Driven cast in-situ (DCIS) piles are constructed by driving a closed-ended thick-walled steel casing into the ground and then filling it with concrete.

Typical applications

  • Foundations for new buildings (residential and commercial)
  • Ideal for large distribution warehouses
  • Floor slabs and load transfer platforms
  • Bridge abutments and piers
  • Where ground conditions are highly variable as they are driven to a set or pre-determined resistance
  • Regeneration sites where a legacy of obstructions would otherwise damage pre-formed piles

Installation process

The 25mm thick heavy steel tube is driven with the end closed by a steel shoe. On reaching the required driving resistance, a full length cage is lowered in to the tube and filled with high slump concrete. The tube is then vibrated out leaving a shaft of concrete. When supporting industrial or warehouse floor slabs, a monolithic 900mm diameter pile head can be cast to a precise level at the top of the pile, avoiding breaking piles down.

Key benefits

  • Quick to install and can be installed with an integral pile cap to reduce the thickness of any floor slab supported by them
  • Significant load capacities
  • No need to dispose of the spoil associated with displacement piling
  • Extensive range of pile sizes, typically from 340 to 630mm diameter
  • Potential to overcome hard bands or minor obstructions
  • Provides a self-sealing displacement pile which limits contamination pathways to the surface which can occur with other piling techniques