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PULL OUT TEST FOR PV TRACKER FOUNDATION DESIGN IN CALAMA, CHILE.

The driving and loading test campaign for the calculation of foundations was carried out by achieving soil resistance failure.


 

During the month of April 2020 Geointec carried out a Pull Out Test campaign on 150 profiles driven in a photovoltaic solar project located in Calama, Chile.

Additionally, an extension of the existing geotechnical study was carried out to determine the aggressiveness and corrosivity of the soil to steel.

Tests were carried out at upwards tension, compression and horizontal load without saturation following two different types of Pull Out Tests protocols and applying destructive test load achieving soil resistance failure. A large part of the load tests were performed using heavy reaction machinery due to the high loads requested for these Pull Outs Tests.

This campaign was developed under documentary and security conditions of the principal / main sponsor of the project during a period of 16 days of work in the field.

The Technical Report on Foundations that Geointec provided to the Client contained information on driving and mapping speeds, statistical analysis of results with global compliance by execution technique, type of profile, type of tests (vertical or horizontal), geotechnical scenario and ramming depth, as well as a retrospective analysis to obtain the real in situ resistance of the soil against vertical (shaft) and horizontal loads (geotechnical parameters calibration).

Finally, the embedment length was obtained based on the combined loads and the calculation regulations.

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