11 Causes of Pile Foundation Failure

Pile foundation is one of the most popular choices for heavy loaded structures and in cases where poor soil conditions are found at a shallow depth. But pile foundations may fail due to different reasons. One must take proper precautions before designing pile foundations so that the possibility of such failure reduces. Causes of failure of pile foundation are given below-

1. Load implied on the pile is greater than designed load.
2. Defecting workmanship.
3. Dislocation of reinforcement of pile.
4. End bearing pile resting on soft strata.
5. Faulty soil investigation.
6. Selecting the wrong type of pile.
7. Under-reinforcement of the pile.
8. A decay of piles. (like attack of insects, corrosion etc.)
9. Deformation of piles due to lateral loads. 
10. Incorrect assessment of pile capacity.
11. Not considering lateral forces for designing of piles.