Piling pipe are a type of steel driven pile foundation and are a good candidate for inclined (battered) piles.
Piling pipe can be driven either open end or closed end. When driven open end, soil is allowed to enter the bottom of the pipe or tube. If an empty pipe is required, a jet of water or an auger can be used to remove the soil inside following driving. Closed end pipe piles are constructed by covering the bottom of the pile with a steel plate or cast steel shoe.
In some cases, pipe piles are filled with concrete to provide additional moment capacity or corrosion resistance. In the United Kingdom, this is generally not done in order to reduce the cost. In these cases corrosion protection is provided by allowing for a sacrificial thickness of steel or by adopting a higher grade of steel. If a concrete filled pipe pile is corroded, most of the load carrying capacity of the pile will remain intact due to the concrete, while it will be lost in an empty pipe pile.
The structural capacity of piling pipe is primarily calculated based on steel strength and concrete strength (if filled). An allowance is made for corrosion depending on the site conditions and local building codes.
Steel piling pipe can either be new steel manufactured specifically for the piling industry or reclaimed steel tubular casing previously used for other purposes such as oil and gas exploration.
Concrete piles are typically made with steel reinforcing and prestressing tendons to obtain the tensile strength required, to survive handling and driving, and to provide sufficient bending resistance.
Long
piling pipe can be difficult to handle and transport. Piling joints can be used to join two or more short piles to form one long pile. Pile joints can be used with both precast and prestressed concrete piles.
Composite piles
A "composite pile" is a pile made of steel and concrete members that are fastened together, end to end, to form a single pile. It is a combination of different materials or different shaped materials such as pipe and H-beams or steel and concrete.
