Piles are often damaged during driving, and therefore constructability is an essential part of pile foundation design practice. Some examples of pile foundation damage are given below.
These reinforced concrete piles were damaged during driving at a site in Davis, California. The piles encountered unexpectedly hard driving conditions, which led to large compressive stresses during driving. Consequently, the concrete cover was blown off the pile heads before they could be driven to their target tip elevations. The diesel hammer and crane are visible in the background.
This large-diameter steel pipe pile is connected to a vibratory hammer and being lifted into position by a crane, at the Port of Oakland in 2001. The pile encountered an obstruction in the ground before it could be vibrated to its target elevation. Subsequently, the pile was withdrawn from the ground for inspection (see picture below).
The walls of the pipe pile near its tip had buckled inward. The buckled portion of the pile was then cut off by torch (hence the horizontal cut).