7 Pile foundations

7.1 General

(1)P The provisions of this Section apply to end-bearing piles, friction piles, tension piles and transversely loaded piles installed by driving, by jacking, and by screwing or boring with or without grouting.

(2) The provisions of this Section should not be applied directly to the design of piles that are intended as settlement reducers, such as in some piled raft foundations.

(3)P The following standards shall apply to the execution of piles:

NOTE EN 14199 Execution of special geotechnical works – Micro-piles is in preparation.

7.2 Limit states

(1)P The following limit states shall be considered and an appropriate list shall be compiled:

  • loss of overall stability;
  • bearing resistance failure of the pile foundation;
  • uplift or insufficient tensile resistance of the pile foundation;
  • failure in the ground due to transverse loading of the pile foundation;
  • structural failure of the pile in compression, tension, bending, buckling or shear;
  • combined failure in the ground and in the pile foundation;
  • combined failure in the ground and in the structure;
  • excessive settlement;
  • excessive heave;
  • excessive lateral movement;
  • unacceptable vibrations.

Eurocode 7 Geotechnical design Part 1 : General rules