Dynamic Load Testing – Helical and Micropiles

Testing and Analysis of Specialty Piles

The compression capacity of specialty piles, such as helical piles and micropiles, may be evaluated by high strain dynamic foundation testing methods.

Micropiles have small diameters, are built with high strength cement grout and are encased with high strength steel casing. Helical piles typically have a central steel shaft and high strength steel helix plates that serve as load bearing elements.

GRL performs the dynamic test by applying a limited number of impacts to the pile with an appropriately sized drop hammer and taking strain and acceleration measurements, similar to Dynamic Load Testing on other types of deep foundations. The drop weight used in the test may be custom built for the application, or one of GRL’s smaller APPLE hammers may be used.

Available APPLE Systems

Dynamic testing with a Pile Driving Analyzer® (PDA) system may be quite economical for these specialty foundations. Alternatively, GRL can also perform traditional static load tests. Both static and dynamic tests generate a load versus settlement curve that allows evaluation of the performance of the foundation.