Offshore Dynamic Pile Load Testing

& Pile Driving Monitoring Services

Specialist Real-time Monitoring of:

Soil Resistance & Pile Capacity / Driving Stresses / Hammer Performance

Pile Driving is Pile Testing

PILE DRIVING MONITORING

SERVICES

AIMS OF PILE DRIVING MONITORING

To establish pile ultimate bearing capacity and confirm pile design assumptions
To assess and manage risk of pile tip buckling
To allow development of pile driving prediction numerical models
To evaluate pile fatigue resulting from driving process
To permit the development of a calibrated model for the back analysis of non-instrumented piles

WHAT DOES PILE DRIVING MONITORING ENTAIL?

Attaching strain gauges and accelerometers to the top of the pile
The striking of the pile with the hammer imparts stress and velocity waves (and their reflection from
the pile:soil interface) which are recorded and analysed to determine:
1. Actual hammer energy that is tranferred to the pile
2. The piles ultimate bearing capacity and the soil resistance under continuous driving conditions
3. Axial stress distribution along the pile

BENEFITS OF PILE DRIVING MONITORING

Real time Quality Control for installation operations - Pile driving monitoring is the only way
to evaluate the stresses induced anywhere in the pile.
Design Verification - Results can be used to confirm axial pile capacity - especially important where
there is a risk of premature driving refusal or of encountering challenging geological conditions.
Design and Installation Cost Optimisation - Results can be used to validate the assumptions
made during the pile design and installation assessment. In recent projects, this has resulted in
significant cost savings in terms of pile dimensions and associated installation timescales.

CA Instrumentation
capabilities include
both above water
and under water pile
driving monitoring

ADVANCED INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS

CA Instrumentation are a leading provider of advanced interpretation of the pile driving monitoring
data. Utilising years of experience, CA Instrumentation are able to provide the following services:
Signal matching analysis utilising CAPWAP - a software program that calculates total bearing capacity
of a pile as well as resistance distribution along the shaft and at the toe
Assessment of in-situ pile capacity in case of premature pile refusal
Pile fatigue assessment
Calibration of the hammer/pile/soil numerical model for site specific driving predictions
Construction of a numerical based soil model calibrated through analysis of instrumented pile tests
which permits the calculation of pile capacity for none instrumented piles. This method is considered
as a pile test by Eurocode 7 and allows for a substantial decrease of the applicable safety factors
Definition of pile driving criteria for pile tip integrity while driving in soft rock for instrumented piles
and non-instrumented piles

The offshore team typically comprises of two to four personnel, headed by an experienced geotechnical
engineer certified by the Deep Foundation Institute.
The team can provide round the clock assistance on all piling issues, whilst the on-site analysis of data
enables a preliminary assessment of the hammer/pile/soil system to be given virtually in real time.
CA Instrumentation engineers are familiar with the offshore environment and trained to liaise with
barge masters and deck foreman to minimise interference with the installation schedule.
The equipment is thoroughly checked before the operations, and mobilised with 100% redundancy.
A well planned pile driving monitoring operation should normally not incur any barge standing time.

EQUIPMENT
CA Instrumentation operate the Pile Driving Analyser (PDA) PAX acquisition unit manufactured by
PDI, which is widely regarded as the most reliable system on the market. The PDA acquisition units
are deployed in conjunction with PDI manufactured strain gauges and accelerometers, and the data
captured is analysed using the latest versions of GRL WEAP, PDA-W and CAPWAP.

EQUIPMENT HIRE AND PROVISION OF TRAINING COURSES

Equipment hire and provision of specialist training is undertaken by G-Octopus, a sister company of
CA Instrumentation. G-Octopus are also an accredited training company, providing theoretical courses
and practical training on pile driving monitoring and dynamic pile load testing. These can be provided
at any location. G-Octopus is an approved distributor of PDI equipment.

PILE DRIVING ENGINEERING

OFFSHORE OPERATIONS

RECENT PROJECT EXPERIENCE

Extensive experience of offshore pile driving monitoring

within the oil and gas sector and more recently, in offshore
wind power, has provided CA Instrumentation with an
enviable breadth of worldwide project experience.
Borkum West II, North Sea, 2011-2012*
Under water pile driving monitoring (30m depth) of offshore wind turbine tripod
foundations using subsea cable technology
Assessment of the pile bearing capacity by signal matching using CAPWAP software
Assessment of soil set-up behaviour based on restrike tests including tests conducted >1
year after installation
Gwynt Y Mr, Irish sea, 2012*
Above water pile driving monitoring (30m) of offshore substation
Platform jacket foundations using standard PDA cable technology
Assessment of the pile bearing capacity by signal matching using CAPWAP software
Restrike tests
AGM-N Platform, Anguille Redevelopment, 2010*
Above water pile driving monitoring (100m) using standard PDA cable technology and
wireless technology
Assessment of soil resistance to driving (SRD) by the global method using OPILE and GRL
WEAP software, and by the signal matching method using CAPWAP software.

OTHER PROJECTS INCLUDE:*

IKALOU & OLOWI, Offshore Gabon 2009: underwater Pile Driving Monitoring of skirt piles jackets for Saipem ENI & CNR
ARZEW AMMONIA, Algeria; PORTO NUEVO, Colombia: procurement of pile testing equipment, training of personnel, data analysis
and processing, pile capacity assessment, adjusted pile acceptance criteria.
PECIKO, TUNU, Yemen; BONGKOT, Thailand; SISI NUMBI, Indonesia: pile testing supervision, pile capacity assessment and pile
acceptance of numerous offshore jackets and jetties in South East Asia on behalf of TOTAL.
SIRRI, SOUTH PARS, AL KHALIJ, ZULUF, Persian Gulf: extensive experience in the perso-arabic Gulf, in complex carbonate partially
cemented soils and weak rocks.
*Projects previously undertaken under G-Octopus

CA Instrumentation/G-Octopus
Immeuble les Fontenelles
1 rue de Craova 92000, Nanterre, France
t: +33 1 47 32 41 95 e: info@cathie-associates.com / info@g-octopus.fr
www.cathie-associates.com / www.g-octopus.com

CA Instrumentation
Collingwood Buildings, 38 Collingwood Street,
Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 1JF United Kingdom
t: +44 191 269 69 20 e: info@cathie-associates.com
www.cathie-associates.com

CA Instrumentation and G-Octopus are trading names of CATHIE Associates.