Design parameters for ultimate tensile loads of piles socketed into sandstone rock

This paper describes briefly a series of tests on full scale piles to obtain information for use in the selection of design parameters for tensile loads of piles which are socketed into sandstone rock. An extensive program of pile testing was carried out for the Sasol 2 & 3 projects and, because many of the piles were required to resist tensile loads, some 20 or more tests were carried out on rock sockets in sandstone. This particular set of tests was carried out in the early stages of the Sasol 2 Project prior to the installation of some 65 000 augered cast-in-place piles.