TECHNICAL NOTE ON WATER

SEEPAGE THROUGH PILES

Jamal Abdul Nasser Street-RA167
State of Kuwait

Technical note to investigate the water seepage through the bored cast
in situ piles (1200mm dia.) of the foundations belonging to the Jamal
Abdul Nasser Street Project- RA167, in the state of Kuwait. Technical note
investigates the problem, analyzes and discuss & suggests preventive
measures.

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THROUGH PILES

INTRODUCTION.
A technical note to investigate the water seepage through the bored
cast in situ piles (1200mm dia) of the foundations belonging to the
Jamal Abdul Nasser Street/RA167 project, in the state of Kuwait.
It has been observed that in certain piles in the above mentioned
project, water is seeping through the piles at the cut off level. The
water was reportedly seeping through the interface between the
concrete and steel (permanent casing/rebar/sonic tube). All the piles
reported with this phenomena belongs to the same area, which is
identified as Sector H (Hospital Ramps).
This technical note attempts to investigate and explain the
phenomena along with suggesting solutions to avoid occurrence of
such issues in the future.

DISCUSSION ON THE OBSERVED PHENOMENA.

As stated above the water in the affected piles was seeping through
the interface between the concrete and steel. This can be explained
through capillary action and thereby suggesting the presence of
micro pores in the interface between concrete and steel.
It appears that the ground water table in the Sector H is higher than
compared to the other sectors. After the commencement of the
dewatering system, a temporary- localized drawdown is induced
around the pile, thereby creating a positive pressure in the top of
the pile, which assists the water seepage. What is worth noting here
is the presence of micro pores along the interface between concrete
and steel.

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A NOTE ON THE CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE.

The piling activities in the project are carried out from a working
platform which is on an average 4.0 meters above the Cut of Level
(COL) of the piles. During the piling operations no dewatering works
are carried out in the vicinity of the piles.
During the pile bore excavation, the stability of the bores are
maintained using polymer slurry. The casting of the piles are done
under wet conditions (slurry displacement method) using a tremie
pipe.
After the construction of all the piles in a pier, dewatering system
(Well Points System) is commenced to aid the excavation works.
After the excavation for pile cap construction, the top of the pile is
hacked down till the cut off level, using appropriate means. The top
of the pile is levelled at the COL for subsequent works.
It is at this stage, the seepage of water is reported.
It is to be noted here that neither the seepage of water is reported
in all the piers nor all the piles in a pier, suggesting that the piling
methodology in general is not responsible for the occurrence.
The occurrence of the water seepage can only be attributed to the
concrete quality and workability, which is discussed in the next
section of this literature.

DISCUSSION ON THE EFFECTS OF CONCRETE

The concrete mix for the piling works are specifically designed in
order to achieve enhanced characteristics in terms of homogeneity
and segregation resistance. Concerning workability, the concrete
should be of a consistency class S4 or S5 (European Standard EN:
206-1:2000).
The use of a concrete of such consistency, together with the
enhanced characteristics described previously, is generally
adequate enough to ensure a tight contact between the concrete
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and the surface of the steel casing and reinforcement bars, thus
avoiding any rise of groundwater once the dewatering system is in
place.

As per the reported procedures followed on the site, it is evident

that the concrete upon reaching the site is subject to a slump test.
As reported, it takes around one hour for the concrete to reach the
site since its batching and the casting begins on an average after 1
hour and 15 minutes post batching. After passing the slump test the
concrete is allowed for pile casting.
It is a possibility that during the casting of the piles affected with
water seepage, there was a sudden or progressive loss of concrete
workability beginning or during the concreting process.
It is also observed that in the casting of some piles in this sector,
during the pouring of the first truck mixer itself, the concrete was
displacing upwards the steel cage and permanent casing (which are
hung on the temporary casing with steel rebar), thereby confirms
the possibility that the concrete lost its workability soon after the
commencement of casting.
When the concrete losses its workability gradually or progressively
during the casting process, there is a need of continuous upward
and downward movement of the tremie pipe which further risks the
quality of the piles.
This loss of workability during the casting process is the main cause
of reduced bonding between the concrete and the steel surface,
thus leading to micro pores through which the water seeps under
favourable conditions. This can happen in any of sector of the
project, but since the water table is reportedly higher in sector H,
the seepage is occurring.
These micro pores need not be evident in the Non Destructive Tests
such as Cross Hole Sonic logging and or Low Strain Pile Integrity
tests.

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PREVENTIVE MEASURES AND SUGGESTIONS
The following measures can be adopted to minimize/eliminate the
occurrence of water seepage through the piles:1. Effort should be taken to reduce the interval between the
Batching time and casting time.
2. Slump tests should be conducted by qualified personnel and
immediately before the pouring.

3. The Mix design should be re-evaluated to study the effect of

various components of the concrete and workability over time.
4. Regular inspection should be carried out in the batching plant to
ensure the use of right and approved raw materials. The properties
of the raw materials has a huge impact on the quality of the
concrete. Necessary adjustments need to be done in the mix design
taking into account the variations in the raw material properties.
5. Re-dosing of the admixtures on site, in case the concrete is
reported to have low slump after reaching the site, should not be
permitted. Re-dosing of the admixtures require qualification and
competence of the concrete technicians. Since neither can be
evaluated practically on the site, such practices should be
discouraged.
6. The performance of the concrete also relies heavily on the quality
of the admixture used. Proper study of the various kind and brands
of admixture should be done by qualified personnel.

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