Search

The paper reports result of a comprehensive full scale field study expressly undertaken to monitor negative drag on a large diameter, bored cast-in-place reinforced concrete pile installed to rock in a deep deposit of soft marine clay of pleistaceae to recent origin. The pile was instrumented with load cells and the ground around the pile with piezometers and settlement gauges. The negative drag was generated by loading the ground around the pile in stages. The ground settlements were accelerated by providing vertical sand drains. The observational data were utilized in figuring out the influence of surcharge on the depth of clay responsible for generating the negative drag. The study has provided computational methodology for estimation of negative drag in terms of total and effective stresses. The inevitability of large ground settlement with respect to the pile brought out the non-importance of precisely ascertaining the magnitude of relative displacement necessary for mobilization of negative drag.