Behaviors of a Laterally Loaded Pile Located in a Mountainside

In this paper, the performance of a laterally loaded single pile located in a mountainside was predicted by a modified strain wedge (SW) technique and, in particular, the emphasis is on quantifying pile–soil interactions based on static equilibriums. The effects of surrounding soils on the pile shaft were idealized by using two different wedge models, depending on the relative location between the pile and soil. The proposed method is simultaneously validated by numerical solutions and laboratory observations and, therefore, sensitivity studies on the location of the pile were further investigated, especially for the summit of the mountain.