Pile Behaviour - Consequences of Geological and Construction Imperfections

By Harry G. Poulos

This paper identifies some of the causes of imperfections in real pile foundations and then examines their possible effects on pile behaviours. The imperfections considered arise from two main sources, natural imperfections caused by the geological circumstances and imperfections related to the construction of the piles. In each case single piles are considered first and then pile groups are addressed separately.