Our professional services include the Pile Integrity Test (commonly
known as PIT) as a
quick and economical way to determine the integrity of foundation
piles. This kind of test can be applied on all kind of concrete and
composite piles, especially bore piles.
The integrity of a foundation pile is very important in order to
ensure its serviceability to support the load transferred from the
building or structure constructed. Phenomena such as concrete flush
out, necking, voids and cracks are very common in construction of
bore piles. As for driven piles, overstressing during pile driving
also can cause crack and damage to the pile installed. Therefore,
effort must be taken to ensure each pile installed on site to be
free from any kind of defects during the installation.
Pile
Integrity Test (PIT) can be the most suitable method to detect the
defects in piles that are mentioned above. The integrity of a pile
that was installed can be checked effectively in just a few
minutes. During testing, a special hand held hammer is utilized to
generate a “low strain?compressive wave impact on the pile. The
wave created is measured by an accelerometer attached at a leveled
section of the test pile top. Recorded wave is graphically
displayed for defect determination. A significant reflection on the
wave recorded shows changes in pile impedance which could tell
integrity problem detected on the tested pile.