No tremie, no rodding on piles

[regrets]

Hello Everybody!

 

We are adding an orangery to the house.  After the footings were dug we were told we need piling, I could see that the land had previously been filled in and found all sorts of rubble. 

 

The builder contacted a company who quoted over the phone.  No site visit, no soil samples, no structural engineer, no drawings nor calculations. 

 

150mm steel cased piles were driven into the ground about 1800mm apart.

 

A slurry concrete mix was pumped into the footing and not into the piles.  The footing had ground water in it.  Initially the piles filled up with concrete, but the last couple of piles filled to the top with water.  No tremie was used.  Just concrete pumped into the footing expecting the concrete to displace the water a couple of meters down.  If poured slowly it may have worked but the footing over the water filled piles was filled to the top very quickly.  
I expect that some concrete would have made its way down the piles, but the aggregate probably separated during the long journey through the water and is probably lying on top of the mud that was washed into the bottom of the piles.  My bet is that there is water suspended in the middle of the piles.

 

Does this seem normal, do I have a reason for concern?

I have video of the pouring, where can I go to get an expert opinion? 

Should I stop all works?

 

Desperate for unbiased feedback.

 

Thanks

C

[markc]

How big is this “orangery”? Seems an excessive amount of work and overkill. Taking workmanship aside, what was the spec for the foundation? Is it connected to the house or effectively free standing?

[regrets]

@markc the orangery is connected to the house, 4mx6.5m.  Don't know about any spec for the foundation.  They dug a 600mm trench.  On one side the pile went down 4m.  Most other places it was 2m.  The ground is made up of building rubble with a layer of top soil over it.  

 

My concern is the way that the piles where (not) filled.  They were not rodded and no tremie was used.  Concrete was just into the footing.  The piles were already filled with ground water.  If done slowly to one side of the pile I can understand displacement, but not the way these clowns poured it.

Edited October 9, 2023 by regrets

[markc]

A driven pile does not need concrete in it (there are exceptions but very unlikely in your application). Pouring concrete into water filled trenches isn’t good practice but not that detrimental and if the trenches are just mass fill, no rebar, no bolt boxes etc. then there is no specific reason to vibrate or poke

[Mr Punter]

10 minutes ago, markc said:

A driven pile does not need concrete in it (there are exceptions but very unlikely in your application). Pouring concrete into water filled trenches isn’t good practice but not that detrimental and if the trenches are just mass fill, no rebar, no bolt boxes etc. then there is no specific reason to vibrate or poke

 

These were cased steel piles.  They tend to be concrete filled.

[regrets]

@Mr Punter agreed, the steel will rust away in a few years, then there will be nothing supporting the footing.