Testing of Drilled Shafts Socketed Into Limestone

Construction of the first phase of the South Parking Garage at the Tampa International Airport in Florida was completed in December 1991. A full-scale field load testing program was used in design of the drilled shaft foundations, with specific goals of determining the bond strength and characterizing the load-displacement behavior of the rock sockets. The displacement behavior and bond strength of the test shafts were predicted from elastic solutions and semiempirical methods. Input parameters included the rock uniaxial compressive strength and elastic modulus. The load test results are compared to the predictions herein, and the practical application of these comparisons is demonstrated by a sample evaluation of a drilled shaft supporting the South Parking Garage