Pile Tests in Nepal: Current Practice and Enhancements

Pile foundation is the most common type of foundation adopted for major bridges and buildings. According to the information collected by various researchers and available databases, 90% of the major bridges and high-rise buildings have pile foundation. Bored cast-in-situ reinforced concrete piles are currently in practice in Nepal. Unstable ground conditions, lack for good construction technology and tools, unavailability of experienced construction team, lack of insights and professional ethics, etc. leads to construction of poor pile foundation. Recently, many cases of bridge failures building pile failures have been noticed, in Nepal. Hence, quality control measures during construction of piles along with post-construction quality assurance tests are most essential for the pile foundation and especially for bored cast-in-situ reinforced concrete pile foundation. Pile Integrity Tests can assure the quality of constructed piles and Pile Load Tests can help to verify the load carrying capacity of the piles. This paper emphasizes on the integrity tests available in Nepal and Pile Dynamic Test which has been introduced recently in Nepal and being used in few major highway projects of the nation.