Driven precast piles are deep foundation elements installed using impact or vibration hammers to a design depth or resistance. Keller have developed the design and manufacturing capability over the past 30 years to design piles up to 400mm square and have a fleet of rigs capable of installing all precast piles and including octagonal prestressed piles.

Driven precast piles

Common uses

Can be used for all types of construction, particularly in aggressive soil conditions
Well suited to sites where the ground conditions are highly variable as they are driven to a set or pre-determined resistance
A good foundation choice when you have very thick layers of soft soil and/or a high water table that would be problematic for a traditional drilled pile
Small piles sizes can be used for: underpinning houses and light buildings, limited headroom, difficult access
Medium pile sizes can be used for: foundations for new buildings, infrastructure, floor slabs and load transfer platforms, lateral support for earth retention in conjunction with king post walls
Large pile sizes can be used for: wind turbines and pylons, river bridge foundations, bridge abutments and piers, marine construction
Suits working in remote areas

Process

Driven piles gain geotechnical capacity efficiently by displacing the soil around the shaft and compacting the soils at the toe during installation. The energy to drive the piles is provided by either a high frequency oscillating hammer or a percussion hammer. If penetration of dense soil is necessary and it is often desirable to reduce the required installation energy, pre-drilling may be required for the pile to reach the design depth.

The finished foundation element is designed to resist the imposed compressive, uplift, and lateral loads. Driven piles can also be used to provide lateral support for earth retention walls.

Advantages

Cost effective and efficient design solution
Displacement pile resulting in zero spoil, making it an ideal solution for contaminated sites
Fast and clean operation
Low bearing pressure for platform design
Easily fabricated for high structural strength
Suitable for most ground conditions
High degree of confidence around pile capacity and integrity real time through installation monitoring and dynamic testing
Range of noise mitigation measures available for sensitive areas
Self erecting rigs make for fast and efficient mobilisations

Quality assurance

Proprietary pile joining systems are utilised for ease of construction. Keller’s pile joint systems are subjected to rigorous testing and analysis, coupled with stringent quality control processes to ensure short-term and long-term performance. Keller ensure geotechnical strength and serviceability requirements are satisfied by applying best practice in dynamic and static load testing. Keller precast piles meet the requirements of AS2159, as well as compliance with government, road and rail authorities across Australia.

Keller can offer fully qualified in house design via certified engineers that can deliver quality piling and ground improvement solutions.

Our design and engineering certification capability includes offering static tests, dynamic pile testing, continuous driving testing and comprehensive propping/bracing and anchor design to complete the full QA package.