The writer believes, also, that the question of confined foundations, in contradistinction to that of the spreading of foundations, may be worthy of full discussion, as it applies to safe and economical construction, and he offers, without special comment, the following observations:
He has found that, in soft ground, results are often obtained with small open caissons sunk to a depth of a few feet and cleaned out and filled with concrete, which offer much better resistance than spreading the foundation over four or five times the equivalent area.
He has found that small steel piles and coffer-dams, from 1-ft. cylinders to coffer-dams 4 or 5 ft. square, sunk to a depth of only 1 or 2 ft. below adjacent excavations in ordinary sand, have safely resisted loads four or five times as great as those usually allowed.
He believes that short cylinders, cleaned out and filled with concrete, or coffer-dams of short steel piling with the surface cleaned out to a reasonable depth and filled with concrete horizontally reinforced, will, in many instances, give as good results as, and, in most cases, very much better than, placing the foundation on an equivalent number of small long piles or a proportionately greater spread of foundation area, the idea being that the transmission of pressure to the sides of the coffer-dam will not only confine the side thrust, but will also transfer the loading in mass to a greater depth where the resistance to lateral pressure in the ground will be more stable; that is, the greater depth of foundation is gained without the increased excessive loading, or necessity for deep excavation.
As to the question of the bearing value and friction on piles, the writer believes that while the literature on engineering is full of experimental data relating to friction on caissons, there is little to show the real value of friction on piles. The assumption generally made of an assumed bearing value, and the deduction therefrom of a value for the skin friction is fallacious. Distinction, also, is not made, but should be clearly drawn between skin friction, pure and simple, on smooth surfaces, and the friction due to pressure. Too often the bearing value on irregular surfaces as well as the bearing due to taper in piles, and lastly the resistance offered by binding, enter into the determination of so-called skin friction formulas. The essential condition of sinking a caisson is keeping it plumb; and binding, which is another way of writing increased bearing value, will oftentimes be fatal to success.
The writer believes that a series of observations on caissons sunk plumb under homogeneous conditions of ground and superficial smoothness will show a proportional increase of skin friction per square foot average for each increase in the size of caissons, as well as for increase of depth in the sinking up to certain points, where it may finally become constant, as will be shown later. The determination of the actual friction or coefficient of friction between the surfaces of the pile and the material it encounters, is not difficult to determine. In sand it is approximately 40% of the pressure for reasonably smooth iron or steel, and 45% of the pressure for ordinary wood surfaces. If, for instance, a long shaft be withdrawn vertically from moulding sand, the hole may remain indefinitely as long as water does not get into it or it does not dry out. This is due to the tendency of the sand to arch itself horizontally over small areas. The same operation cannot be performed on dry sand, as the arching properties, while protecting the pile from excessive pressure due to excessive length, will not prevent the loose sand immediately surrounding the pile from exerting a constant pressure against the pile, and it is of this pressure that 45% may be taken as the real value of skin friction on piles in dry sand.
In soft clays or peats which are displaced by driving, the tendency of this material to flow back into the original space causes pressure, of which the friction will be a measured percentage. In this case, however, the friction itself between the material and the clays or peat is usually very much less than 40%, and it is for this reason that piles of almost indefinite length may be driven in materials of this character without offering sufficient resistance to be depended on, as long as no good bearing ground is found at the point.
If this material is under water, and is so soft as to be considered semi-aqueous, the pressure per square foot will increase in diminishing proportion to the depth, and the pressure per area will soon approach and become a constant, due to the resistance offered by the lateral arching of the solid material; whereas, in large circular caissons, or caisson shafts, where the horizontal arching effect is virtually destroyed, or at least rendered non-effective until a great depth is reached, the pressure must necessarily vary under these conditions proportionately to the depth and size of the caisson in semi-aqueous material. On the other hand, in large caisson shafts, especially those which are square, the pressure at the top due to the solid material will also increase proportionately to the depth, as already explained in connection with the pressures of earth against sheeting and retaining walls.
The writer believes that the pressure on these surfaces may be determined with reasonable accuracy by the formulas already given in this paper, and with these pressures, multiplied by the coefficient of friction determined by the simplest experiment on the ground, results may be obtained which will closely approximate the actual friction on caissons at given depths. The friction on caissons, which is usually given at from 200 to 600 lb. per sq. ft., is frequently assumed to be the same on piles 12 in. or less in diameter, whereas the pressures on these surfaces, as shown, are in no way comparable.
The following notes and observations are given in connection with the skin friction and the bearing value of piles: