Behavior of Laterally Loaded Bored Piles in Cemented Sands

The lateral load‐deflection response of bored piles in cemented sands was examined by field tests on single piles, and on small groups consisting of two piles. All 12 piles were 0.3 m in diameter and had a length of 3 m or 5 m. Two piles were instrumented with electrical resistance strain gages. The surface soils to a depth of 3.5 m were characterized as having both components of shear strength, c and ϕ. The measured lateral load deflection behavior was nonlinear, with a stiffer response for the restrained piles in the pile groups. Theoretical parabolic p‐y curves were employed in the cemented sand with conventional lateral earth pressure theories. These theoretical curves were in agreement with the p‐y curves determined from the strain gage measurements. Ignoring the cohesion intercept of cemented sand resulted in an incorrect and too flexible response compared with the measured behavior. Retesting the piles under lateral loads in a perpendicular direction indicated little difference in the lateral capacity and deflection.