Glossary of Piledriving and Foundation Construction Terms
Welcome to the APE Gloassary for piledriving and foundation construction terms. This is a great place to look for terms that you may be unfamiliar with when working with or researching piledriving technologies. This glossary also contains terms unrelated to piledriving, but that are frequently used on and around foundation construction projects. If you have a question or have term that you would like to add and do not know who to call please contact the APE Headquarters in Washington at (800) 248-8498. Business hours are from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Pacific Time. For less immediate inquiries, or if you would like an APE sales representitive to get in contact with you, please visit the APE Contact Request Form.
| TERMS | DEFINITIONS |
| I Beam | Structural steel member with cross-section resembling capital I. |
| ICE | Institution of Civil Engineers, Great Britain. |
| Impact Atomization | See Atomization, Impact. |
| Impact Block | Normally used with disesl hammer. See Anvil. |
| Impact Blow | The transmission of energy during a short interval of time from one moving body to another. |
| Impact Hammer | Single-acting or double-acting hammers operated by air, steam, or self-contained diesel-type engines. Pile is driven by the impact of the hammer striking the pile top. |
| Impact Velocity | The velocity of the ram of a travity or single-acting steam/air hammer when it strikes the anvil. It may be computed from: V = 2GHe1/2 V = Velocity in feet/sec. G = Gravity 32.3 ft/sec.2 H = Height of fall in feet e = Hammer efficiency For a double-acting steam/air hammer, the impact velocity is: V = (2GEe/W)1/2 E = Rated energy W = Weight of the ram e = Hammer efficiency |
| Impermeable | Soil in which the spacing of the soil particles is so close as to prevent or allow only very slow passage of water. |
| Inclinometer | Instrument which measures inclination and slope or sweep of a cased bored hole, pipe or other type pile (if equipped with tubing to permit travel of the device). |
| Incrementation | The steps of applying a test load to a pile. Generally the specifications will recite the steps as being 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%, 125%, 150%, 175% and 200% of Design Load, or some other increment dependent on design considerations. |
| Indicator Pile | Piles, often prestressed, concrete, driven in advance of major work to determine needed length before ordering. |
| Injection Atomization | See Atomization, Injection. |
| Inlet Port | The inlet fluid path of fluid-powered hammers. |
| Inlet Pressure | Pressure of motive fluid at the inlet of an air/steam hammer. |
| Insert | See adaptor. |
| InSitu | In original or final place. |
| Insitu Pile | See Cast-In-Place Pile. |
| Inspector, Pile | The individual who observes pile installation for conformance with contract requirements. |
| Interlock | The portion of a steel sheet pile or other sheeting which connects adjacent piles through a thumb and finger or similar configuration to make a continuous wall. |
| Intermediate Head | A fixed part, containing the packing gland, fastened between the top cylinder and the bottom cylinder of double-acting mechanical valve and single-acting hammers. |
| Internal Hammer | A gravity hammer which acts internally on a plug at the base of a pile casing and is used to advance the casing by driving at the bottom to a given set or penetration. |
| Internal Vibrator | Electric of gasoline-powered device used to consolidate concrete by immersing the head in freshly placed concrete. Flexible steel spring extending from the motor to the head transmits vibrations to the concrete. |
| Interpile | Proprietary cast-in-place concrete pile. |
