Drilling support fluids for bored piles

The three most common types of drilling support fluids are water, bentonite and polymer-based support fluids.

This recorded webinar will briefly introduce the basic working principles, the rheology and the most suitable ground conditions for each fluid type. Construction and potential stability risks will be highlighted and their potential impact on the pile performance will be discussed.

Learning outcomes

Delegates will gain an understating of:

• The three most common fluid types and fluid systems for the support of pile excavations and trenches
• the different rheology of the three most common fluid types (water, bentonite and polymer-based fluids) and the minimum QA requirements to avoid defects
• the general advantages of each support fluid in different ground conditions (e.g. granular, fine grained and rock formations)
• common construction and stability risks associated with different drilling support fluids in certain ground conditions
• the potential effects of different fluid types and systems on pile performance and the required design parameters

Intended audience

The intended audience includes geotechnical engineers, structural engineers, civil engineers, piling contractors, architects, builders, asset owners, Project, Commercial and Construction Managers of construction companies and developers.

Presenter Information

Dr Martin Larisch is a principal Geotechnical Engineer with Golder Associates. He has been involved in piling and ground engineering for more than 20 years, holding technical and operational positions for some of the leading geotechnical firms in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

Throughout his professional career he was involved in the design and construction of a large variety of different deep foundation systems for numerous infrastructure, building and marine projects of different scale and size across the Asia Pacific Region.

Martin is a CPEng with Engineering New Zealand and has published more than 30 technical papers for international journals and conferences. He was also involved in the development of good practice guidelines for piling works in Australia, Europe and New Zealand.