Summary Vibratory Driven Pile Installation Method in Permafrost

William N. Scott, P.E., S.E., John Cologgi, P.E., Torsten Mayrberger, Ph.D., Kenton Braun, P.E., Patrick
Michels
A new direct-driven installation method Vibropile was developed for installing piles in permafrost using a
vibratory driver from a mast-mounted rack with which the energy of the vibrating pile thaws the frozen
ground surrounding the pile as it is driven to its design elevation. The installation is efficient and provides
economic advantages over traditional installation methods.
The most commonly used pile in arctic regions of Alaska and Canada is installed using the drill-and-slurry
method. The drill-and-slurry method hangs a pile into an oversized predrilled hole and fills the annulus
between the pile and the in-situ soil with a sand/water slurry. The slurry freezes and creates a cohesive
adfreeze bond that provides the piles foundation shear strength. However, the drill-and-slurry method is
more labor- and equipment-intensive than the new Vibropile method investigated in this testing program for
many uses. Superior installation efficiency and cost savings has been demonstrated when utilizing the
Vibropile method.
In simplest terms, the Vibropile method develops its own pile/slurry adfreeze interface. An undersized pilot
hole is drilled just prior to driving the pile. The pile is driven using a high-frequency vibrator with variable
eccentric-moment at frequencies up to 2,600 revolutions per minute with a maximum double amplitude of
0.7 inches. The vibratory driver rides on a mast-rail system that provides load or crowd pressure to the pile as
it is vibrated into the pilot hole.
During driving, the vibratory energy is transmitted through the pile into the surrounding frozen soil. The
frozen ground accepts the work energy applied to it, thawing the frozen pore water and, in ice-rich silts,
liquefying the thawed soil. These processes create a thin slurry layer between the pile surface and the
surrounding frozen soil that was found to be well developed in both high moisture content silts and low
moisture content gravelly soils. After the pile is driven and the vibratory energy removed, the slurry film
freezes back, creating the cohesive adfreeze bond between the pile and surrounding frozen soil. Because the
thawed interface layer is thin, the freezeback time is minimal and much less than for conventional drill-andslurry piles.
A field testing program was developed and performed for two years on Alaskas arctic North Slope. The
objective was to characterize the long- and short-term adfreeze performance of vibratory driven piles installed
into native frozen soils.
During the program, 12 steel pipe piles of 12.75 inches in diameter were installed in permafrost in the
Alaskan arctic; eight piles were installed in ice-rich sandy silt and four piles were installed in a frozen gravel
soil. Piles were loaded in tension for six different durations ranging from five days to six months at loads
varying from 35 kips to 145 kips. At the completion of long-term testing the test piles were unloaded, rested,
and then loaded to failure to characterize the adfreeze short-term strength. Data was collected continuously
using electronic linear variable displacement transducers (LVDTs), load transducers and thermistors. Data
was analyzed to develop normalized long-term pile velocities and short-term strength as a function of loading
stress and adfreeze temperature. Two design equations were developed to predict long-term adfreeze
strength or creep behavior. The equations describe the same behavior but are derived with respect to a stress
controlled analysis or displacement controlled analysis and are based on a limiting critical stress and displacement
performance. The experimental results were statistically compared to current theoretical and empirical
performance. It was found that vibratory driven piles perform comparatively to traditional drill-and-slurry
pile installations.
This program demonstrated that Vibropiles driven in cold permafrost develop sufficient adfreeze strength
both long-term and short-termfor the typical service loads required for permafrost piles. The analysis
shows that the experimental pile behavior closely correlates to theoretical behavior that is used to describe
and analyze slurry pile behavior. By implication, it could be said that Vibropiles will perform well and parallel
slurry pile behavior.

Figure 1. North Star Equipment Services ABI MOBILRAM TM 14/17B with MRZV 925VS
vibratory driver used for this study.

Figure 2. Test pile being installed. Note Visqueen used to decouple pile through active layer at
Mine Site C.

Figure 3. Augering Pilot Hole

Figure 4. Extracted Pile Showing Thawed Permafrost Slurry

Figure 5. Thawed In-situ Permafrost Extruded During Vibropile Installation

Figure 6. Extracted tested pile. Typical extracted tip condition - no damage.

Figure 7. Completed test set-up with compressed nitrogen gas ready to be installed into Hydraulic
Load Control System. Note location of hydraulic jacks.

Figure 8. Piles loaded and transmitting data.