Newsletter Volume 10, Issue 3 September 2025
Young Members
Pile Testing Innovations for a More Dependable Design: How Driven Precast Piles Behaves in Reclaimed Areas in Manila Bay
Pile Testing Innovations for a More Dependable Design: How Driven Precast Piles Behaves in Reclaimed Areas in Manila Bay
Rhey T. Gonzales
Supervising Engineer, Geotechnical Practice-Based-Group
AMH Philippines, Inc.
Supervising Engineer, Geotechnical Practice-Based-Group
AMH Philippines, Inc.
I currently serve as a Supervising Engineer at AMH Philippines Inc., where I am part of the Geotechnical and Earthquake Engineering group. I earned my Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines in 2016 and have since pursued specialized training in Deep Foundation Testing and Analysis.
In 2023, I had the opportunity to participate in the Asian Regional Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering held in Astana, Kazakhstan. There, I presented my paper titled “Measured Axial Capacities of Driven Piles in Metro Manila Reclamation Area Using High Strain Dynamic Load Tests” and was honored to receive 2nd Place in the Poster Presentation Competition.
This experience has been a meaningful milestone in my professional journey, and I remain committed to contributing to the advancement of geotechnical engineering in the Philippines and beyond.
In recent years, the Philippine Government has pursued several reclamation projects situated along the coastlines of Metro Manila in a bid to improve the country’s economy amidst the ever-growing population and constraints on available buildable land area. This includes construction of airports, road networks, and reclaimed cities with commercial, industrial, and residential developments. As is it is well known in most of reclaimed areas, soil conditions are very poor and majority of the structures are expected to be founded on pile foundations, signifying the importance of pile design and comprehensive capacity verification.
During the 17th Asian Regional Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering held at Astana, Kazakhstan on August 14 - 18, 2023, one of the technical papers from the Philippines which focuses on pile capacity verification took center stage, gaining acknowledgement as the second-best poster presented (Photo 1). The study highlights how driven precast piles behave and mobilize skin and tip resistances in subsurface primarily consisting of soft clays and loose sands. The design capacities from theoretical calculations are compared against the mobilized capacities obtained from high-strain dynamic pile load test using Pile Driving Analyzer (PDA) and Case Pile Wave Analysis Program (CAPWAP).
Photo 1 17th Asian Regional Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering
The paper consolidates the results of several PDA tests conducted on numerous reclamation projects along Manila Bay, providing valuable information and correlation of pile dimensions with subsurface conditions. Such practice has vastly improved the way engineers design and optimize pile foundation to ensure the structures are safe and at the same time, cost-effective.
The key findings of the paper are:
- While larger piles and deeper embedment clearly mobilize higher capacities and factors of safety, relatively shallower piles (<20m) can perform well and handle substantial loads with sufficient size (width/diameter).
- In most parts of the Manila Bay reclaimed areas, smaller piles such as 400mm-by-400mm ones must be driven to an embedment depth of about 25 meters reaching relatively hard and dense layers to adequately mobilize capacities for mid-rise structures.
- From the CAPWAP analysis, about 70% of the total bearing capacity is being mobilized by the shaft resistance. This can be attributed to the presence of very thick upper cohesionless soil layers and the absence of competent strata in the Manila Bay area.
This research not only affirms the significance of performing comprehensive pile testing but also emphasizes the need for context-sensitive design considerations in reclamation-based developments. As the Philippines continues to pursue progress through reclamation and construction, thorough geotechnical engineering must be the foundation for safe and sustainable urban development. By understanding the subsurface conditions, it will be easy to provide an efficient solution and a safer foundation.
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