Jordan-based Arab Center for Engineering Studies (ACES) said it has completed an extensive pile testing and instrumentation programme for the Bidbid-Sur highway (Section One) in Oman.

The project was implemented by the pile testing and instrumentation (PT&I) regional centre of excellence of ACES.

The Bidbid-Sur project involved the expansion of a 75-km section of a road from a single, two-lane carriageway to a four-lane dual carriageway comprising nine crossings with bridges, one underpass, four overpasses and a 50-km service road, said a statement from the Jordanian company.

Its scope of work consisted of 1,000 pile integrity tests, 580 cross-hole sonic tests, and 14 static load tests to a capacity of 635 tonnes.

One of the main challenges faced by the ACES was the difficulty in transporting static load blocks and beams due to the mountainous and rugged area along the roadside.

As an alternative solution, the ACES team suggested utilising bi-directional static load testing, which was conducted successfully at six locations (tested to a capacity ranging from 558 to 2,722 tonnes), the statement added.

The bi-directional test is an innovative method to gauge the high-capacity piles through hydraulically driven, sacrificial loading device installed within the foundation unit, it stated.

As the load is applied to the device, it begins working in two directions; upward against upper side shear and downward against base resistance and lower side shear.

The Amman-based company's PT&I centre of excellence is one of the pioneers in the region in pile testing and instrumentation and offers a wide array of technical services including but not limited to pile integrity, caliper logging, static load testing, high strain dynamic load testing, and bi-directional static load testing, it added.-TradeArabia News Service