Pipe Pile Rock Embedment

[projectEST]

Hello,

Im on a job in which we had over a hundred caissons/core beams that must be driven into rock. Some pipes will sit on-top of rock while others require some embedment ranging from 6'-14'.

I'm looking to purchase cutting shoes for each of my pipes but cannot find an application with rigid teeth like tips(this should seem most viable for going into rock.) Drilling, prior to driving the core beams seems too painstaking as a method to performing this work.

The cutting shoes I plan on purchasing have rounded tips and are heavily reinforced. I've looked around and this seems to be the only type of shoe available for sale.

Am I not understanding the method we plan on using to perform this work?

Any recommendations?

Thanks,

Joe
Project Engineer

 

[PEinc]

What is your definition of rock? Around here (east coast), you can't drive piles into rock. Weathered or highly fractured rock, maybe, but not hard rock. And certainly, not 6' to 14' into rock.

 

[DRC1]

Shoes allow you to seat the pile into rock, not drive it into the rock. Invaiabbly what happens is that the blow counts get high, well over 20 blows to the inch. All of a suddent the pile apears to begin driving with considerable ease for several feet befor fetching up. What has happened is that the pile split due to excessive driving stresses.
If you are socketing the piles into rock, the holes need to driled. However, you can develop significant capacities by simply seating the piles on the rock.