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Types of Pile Foundation and Its Advantages

Pile foundations are the essential type of foundation which helps to provide a stable and strong foundation. In the construction industry, the pile foundation plays an important role as it has the ability to stand with extreme forces. The pile foundations are mainly used in those construction structures which are built on unstable soil conditions.

The structural weight of the construction structure has been transferred to the stronger soil layer with the help of the pile foundations. Pile foundations are mainly the type of deep foundation. In case of the large construction projects such as the construction of buildings or bridges, pile foundations have been used.

Thin pillars are used in the pile foundation under the ground which helps to provide the building’s stability. The pile foundation has been made up of concrete or steel. In the case of a high-rise building, where the entire load of the building has been concentrated in one precise area, the pile foundation can be used.

Advantages of using Pile Foundations

There are numerous advantages of pile foundations which include:

• This type of foundation has the ability to go deeper underground to the strong soil layer which helps to make the building stable as well as ensuring the building’s security. The pile foundation can also be used in case the topsoil layer is weak or loose to support heavy building structures.
• Pile foundations have the ability to pass the wet soil to the solid base.
• Some types of pile foundations including the bored piles can be installed without any kind of shaking or vibrating the soil too much. This benefit indicates that this type of pile foundation can be used safely near existing buildings or other construction structures without any kind of risk of damage.
• A pile foundation can be fit for each and every situation. As an example, in the case of the construction site being cramped, or there is lots of water in the ground, or the ground is rocky, different types of pile foundations can be used.
• The use of screw piling helps to produce less amount of waste which is less disruptive for the environment as in this piling process, it is not required to dig up a huge amount of dirt. Thus, the use of pile foundations is one of the sustainable practices in the construction unit.

Different types of Pile Foundation

The types of pile foundations have been determined on the basis of several criteria which include:

Based on the materials that are used for the construction of Pile Foundation

Different types of materials have been used in pile foundations for constructing the house which includes:

Concrete Piles

Concrete is a powerful building material which can be of two types, in which, precast has been made up in the factory, brought into the construction site and poured into the hole on the ground.

Composite Piles

The lower section of the composite piles is made of steel which helps in the penetration of the pile in the soil and the upper section is made of concrete which helps to carry the house’s load as well as helps to resist corrosion.

Timber Piles

This pile of materials is perfect while working on a tough budget. Timber is a great material for those house construction projects which are near water or a dock. In this context, it needs to be considered that wood can be rotten, so this type of material can be used above the groundwater level.

Steel Piles

These are the superstrong piles which have the ability to drive through the rock layers or hard soils. The steel piles have been used in case the ground is tough or the building is hefty. These pile materials can be recyclable or reused thus adding eco-friendly benefits.

Based on the function of the Pile Foundation

On the basis of the usefulness of the pile foundation, there are five types which are:

Sheet Piles

The lateral support has been provided by this type of pile foundation. These types of pile foundations help to resist the lateral pressure from loose soil or the water flow. For the following purposes, the sheet piles have been used:

• The construction of the retaining walls.
• Sheet piles also help to retain the loose soil around the foundation trenches.
• These types of piles also help to isolate the foundation from the adjacent soils.

Load Bearing Piles

The vertical loads of the house structure have been transferred to the soil with the help of this type of pile foundation.

Friction Pile

These types of piles help to transfer the loads from the house structure with the help of the frictional forces between the soil surrounding and the pile surface. The friction can be developed for the pile length which has been depends upon the strata of the soil. In this type of pile foundation, the entire pile surface is used to transfer the house loads from its structure to the ground.

End Bearing Piles

In this case, the load of the house or other construction structure has been passed through the lower tip of the pile. The capacity of this type of pile foundation has been calculated by multiplying the area of the pile tip and the load-bearing capacity at that the particular soil’s depth at which the pile has been rests.

Soil Compactor Piles

This type of pile foundation does not carry any kind of direct load. These soil compactor piles have been placed at close intervals which help to enhance the load-bearing capacity of the soil by compacting.