The New Victoria Hospital in Glasgow, Scotland provides a 30,000m² ‘Ambulatory Care and Diagnostic’ (ACAD) facility. The ground conditions beneath the site comprise a variable thickness of Made Ground overlying Glaciomarine Deposits and Glacial Till which in turn rests on the Carboniferous bedrock. However the solid geology is complex and interrupted by a number of faults. The Carboniferous rocks under the site include a number of coal seams, although it is thought that none of these seams has been worked at this location. Due to the relatively low strength of the glacial soils, it was necessary to support the building on piles socketed into the bed rock. However the various coal layers could not be relied upon to provide adequate end bearing capacity and therefore piles were designed to be supported solely on side resistance from the rock socket. In order to investigate pile load bearing capacity and to differentiate end bearing from shaft friction capacity, a number of preliminary and working load tests were carried out with one pile particularly using a’ soft toe’ system. The results of load tests revealed an ultimate shaft friction capacity value in the rock socket of approximately 1.3MPa (189psi)
