Abstract: The driving criteria is an important parameter for the prestressed pipe pile installations. The common practice adopted in the construction was mainly with the emphasis on the pile tip elevation and aided by the penetration blow counts. Due to the excessive emphasis on the pile tip elevation control and the length of the pile, pile installation hazards such as broken piles and pile head damage occur frequently, which causing unnecessary extra cost to the construction. There is no clear statement in the relevant specifications for the determination of the hammer blow counts. This paper presents a case history of pile installation in a railway project using blow counts methods that are widely used in Europe and US. The Danish formula is used to establish the corresponding relationship among the ultimate bearing capacity, the penetration depth and the hammer blow counts. The penetrations is not greater than the anticipated value and the hammer blows counts required for last 25cm penetration is not less than the anticipated value as the main pile driving criteria.

Key words: Prestressed Pipe Piles, Pile Driving Criteria, Danish Formula