EVALUATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE AVAILABLE METHODS OF PREDICTING CAPACITIES OF BORED PILES EMBEDDED IN BASRA SOIL

The ultimate capacities of single piles utilized in ten projects in Basra-Iraq are evaluated using: various interpretations of pile load test results; several static methods based on site investigation programs; and the finite element method via (PLAXIS-3D).For the well-behaved tests, it is realized that the load-settlement data can be best fitted by a hyperbola. Accordingly, Rollberg method well-harmonizes the test results and allows various interpretation methods to be applied on the extrapolated curves. It is found that, the static methods spread over a wide range of values. Finite element analyses exhibited good agreement to the measured values. It produces failure loads, almost, similar to that obtained from Rollberg method. The finite element analyses revealed local settlement of (0.6% - 1.8%) of the pile diameter to mobilize the ultimate skin resistance.