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Module 45 /Topic 46

GRANULAR PILE ANCHOR IN SWELLING SOILS

Swelling or expansive soils being a nightmare to foundation engineers, is an area
which has attracted considerable attention in relation to finding suitable foundations in
such soils. We have already come across the use of underreamed piles (Sec.12.2)
as a viable technique in dealing with expansive soils.

46.1 Granular pile anchor

Granular pile anchor is a comparatively recent addition to combating problems
created by expansive soils (Srirama Rao et al., 2007).

‘Stone column’ (Sec.31.2) is a well known technique of ground improvement in soft

soils. The ‘granular pile anchor’ is a variant of this technique when put to use under
footings in swelling soils (Fig.46.1). An anchor rod welded to a steel plate is placed at
the bottom of the borehole and the space is filled with granular material. The top end
of the rod is bent and the footing is concreted so that it is anchored in the footing. The
tensile pressure acting on the footing due to the swelling of the soil is absorbed by
tension in the anchor rod, subjecting the granular pile to compression. In normal
seasons when swelling pressure does not act, the downward compressive load also
subjects the granular pile to compression. Thus the granular pile made to resist both
tension and compression in compression, and herein lies the success of the method.
The granular pile being a discrete medium, has no strength in tension and can only
resist compression and the technique efficiently puts it to the right use.

Reference

Srirama Rao, A., Phani Kumar, B.R., Dayakar Babu, R. And Suresh, K. (2007), “Pull-
out behaviour of granular pile-anchors in expansive clay in site,” ASCE – Journal of
Geotechnical and \GeoenvironmentalEngineering, Vol. 133, No. 5, pp. 531-538.