Vincent T. H. CHU

In current practice concrete cover is usually provided at the pile tips of pre-bored H-piles socketed in rock. The purpose of such arrangement is to avoid the potential occurrence of corrosion to H-piles in case concrete cover is not designed at pile tips. However, recent field and laboratory observations had reservation of this viewpoint.

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For high-rise buildings constructed on steep cut slopes, these buildings are usually supported by large diameter piles. Though the piles are founded at some depth below the slopes, lateral load arising from wind on buildings may induce loads on the slop and causes slope failures. For shallow depths of slope which is marginally stable, it is more vulnerable to slope failure.
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In shaft grouting operation, tube-a-manchette pipes are fixed at regular spacing to the reinforcement cage. After concreting barrettes/bored piles, a small volume of water is injected under high pressure into these pipes to crack the concrete.
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Down the hole hammer has been used extensively to form pre-bored holes as rock sockets for mini piles and pre-bored H piles. The hammer functions by driving repeatedly a drill bit using compressed air on the rock. However, the use of down the hole hammer is normally limited to hole diameter of 600mm.
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Reversed Circulation Drill (RCD) is normally used for forming large diameter rock socket. The method involves the exertion of a download force of roller cutter bits on rock, together with the action of rotation and grinding of bits on rock. The cuttings are then removed by reverse circulation. The water and cuttings are airlifted through a central drill pipe, which is also used for rotating the drill bits.
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For unstable grout, particles will come out of the grout suspension leading to incomplete grouting and clogging of pipes. The stability of grout can be improved by adding additives such as bentonite. However, bentonite should not be used with very fine cements because its grain size is bigger than that of fine cements. Tests conducted previously confirm that a grout with bentonite is less stable under pressure.
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Compression of rockfill is normally caused by a reduction in dimension of fill and by rearrangement of particles into closer packing.

When the rockfill are saturated, the strength of rock would be reduced accordingly. In fact, wetting of rock surfaces does not reduce the coefficient of sliding friction between rockfills. Considerable settlement may result not from the lubricating effect of water but from a reduction of rock strength at its point of contact. The contact points would then be crushed under intergranular force and the contact area increases until contact pressure is less than the strength of rockfill.
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Most of design codes assume that pile fails during strong earthquake by lateral spreading. Lateral spreading is based on bending mechanism where the inertia and slope movement causes bending in piles. In essence, piles are considered as beams which are subjected to lateral loads such as slope movement leading to pile failure.
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The use of prestressed tiebacks gets rid of the need of interior bracing. Prestressed tiebacks are anchored into rock or granular soils and excavation can be conducted by using powerful shovel instead of using hand excavation or other small excavators. It provides less restraint and allows free movement for excavation.
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The quality of slurry plays an important role in the quality of diaphragm walls. Firstly, if a thick slurry cake is formed in the interface between slurry and in-situ soil, it has a tendency to fall off during concreting works and it mixes with freshly placed concrete. Moreover, large thickness of slurry cake would reduce the concrete cover and affect the future durability performance of diaphragm walls.
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