Pedestal Pile for Low Cost Housing

In grounds, where top strata are of poor strength or filled up. The foundation cannot be made to
rest on it and they should be taken down to stable strata of adequate bearing. Similarly, in black
cotton soils and other swelling soils, the foundations are made to rest at 3.5 m depth where
seasonal ground movements are negligible. The under reamed piles used in such soils have a
bulb at about 3m depth below ground level. The minimum shaft diameter for under reamed piles
in practice is 20 cm and the bulb diameter is 50 cm. Its safe capacity is 8 tonnes. However, the
low cost houses of single storey transmit very small load to foundations and normally it does not
exceed 2.5 t per metre length of wall. In such cases, if foundations are required to be taken
deep due to reasons of poor bearing or swelling nature of soils, as the strip footings becomes
excessive. Even if under reamed piles are adopted, their capacity remains under-utilized as the
load transmitted to each pile is not likely to exceed 2.5 t in most cases. The pedestal piles will
prove an effective solution of problems in such cases. In principle, their method of load
transmission and performance is similar to under reamed piles; viz. the load is transferred to soil
by bearing at base and friction on side of pile.

The pedestal pile consists of a reinforced concrete
section of 10cm square and of required length
depending upon the depth of loose soil or fill. In black
cotton and other swelling soils this depth is a minimum of
3m. The precast concrete stem is lowered centrally in
borehole of 30 cm dia. and up to a stratum of good
bearing. About 10 cm layer of concrete is placed at the
base before lowering the stem and then it is poured
around the stem such that it is cast in- situ concrete. An
exhausted pedestal pile is shown in Fig. 1. Then in-situ
concrete should be compacted by roding. The borehole
is normally made with a spiral auger. Later on, the gap
around the steam is backfilled by the soil and compacted
by roding. Similarly, other pedestal piles are made
according to the plan of the house.

Figure 1 : An Exhumed Pedestal Pile

Field tests on 3m deep pedestal piles have shown that when the pedestal is in clay of medium
consistency or medium compact sand, they can be assigned safe loads of up to 3.5 t in
compression and 1.5 t in uplift. The state of strata at base should be carefully considered and
explored by carrying out penetration tests on piles. In case of loose, soft and heterogeneous
strata 50 to 75 percent of the above loads should be suggested.

These piles should be located on all the corners and wall junctions. Intermediate piles should be
provided wherever necessary and the distance between two piles in a raw should normally not
exceed 2.2 m. the stems projecting above ground level should be kept at the same top level and
should be joined with a casting in-situ continuous plinth beam. If the soil is of swelling nature,
this beam should be kept clear from the ground, providing a gap of about 8 cm under the beam.
In other cases, it can be made to rest on ground. In cases of masonry of reasonable quality and
in cement mortar, the beams can be designed for reduced bending moments due to panel
action as in the case of under reamed piles (IS: 2911-Pt III-1979)

The concrete, both for precast steam and cast-in situ pedestal is of M15 grade (nominal mix
1:2:4). The stem is normally reinforced with four 6mm dia m.s. bars and 3 mm dia. wire stirrups
at a spacing of 10 cm which is reduced to 5 cm for top 30 cm length below the bottom of the
beam.
This system should be removed from hole before lowering the stem. Special care should be
taken to install the stems in correct position, vertically and centrally in the holes. Backfill around
the stem should be compacted uniformly and it may be watered if necessary. The depth of
foundation in other than black cotton or any other expansive soil can be varied according to the
availability of good bearing stratum. It is suggested that a few load tests should be carried out
on these piles at the site and safe capacities should be based on these tests.

The advantage of pedestal pile apart from the economy over prevalent types of foundations is
the simplicity and quick installation. No excavations are involved. the smaller surface area of
stem attract less down drag or negative skin friction due to setting of surrounding poor soil or fill.
Similarly upward drag is reduced during swelling and heaving of soil. The pedestal pile has
wider base in contact with the natural soil and thus is suitable to resist upward pull also.

The pedestal piles have been used in 1000 houses in Machhlipattanam in 1977 for rehabilitation
of families affected by cyclone. In each housing unit, nine piles were provided. Madras slump
clearance board used pedestal piles for more than 500 single room residential units. This
construction was done in 1982-83. In Wardha, in 1981, these piles were used for houses of
landless labourers, Apart from these examples of their use, pedestal piles have been adopted in
other places as well.