ALPACA Project

The PISA project focused on clays and sands validated through field testing, with the extension to layered materials developed computationally. The PICASO project also focuses on clay and sand soils through field testing, with extensions to layered soils following the approach adopted in the PISA project. Although clay and sand soils are routinely found offshore UK and Europe there are substantial areas where soft rock can be found, such as chalk. Already a number of wind farms are located in these areas, but the available design guidance for piles in chalk is extremely limited. This has motivated the EPSRC / industry funded ALPACA project, a collaboration between Imperial College London and the University of Oxford, focussed on axial and lateral pile response in chalk, principally through execution of a series of field pile tests at a range of scales. The project commenced in 2017 and continues through to the end of 2021. For further information please contact Prof Byron Byrne or Prof Ross McAdam.