FEATURE ARTICLE SPECIAL ISSUE : EDC t e c h n o l o g y involves the use of internal sensor packs consisting of accelerometers, strain gauges, temperature sensors Typical configuration for driven piles with EDCs Embedded Data Collector (EDC) as a Quality Assurance Tool in the Life of a Pile During this age of instantaneous communi- cations and gratification, it is no wonder that words like quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA) are fast becoming obsolete. The consequences of a lack of quality is evident in the disasters that happen in one human endeavor or another. The construction industry is no exception and must be monitored for quality. After all, deep foundations do not forgive a lack of QC from the contractor or QA by the owner. To address the concerns, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) commissioned a research project in 1998 with the University of Florida (FDOT Report BDV31-977-13. 2015. Embedded data collector (EDC) phase II LRFD, McVay, M.C. and Wassman, S.J.). A result of the research project was the development of the embedded data collector (EDC). EDCs can provide information regarding load bearing capacity, pile integrity and data integrity, which are the three pillars of safety that embedded sensor technology monitors while simultaneously providing QA for the data collected. In general, while facing soil-structure interaction (SSI) uncertainties, those involved within the deep foundation industry strive to deliver products and Maturity monitored data (MMD) – temperature-time history at the concrete casting yard AUTHORS Aneesh Goly, Ph.D., P.E., and Sastry Putcha, Ph.D., P.E., Smart Structures, and Donald Robertson, P.E. Applied Foundation Testing DEEP FOUNDATIONS • MAY/JUNE 2019 • 77 services that are synonymous with faster, less expensive and safer construction. As sensors of all sorts pervaded and influenced societal life at every level of activity, the construction industry has appeared slow to adopt sensor technology as a viable QC/QA method. However, the advent of EDCs facilitated a change in philosophy and incorporation of this technology, which began with dynamic testing of piles. and corrosion sensors that are embedded during the casting phase at the top and tip of a pile as well as at any other required elevations along the pile length. The EDC is equipped with a wireless radio transmitter, a receiver and software, which communicate with a laptop computer to record data from every hammer blow. For every hammer blow, the system will provide capacity, stresses, energy transferred, stroke and integrity conditions. This data can also be exported to the cloud for dissemination and sharing with other users. Quality Assurance Tool EDCs function as a QA tool in every aspect throughout the life of a concrete pile. EDC monitors pile integrity during construction and during post-construction life cycle monitoring (LCM). The following subsec- tions detail the QA functionality of EDCs during concrete pile casting, delivery to the site, installation and post-construction maintenance. C N E A & R V U E S R S I A F I Y C T A I T L I A O U N Q
