Foundation, Concrete and Earthquake Engineering

Micropile: The Most Common Foundation Solution in Texas

The most common foundation problem are settlement of foundation and basement leak which is visible and sometimes leads to total foundation damage. The foundation repair is very critical, expensive and time consuming task. Sometimes it is almost impossible to repair a particular foundation. So it is very important to select a right foundation or foundation system.

Pile or pile group is a deep foundation that carry load to firm strata beneath foundation. But when a firm stratum lays at a relatively shallow depth but shallow foundation at this depth is not economical and for foundation repair task like retrofitting and underpinning structure micropile technique are adopted.


Micropile is a reinforced replacement pile that is installed by drilling followed by grouting. Typically micropile is designed to be small diameter having dia of less than 300 mm. It can be designed to act like conventional pile to withstand lateral and axial loading or it can be grouped to have combined soil and pile bearing action to support designed loading.

Micropile can be designed as a group of micropiles that the loads directly or closely spaced grids of micropiles of to reinforce the soil mass internally. In the later case they together with the soil form a reinforced composite that supports entire designed loads. In the first case the reinforcement in pile resist almost entire loads. In this post we discuss the fist methods of micropiling of directly loaded.

These piles can be designed as a substitute of conventional piles of medium to large dia to transfer load to relatively stable or firm strata. The loads that come from either axial or lateral sources are supported geotechnically by grout for each pile and structurally by reinforcement in pile. At least 90 percent projects of foundation construction and foundation repair in Texas involve this type of micropiles.

1 comment:

  1. My parents have been thinking about constructing a new home near a lake. It seems like building on sandy soil could become problematic. I like your point that a micropile combined with grouting can be used and work like a conventional pile to withstand axial or lateral loading. I'm glad that there are options and techniques to help keep a foundation secure and strong. http://www.bydrillinginc.com/permanent-foundation-micropiles/

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