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Pile Integrity Testing
INTRODUCTION
Any structure founded on a piled foundation relies on the integrity of the installed piles. However, by their very nature it is almost impossible to determine visually whether the pile has been installed to the correct depth or whether any flaws exist within the pile. Over the past 12 years we at Geosure have invested substantial time and effort in developing pile integrity testing skills in South Africa . With the support of NDT Technology in the UK , we have established ourselves firmly as the leaders in the pile integrity testing field in Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands , finding ourselves in the enviable position where both civil engineering consultants and piling contractors accept our test results with absolute confidence. The integrity testing service we offer is considered by all role players in the civil engineering field to add significant value to piling contracts, particularly as such testing provides a rapid and inexpensive means of screening the structural integrity of all piles on a site. The alternative to integrity testing is pile load tests on a few selected piles – a drawn out, expensive and disruptive process.
As a good, recent example of poor pile installation, Geosure was appointed to carry out integrity testing for all of the installed piles for an upmarket development in Durban , kwaZulu-Natal . The tests showed acoustic anomalies in twenty five percent of the piles and subsequent physical exposure of the piles to the depths indicated by the acoustic anomalies confirmed the results of the testing. The adjacent photographs shows the severe ‘necking' of the piles which had occurred during installation. The structural defects in the piles shown in the accompanying photographs were confirmed when exposed by excavating around the pile shafts.
We use two methods for carrying out the integrity testing and a brief overview of these methods please click below:
1) FREQUENCY RESPONSE AND SONIC ECHO TESTING
(PILE TAPPING)
2) SONIC LOGGING
Some of the larger projects on which Geosure have carried out pile Integrity testing are:
• Gateway Shopping Centre, Umhlanga
• ICC Basement Parking, Durban
• Kokstad Maximum Security Prison, Kokstad
• Zimbali Forest Lodge, Zimbali
• Maphobeni Bridge , Swaziland
• Sasol, Secunda
• Mozal , Mozambique
• Western Freeway, Cape Town
• Port Louis Water Front, Mauritius
• Dry Dock, Port Louis , Mauritius
• Thembisa Access Bridge , Gauteng
• Neptune Interchange, Coega, Port Elizabeth
• New Institute of Business , Gaborone , Botswana
• Casino, Bloemfontein
• Gautrain
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We regularly carry out testing for the following contractors:
• Frankipile
• Esor
• Ground Engineering
• Dura Piling
• VNA Piling
• Foundation Services
• Kwa-Zulu Piling
• Stefanutti & Bressan Piling
• Mend Engineering and Piling
• Bombela Gautrain
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