Experimental study on reinforcement of existing bridge pile foundations using sheet pile wall

Due to the riverbed soil excavation for the utilization in construction works for many years, the level of riverbed of the Mae Nam Ping River in Thailand has been considerably lowered, resulting in reduction of embedment lengths of piles of bridge foundations. Erosion was not a cause of the lowering of the riverbed. Reductions of bearing capacity due to the lowering of riverbed soil is the main cause of bridge pile foundation settlements or collapses at present. In order to prevent the damages of existing bridge pile foundations caused by the riverbed soil excavation, a reinforcement method using sheet piles called “Sheet Pile Wall (SPW) reinforcement” is proposed in this paper through a series of vertical load tests on a small-scale model pile foundation in dry sand ground at 1-g field. © 2017 19th ICSMGE Secretariat. All rights reserved.