Precast concrete piles are cast, cured and stored in a yard before they are installed in the field mostly by driving.
Advantages of Precast Concrete Piles
Advantages of precast concrete piles are as follows
1- During concreting, the reinforcement which is used in the piles is not disturbed from its actual position.
2- Proper control in casting and curing can be exercised and if any defect after casting is noticed, it can be corrected before piles are used.
3- They can also be driven underwater.
4- Precast concrete piles are not affected by the chemical action of the subsoil.
5- They can be taking load immediately after their placing to their required place and no time is wasted.
6- Several piles can be manufactured side by side at a time, so its manufacturing cost is less than other types of piles.
3- The reinforcement stays in the right position and doesn’t get dislocated.
5- The driving of the neighbouring pile does not create an unfriendly impact on the piles already driven.
Disadvantages of Precast Concrete Piles
Following are the disadvantages of precast piles
1- Being very heavy, transporting, handling and driving theme is very hard.
2- extra steel must be provided near the top and bottom of the piles, in order to avoid the stresses developed during handling and driving.
3- The precast concrete piles can not be cast in a correct length unless trial bores are made. Therefore, it becomes very difficult to cut extra length, if the pile is cast longer than the required length.
4- It may break without proper handling and driving.
5- The pile length is also restricted depending on the mode of transportation available.
