Driven piles are deep foundation elements installed using impact or vibration hammers to a design depth or resistance.

Common uses

Can be used for all types of construction, particularly in aggressive soil conditions
Well suited to sites where the ground conditions are highly variable as they are driven to a set or pre-determined resistance
A good foundation choice when you have very thick layers of soft soil and/or a high water table that would be problematic for a traditional drilled pile
Small piles sizes can be used for: underpinning houses and light buildings, limited headroom, difficult access
Medium pile sizes can be used for: foundations for new buildings, infrastructure, floor slabs and load transfer platforms, lateral support for earth retention in conjunction with king post walls
Large pile sizes can be used for: wind turbines and pylons, river bridge foundations, bridge abutments and piers, marine construction

Process

Driven piles can be made of timber, pre-cast concrete, steel H-piles, steel sheet piles, or pipe piles. In some cases, pre-drilling may be necessary for dense soil to allow the pile to reach design depth. They can be installed in one length or jointed for deeper piles.

Advantages

• Widely used and suited to most ground conditions
• Extensive range of pile sizes
• Piles are pre-manufactured to factory standards, the required length and standard conformity
• Piles may be installed to significant depths > 80m
• No, spoil so often the most cost-effective heavy foundation solution for contaminated or brownfield sites
• Unaffected by groundwater
• Rapid follow-on construction

Quality assurance

Veda has access to an extensive selection of pile sizes to ensure an optimum design solution and can draw on extensive experience and resources to ensure successful project delivery.
We also use the most up-to-date, enclosed hydraulic hammers, which keep noise disturbance to a minimum.