SCI P308 Specifiers’ Guide to Steel Piling

The general knowledge base in the civil engineering industry has been improved by the publication of the Steel Bearing Piles Guide by SCI in 1997 (jointly funded by Corus and the DETR) and the 7th Edition of the Piling Handbook produced by Corus, together with steel piling seminars. Steel piling is the first choice for offshore deep foundations and on shore in several countries of the world such as the USA, Japan, Scandinavia, Holland and the Baltic States. The use of steel piling in the UK is still held back by a lack of knowledge of the technology amongst specifiers and designers or by lack of experience with steel pile installation. The lack of experience can hamper the selection of steel piling, particularly when important technical issues such as noise and vibration prediction need to be resolved at the concept design stage of a construction project. There is therefore a need to add to the published information to cover recent experience in dealing with these issues. This publication presents up to date advice based on recent research and on new steel piling products that have been developed to achieve better value solutions for various construction projects. It is hoped that this will give the specifier more confidence in the selection of steel piling.