A full-scale field test program was carried out to investigate the effects of drilling for tieback anchors on the surrounding ground. The test anchors were drilled from the ground surface through a soft clay deposit and into bedrock. Five different drilling methods were compared. All methods caused excess pore pressures in the surrounding clay, up to 70 kPa, extending several meters away from where drilling took place. This impact on pore pressures was for most drilling methods significantly larger than what has been observed for driven piles in clay. High penetration rate combined with water flushing during drilling through soft clay is the main reason for the effects on the pore pressure. Drilling with a down-the-hole hammer and air flushing through a layer of moraine and into bedrock in one of the test areas (Area B) caused significantly larger excess pore pressures and ground settlements than the other drilling methods. Approximately half of the maximum resulting settlements of 12 mm in Area B was most likely caused by reconsolidation of remolded clay around the casing tubes. Drilling with water-driven hammer in Area C had less effect on both pore pressures and ground settlements.
Drilling for foundation piles and tieback anchors through soils using a continuous casing to support the borehole is often referred to as "overburden drilling". Monitoring data from several case studies show that overburden drilling may cause considerable short-term ground settlements indicating a loss of soil volume around the casings. However, further insight is required to understand the mechanisms that govern overburden drilling. Novel physical model tests were carried out to investigate the effects of varying parameters such as flushing media (water or air), flow and penetration rate on the penetration force, pore pressure changes, soil displacements and drill cutting transport. Tests with water flushing indicate a clear relation between the flow and penetration rate and the resulting influence on the surrounding ground. Increasing flow rates caused larger excess pore pressures at greater radial distances and generated more excess drill cuttings compared to the theoretical casing volume. The obtained results were translated into a non-dimensional framework to estimate optimal flushing parameters in similar conditions. The air flushing tests were considerably limited by the modelling constraints. Notable reduction of pore pressures adjacent to the casing indicate an air-lift pump effect that can lead to extensive ground movements as observed in the field.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.