Pile Driving Monitoring (PDM) assesses and manages the risk of pile tip buckling and confirms pile design assumptions. PDM allows development of pile driving prediction numerical models, evaluates pile fatigue resulting from driving process and permits the development of a model to facilitate back analysis of non-instrumented piles.
Attaching strain gauges and accelerometers to the top of the pile. The striking of the pile with the hammer imparts stress and velocity waves (and their reflection from the pile:soil interface) which are recorded and analysed to determine:
Pile driving monitoring is the only way to evaluate the stresses induced anywhere in the pile.
Results can be used to confirm axial pile capacity – especially important where there is a risk of premature driving refusal or of encountering challenging geological conditions.
Results can be used to validate the assumptions made during the pile design and installation assessment. In recent projects, this has resulted in significant cost savings in terms of pile dimensions and associated installation timescales.
We can provide advanced interpretation of the pile driving monitoring data. Utilising years of experience, we are able to provide the following services:
Originally from the offshore Oil & Gas Industry, we believe that the value of our offshore construction services is a result of:
We operate the Pile Driving Analyser PDA8G acquisition units manufactured by PDI, which are widely regarded as the most reliable systems on the market.
The PDA acquisition units are deployed in conjunction with PDI manufactured strain gauges and accelerometers, and the data captured is analysed using the latest versions of GRL WEAP, PDA-S and CAPWAP.
Our equipment capabilities include both above-water and under-water pile driving, all of which can be deployed at short notice.
We can provide fast assistance to the Contractor on all piling issues, and the on-site analysis of data enables a preliminary assessment of the hammer/pile/soil system to be given virtually in real time.
Our engineers are familiar with the offshore environment and trained to liaise with barge masters and deck foreman to minimise interference with the installation schedule.
Our equipment is thoroughly checked before the operations, and mobilised with 100% redundancy. Pile Driving Monitoring generally results in zero barge time loss.
