Offshore Dynamic Pile Load Testing & Pile Driving Monitoring Services

Pile Driving is Pile Testing

Specialist Real-time Monitoring of:Soil Resistance & Pile Capacity / Driving Stresses / Hammer Performance

AIMS OF PILE DRIVING MONITORING

• Toestablishpileultimatebearingcapacityandconfirmpiledesignassumptions

• Toassessandmanageriskofpiletipbuckling

• Toallowdevelopmentofpiledrivingpredictionnumericalmodels

• Toevaluatepilefatigueresultingfromdrivingprocess

• Topermitthedevelopmentofacalibratedmodelforthebackanalysisofnon-instrumentedpiles

WHAT DOES PILE DRIVING MONITORING ENTAIL?

•Attachingstraingaugesandaccelerometerstothetopofthepile

• Thestrikingofthepilewiththehammerimpartsstressandvelocitywaves(andtheirreflectionfromthepile:soilinterface)whicharerecordedandanalysedtodetermine:

1.Actualhammerenergythatistranferredtothepile

2.Thepile’sultimatebearingcapacityandthesoilresistanceundercontinuousdrivingconditions

3.Axialstressdistributionalongthepile

BENEFITS OF PILE DRIVING MONITORING

• Real time Quality Control for installation operations-Piledrivingmonitoringistheonlyway toevaluatethestressesinducedanywhereinthepile.

• Design Verification-Resultscanbeusedtoconfirmaxialpilecapacity-especiallyimportantwherethereisariskofprematuredrivingrefusalorofencounteringchallenginggeologicalconditions.

• Design and Installation Cost Optimisation-Resultscanbeusedtovalidatetheassumptionsmadeduringthepiledesignandinstallationassessment.Inrecentprojects,thishasresultedinsignificant cost savings in terms of pile dimensions and associated installation timescales.

PILEDRIVINGMONITORING

SERVICES

CAInstrumentationcapabilitiesincludebothabovewater

andunderwaterpiledriving monitoring

ADVANCED INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSISCAInstrumentationarealeadingproviderofadvancedinterpretationofthepiledrivingmonitoringdata.Utilisingyearsofexperience,CAInstrumentationareabletoprovidethefollowingservices:

• SignalmatchinganalysisutilisingCAPWAP-asoftwareprogramthatcalculatestotalbearingcapacityofapileaswellasresistancedistributionalongtheshaftandatthetoe

• Assessmentofin-situpilecapacityincaseofprematurepilerefusal• Pilefatigueassessment• Calibrationofthehammer/pile/soilnumericalmodelforsitespecificdrivingpredictions• Constructionofanumericalbasedsoilmodelcalibratedthroughanalysisofinstrumentedpiletestswhichpermitsthecalculationofpilecapacityfornoneinstrumentedpiles.ThismethodisconsideredasapiletestbyEurocode7andallowsforasubstantialdecreaseoftheapplicablesafetyfactors

•Definitionofpiledrivingcriteriaforpiletipintegritywhiledrivinginsoftrockforinstrumentedpilesandnon-instrumentedpiles

OFFSHORE OPERATIONSTheoffshoreteamtypicallycomprisesoftwotofourpersonnel,headedbyanexperiencedgeotechnicalengineercertifiedbytheDeepFoundationInstitute.Theteamcanprovideroundtheclockassistanceonallpilingissues,whilsttheon-siteanalysisofdataenablesapreliminaryassessmentofthehammer/pile/soilsystemtobegivenvirtuallyinrealtime.CAInstrumentationengineersarefamiliarwiththeoffshoreenvironmentandtrainedtoliaisewithbargemastersanddeckforemantominimiseinterferencewiththeinstallationschedule.Theequipmentisthoroughlycheckedbeforetheoperations,andmobilisedwith100%redundancy. Awellplannedpiledrivingmonitoringoperationshouldnormallynotincuranybargestandingtime.

EQUIPMENTCAInstrumentationoperatethePileDrivingAnalyser(PDA)PAXacquisitionunitmanufacturedbyPDI,whichiswidelyregardedasthemostreliablesystemonthemarket.ThePDAacquisitionunitsaredeployedinconjunctionwithPDImanufacturedstraingaugesandaccelerometers,andthedatacapturedisanalysedusingthelatestversionsofGRLWEAP,PDA-WandCAPWAP.

EQUIPMENT HIRE AND PROVISION OF TRAINING COURSESEquipmenthireandprovisionofspecialisttrainingisundertakenbyG-Octopus,asistercompanyofCAInstrumentation.G-Octopusarealsoanaccreditedtrainingcompany,providingtheoreticalcoursesandpracticaltrainingonpiledrivingmonitoringanddynamicpileloadtesting.Thesecanbeprovidedatanylocation.G-OctopusisanapproveddistributorofPDIequipment.

PILEDRIV

INGEN

GINEERIN

G

Borkum West II, North Sea, 2011-2012*

• Under water pile driving monitoring (30m depth) of offshore wind turbine tripod foundations using subsea cable technology

• Assessment of the pile bearing capacity by signal matching using CAPWAP software• Assessment of soil set-up behaviour based on restrike tests including tests conducted >1

year after installation

Gwynt Y Môr, Irish sea, 2012*

• Above water pile driving monitoring (30m) of offshore substation Platform jacket foundations using standard PDA cable technology

• Assessment of the pile bearing capacity by signal matching using CAPWAP software• Restrike tests

AGM-N Platform, Anguille Redevelopment, 2010* • Above water pile driving monitoring (100m) using standard PDA cable technology and

wireless technology• Assessment of soil resistance to driving (SRD) by the global method using OPILE and GRL

WEAP software, and by the signal matching method using CAPWAP software.

*Projects previously undertaken under G-Octopus

Extensiveexperienceofoffshorepiledrivingmonitoringwithintheoilandgassectorandmorerecently,inoffshorewindpower,hasprovidedCAInstrumentationwithanenviablebreadthofworldwideprojectexperience.

OTHER PROJECTS INCLUDE:*

IKALOU & OLOWI, Offshore Gabon 2009: underwater Pile Driving Monitoring of skirt piles jackets for Saipem ENI & CNR

ARZEW AMMONIA, Algeria; PORTO NUEVO, Colombia: procurement of pile testing equipment, training of personnel, data analysis and processing, pile capacity assessment, adjusted pile acceptance criteria.

PECIKO, TUNU, Yemen; BONGKOT, Thailand; SISI NUMBI, Indonesia: pile testing supervision, pile capacity assessment and pile acceptance of numerous offshore jackets and jetties in South East Asia on behalf of TOTAL.

SIRRI, SOUTH PARS, AL KHALIJ, ZULUF, Persian Gulf: extensive experience in the perso-arabic Gulf, in complex carbonate partially cemented soils and weak rocks.

RECENTPROJECTEXPERIENCE

CA Instrumentation and G-Octopus are trading names of CATHIE Associates.

CA InstrumentationCollingwoodBuildings,38CollingwoodStreet,NewcastleuponTyneNE11JFUnitedKingdom

t:+441912696920e:info@cathie-associates.comwww.cathie-associates.com

CA Instrumentation/G-OctopusImmeuble“lesFontenelles”

1ruedeCraïova92000,Nanterre,Francet:+33147324195e:info@cathie-associates.com/info@g-octopus.fr

www.cathie-associates.com / www.g-octopus.com