Numerical and experimental study on evaluating the depth of caisson foundation with Sonic Echo method

Using nondestructive testing techniques to evaluate the length or depth of an existing foundation is an important issue with potential high application values. One of these is to evaluate whether the foundation is broken after severe earthquakes. In this aspect, academic research related to nondestructive evaluation for caisson foundations is rarely reported. The objective of this paper is to study the feasibility of using Sonic Echo method to evaluate the depth of caisson foundations. Two types of caissons, simple cylindrical caisson and compound caisson with chambers, were studied for their responses to the Sonic Echo tests. The study was carried out in numerical simulation with finite element method and experimental way with in-situ tests. A bridge system which spans over Sofong Brook in Taiwan was selected for the tests in situ. The bridge system is still under construction and therefore the effect of different construction stages on the testing results may be studied. In this paper, the parameters to be varied for the studies include the testing locations and the existence of chamber plates, the bottom plate and the top plate. Finally some preliminary conclusions can be reached for a successful test.