A bulb pile is driven to the ground with a 2.5 ton hammer. The drop height is 22 ft and the volume in last batch driven is 4 cu ft. Establish the safe load if the number of blows to drive the last batch is 36, volume of base and plug is 27 cu ft, and the soil K value is 28.

The safe load is 159 ton

Explanation:

The safe load is equal to:

Where:

W = weight of hammer = 2.5 ton

H = drop height = 22 ft

B = number of blows used to drive the last batch = 36/4 = 9 ft³

K = dimensionless constant = 28

V = uncompacted volume = 27 ft³

Replacing values:

grav force prop 1/r squared 2r all squared is 4rsquared 1/4rsquared quartered