Behavior of Drilled Piers under Axial Loading

This paper describes field studies concerning the behavior of drilled piers under axial loading and presents preliminary design procedures. The drilled piers were instrumented for measurement of axial load as a function of length and data were obtained on load transfer along the sides of the piers and in point bearing. Correlations were made between soil properties and load transfer for a number of field tests. Preliminary design procedures, based on the analyses of the experiments, are suggested.