KENTUCKY LAKE TEST PILE

Aurora, Kentucky

Massman conducted a test pile program for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, the objective of which was to acquire pile capacity information and geotechnical data to aid in the final design of the new Kentucky Lake Bridge near Aurora, Kentucky. The project included the installation of six steel pipe test piles, performing a series of dynamic tests while driving each, performing multiple re-strikes to determine different setup capacity increases, and several static tests.

All six test piles had artificial plugs welded on the inside, about 95 feet from the tip, to force the piles into a plugged condition so they would simulate the long-term setup of the pile. There were three 48-inch and three 72-inch piles, the longest being 210-feet-long and weighing approximately 320,000 pounds. A 3,000-ton axial static load test was performed on one 48-inch pile utilizing a reaction frame consisting of more than 740 tons of steel and 1,000 tons of concrete counterweight.

Two piles had axial StatNamic tests performed using a device that was set on top of the pile and was capable of applying a downward force of 5,000 tons through an explosive charge. A 500-ton lateral StatNamic test was also performed on one of the pile due to the contract requiring equipment that could install the piling to depths able to produce the required large resistances. It also mandated that it be accomplished while achieving a minimum of 70 percent and a maximum of 90 percent of the yield stress in the steel, so we mobilized a massive MENCK MHU 800S pile hammer from Singapore. This hammer has a total length of 45 feet, weighs 125 tons, and produces 600,000-foot-pounds of energy.