<p><p><h2>Preferred QC/QA Procedures</h2>The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has provided QC/QA guidance for this technology as noted below. The reference document also contains information about construction techniques, design procedures, and specifications. Chapter 7 of the document contains complete descriptions of QC/QA procedures. A summary of the QC/QA procedures is presented following the reference table below.</p><p><table class='tablepress' id='tablepress-1942'><thead><th><center>Publication Title</th><th><center>Publication
Year
</th><th><center>Publication Number</th><th><center>Available for Download</th></thead><tbody><tr><td ><center>Design and Construction of Continuous Flight Auger Piles</td><td > <center>2007</td><td > <center>Geotechnical Engineering Circular (GEC) No. 8</td><td > <center>Yes<sup>1</td></tr></tbody></table><br><p class="disclaimer"><sup>1</sup> <a href="http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/engineering/geotech/library_listing.cfm">http:/… quality is achieved by meeting established requirements, as detailed in project plans and specifications, including applicable codes and standards. Quality Control (QC) and Quality Assurance (QA) are terms applied to the procedures, measurements, and observations used to ensure that construction satisfies the requirements in the project plans and specifications. QC and QA are often misunderstood and used interchangeably. Herein, Quality Control refers to procedures, measurements, and observations used by the contractor to monitor and control the construction quality such that all applicable requirements are satisfied. Quality Assurance refers to measurements and observations by the owner or the owner's engineer to provide assurance to the owner that the facility has been constructed in accordance with the plans and specifications.</p></p>
<p><p><h2>QC/QA Guidelines</h2>The recommended QC/QA guidelines for Continuous Flight Auger (CFA) Piles are found in FHWA Geotechnical Engineering Circular No. 8 by Brown et al. (2007). Comprehensive QC/QA guidance is provided in Chapter 7, starting on page 160. Other information relating to description of CFA and Drilled Displacement (DD) piles, construction techniques, applications, static capacity analysis, design recommendations, and specifications are in this document also.</p><p>A summary of recommended QC/QA practices is provided by Brown et al. (2007) in section 7.7 on page 191. QC/QA activities are arranged in categories that follow the project delivery sequence: prior to construction, on-site review of contractor’s equipment, during drilling, during grout/concrete placement, during reinforcement placement and pile top finishing, and post installation.</p><p>The specification in Brown et al. (2007) includes guidance for implementing the following QC/QA techniques:<br><ul> <li>Inspection/observation</li> <li>Automated monitoring</li> <li>Concrete/grout testing</li> <li>Load testing</li> <li>Integrity testing</li></ul>These methods are briefly described below. More detailed descriptions are presented by Brown et al. (2007), who recommend the following QC/QA frequencies:<br><ul> <li>Recording of inspection/observation data for each pile installed</li> <li>Automated monitoring for each pile installed</li> <li>6 samples of concrete/grout for strength testing per 50 cubic yards of material</li> <li>Load tests on 2% of production piles</li> <li>Integrity testing of 20% of production piles</li></ul></p></p>
<p><p><h2> References</h2>Brown, D.A., Dapp, S.D., Thompson, W.R., and Lazarte, C.A. (2007). “Design and construction of continuous flight auger piles.” Geotechnical Engineering Circular (GEC) No. 8, U.S. DOT, Federal Highway Administration, Washington, DC, 270p.</p><p> </p></p>