Performance Evaluation of Driven Piles in Lagos, Nigeria
Ganiyu Mohammed *
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
Sule Samuel
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Driven pile foundations are essential for supporting structures in regions with weak and compressible soils, particularly in rapidly developing coastal cities such as Lagos, Nigeria. The city’s rapid urbanization and growing infrastructure demand have made deep foundation systems indispensable in overcoming geotechnical challenges posed by high groundwater levels, thick compressible clay layers, and spatially variable subsoil profiles. This study presents a comprehensive performance evaluation of driven piles installed at Ilubirin, Lagos, using full-scale field testing. A total of 30 precast reinforced concrete piles, each with a 360 mm × 360 mm cross-section and driven to depths between 31.0 m and 36.5 m, were subjected to static axial load tests using the Kentledge method. The design safe working load was 700 kN; however, test loads were applied up to 3150 kN. Measured settlements under maximum test loads ranged from 8.00 mm to 19.00 mm, with rebound values between 0.00 mm and 0.13 mm. Results indicated that all tested piles maintained stable load–settlement behavior without plunging failure, confirming effective load transfer primarily through end-bearing resistance mobilized at dense sand strata. Comparative analyses of predictive methods revealed that the Chin–Kondner method achieved the highest average factor of safety (3.82), while the Danish dynamic formula showed the closest agreement with measured failure loads (relative accuracy: −35.17%). Static analysis using the Unified Pile Design (UPD) method overestimated capacity by about 100%, whereas the API method underestimated by approximately 30%. Overall, the study confirms that driven precast piles in Lagos can carry loads exceeding twice their safe working capacity without breaching settlement limits, indicating that current design practices are conservative. These findings provide quantitative guidance for geotechnical engineers working in coastal and estuarine regions with soft subsoils, promoting safer and more economical deep foundation design through informed method selection and validation by load testing.
Keywords: Driven piles, static load test, foundation performance, settlement behavior, coastal soils, Lagos subsoil, end-bearing capacity, pile-soil interaction