Soil Heave Due to Pile Driving in Clay

Soil heave due to pile driving in clay is discussed and, in particular, its influence on adjacent piles. Finite element studies and results of model tests are presented and compared with field measurements. It is demonstrated that in the vicinity of the driven pile, the soil is displaced mainly in the lateral direction, similar to soil subjected to passive earth pressure. General rules of estimating soil heave inside and outside a pile group are examined. A method is proposed for estimating soil heave when driving a group of piles. Practical application of predicting soil heave is illustrated by an example.