of various saturated soil strata above the
bedrock, requiring placement of 6 ksi concrete.
The Rowes Wharf
Development, Chicago.
This 16-story building was
constructed on filled land,
made up of construction
debris, garbage and very
mixed soils.
The construction time was
minimized by using the
up-down method of up-down method of
construction.
The foundations consisted
in 111 drilled shafts, belled
within the dense glacial till
formation just above the
bedrock.
Bells up to 11'-0" in
diameter were cut at the
base of the 70'-0" deep
shafts.
Size Price
18" Drilled Shafts $46.04 linear feet
24" Drilled Shafts $78.88 linear feet
Typical Prices for Drilled Shafts for Various Diameters (2006).
24" Drilled Shafts $78.88 linear feet
30" Drilled Shafts $85.50 linear feet
36" Drilled Shafts $119.00 linear feet
Belled Footing $208.88 cubic yard
References.
- Braja M. Das, Principles of Foundation Engineering. Fourth Edition, PWS Publishing.
New York, 1999.
- http://www.engr.uiuc.edu/Publications/engineering_research/CE.summary.6.html#top
- http://www.millgard.com/selmajor.htm
- http://www.englib.cornell.edu/thesesabstracts/January95/cho.html
- http://manuals.dot.state.tx.us/dynaweb/colbridg/geo/@Generic__BookTextView/6381
- http://www.engr.utk.edu/research/geo/sers/java/images/node1.html
- http://www.engineering.manhattan.edu/civil/CGT/T2olrint1.html
- http://www.nationalacademies.org/trb/publications/millennium/00041.pdf
- http://www.epcserver.com/Structural/analysis/soil/info_soilshaftcompare.asp - http://www.epcserver.com/Structural/analysis/soil/info_soilshaftcompare.asp
- http://www.epcserver.com/olindex.asp
- http://ceaspub.eas.asu.edu/structures/SlideCollection/ThumbNails/Santan.htm
- http://www.lrl.usace.army.mil/olmsted/Guidwall/Active/20020205/index.htm
- http://www.ci.sat.tx.us/capprog/unitprices.asp?res=800&ver=true
- http://cee.engr.ucdavis.edu/faculty/boulanger/geo_photo_album/Foundations%20-
%20Deep/Drilled%20shaft%20construction/Drilled%20shaft%20construction%
20-
%20main.html
http://srd.yahoo.com/goo/drilled+shafts/1/T=1016080114/F=29ac423a98a53a04e25230bfc
61 3467b/*http://www.ahbeck.com/eng/Projects/AES_Guayama.htm