Pile testing

The term ‘pile core drilling’, also known as the ‘small-diameter drilling method’, refers to all drilling methods with a borehole diameter between 30 and 80 mm. These are exclusively suitable for building ground investigations in sandy and fine-grained soils.

How does pile core drilling work?

Sampling is carried out using a slit-sampling device. This consists of a tube with a vertical slit and a shoe with a sharp cutting edge at the lower end. Samples are taken from the soil by pressing, striking or driving the device into the ground.

What are the advantages of a pile core sampling?

For ‘small’ construction projects such as houses and simple industrial buildings, pile core sampling is currently the most commonly used investigation method. This method can be carried out quickly and without extensive use of machinery, and generally provides sufficient usable results. Where investigation at greater depths is required, or where the building site consists of coarse-grained, loose soil or rock, other drilling methods must be chosen.

The soil samples obtained through pile core sampling are suitable for simple soil mechanical tests and for chemical analyses. Pile core sampling is therefore the standard drilling method for a large proportion of simple construction projects.