The Geotechnical Engineering Bureau currently uses the method developed by Nordlund (see Appendices B and C) to determine the static capacity of a pile in cohesionless soil. This method has been shown to accurately predict pile lengths and capacities for New York State soils, based on pile driving records and dynamic load test results. However, the drawbacks to using Nordlund’s method are that it is complex and time consuming.

The purpose of these charts is to permit a more rapid determination of the sin friction on driven non-tapered piles in cohesionless soil. The charts in this manual were developed from Nordlund’s method and results obtained using either Nordlund’s method or this manual should correspond. The interested reader will find the development of these charts in Appendix A.