Pile Foundation

Pile foundation transfer the load coming from the wind turbine foundation to the lower-lying ground thereby providing overall support to the structure. A pile foundation solution takes into account any type of piles (driven, precast, etc.).

A pile is basically a long cylinder or prism of reinforced concrete or a tube of steel that is placed in the ground to transfer the loads coming from top structure by friction or cap resistance.

Pile foundations are used in wind parks where the soil cannot bear the compression or tensile loads applied by the wind turbine.

The piles have to carry concentrated loads and are subject to fatigue loads, too. That is why piles must be designed carefully by study the soil reports drilling logs.

Some geotechnical experience is a must to be able to understand and interpret correctly!

Every pile has an area of influence in the ground around it which can also vary from one soil layer to the next.

About the piles

Piles are long, slender columns. They can be determined as single elements but also as pile groups.

Once their dimensions vary under the same foundation cap – length or diameter – their stiffness will also change and then the design becomes a new dimension due to possible differential settlements.

A pile reinforcement drawing will be prepared.

In our current projects, piles length was found from 10 m to 70 m.

Please contact us if you are interested in knowing more about CTE Wind’s pile foundation.