5. Concreting deep foundations

In the case of foundation piles, concrete placement remains a delicate operation, and any defect risks causing the general ruin of the support and, therefore, of the structure. The following techniques can be validly used:

• to the dip tube ;

• to the pump pumping the concrete to the bottom of the pile;

• with a controlled opening bucket, for large-diameter wells and bars.

In all cases, however, attention should be paid to the following points:

• respect of concrete consistency, defined upstream by a target value ;

• reinforcement cages held in position ;

• hold the dip tube (or rigid pumping pipe) in the concrete as it rises to prevent...