Abstract:
An anti-jacking pile solution particularly suited for use in permafrost or cold regions. The pile includes bond breaking material for preventing frozen soil from directly gripping a pile near the surface of the soil and pulling the pile upward. A collar is attached to the pile to prevent damage and/or displacement of the bond breaking material during driving of the pile. The pile may be attached to a building by way of an adjustable connection system allowing for future adjustments in the event of vertical movement.

Description:
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/054,848 filed Jan. 25, 2002 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,616,381. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to building foundations and in, particular pile foundations. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Alaska and the Northern Regions are besieged by permafrost and ice rich soils conditions that make the construction of effective and economical foundation systems very difficult and costly. Foundations constantly fail and cause extensive damage to housing and other structures. Although foundation systems have been designed to solve these problems, they are generally not economically feasible for homes, in particular, as well as many other buildings. The budgets available for the construction of housing is not adequate for the installation of elaborate piling or refrigerated systems used for large commercial structures. In fact, the majority of homeowners living in the permafrost regions of Alaska simply acquiesce to high maintenance and repair costs of their homes caused by foundation movement. 
     Two types of foundations are typically used for housing and light buildings constructed in areas having permafrost conditions. One is “post and pad” and the other is piling. Although the post and pad system may have many variations, it commonly consists of wood or steel posts designed and supported on treated timber footings. The houses using this system are subject to high vertical and differential movement. The annual freeze-thaw cycles and frost heaves under the pads cause movement resulting in structural stresses to the houses resulting in cracking wallboard, plumbing breaks, broken window seals and doors jamming and in some severe cases, almost total failure of the houses. Most post and pad systems are difficult to adjust once they have moved and trying to re-level the houses has been a major challenge. 
     Prior piling systems include wood piles, steel piles, round and H driven piles and thermopiles. Generally, these piling systems are far to expensive for housing and small projects because of high materials costs and the cost of heavy equipment such as augers and cranes to install piles at remote locations. Driven steel piles are generally the most economical of the pile systems but it has been costly to install reliable bond breakers on driven piles to prevent jacking. Jacking is characterized as a gradual uplift of the pile due to the freeze thaw action of the surrounding soil. The freeze thaw action causes the surrounding soil to grip the upper part of the pile and lifts it upward. The reason for this is that the soil near the surface has a much stronger adfreeze bond or grip on the pile than does the warmer soil at depth. Therefore, without bond breakers, steel piles can be problematic for use in foundations in permafrost regions. In these prior piling systems, when bond breakers are used, the top five to seven feet of soil around the pile has to be dug out or a large diameter hole is predrilled so the bond breaker can be attached after insertion of the pile into the soil, resulting in wasted time and expense. 
     In view of the foregoing it can be seen that there is a need for an effective and economical foundation system for housing and other buildings in permafrost regions. 
     OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide an anti jacking pile for use in foundation systems. 
     Another object of the invention is to provide a pile having an anti jacking covering thereon to resist the effects of freeze-thaw cycles in permafrost regions. 
     Still another object of the invention is to provide a collar for facilitating driving of a pile into soil. 
     Yet another object of the invention is to provide a collar attached to a pile for preventing damage to an anti-jacking covering on the pile. 
     Still another object of the invention is to provide a method of installing a pile having an anti-jacking covering thereon. 
     Yet another object of the invention is to provide an adjustable leveling system as a long-term contingency so that the house can be re-leveled in the event of vertical movement. 
     These and other objects, uses and advantages will be apparent from a reading of the description which follows with reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an elevation view of the method of the anti-jacking pile installed in the ground; 
     FIG. 2 is a top section view of the collar of the anti-jacking pile; 
     FIGS. 3 and 4 are fragmentary elevation section views of the connection of the adjustable leveling system and the upper portion of the anti-jacking pile; 
     FIG. 5 is a side view of the connection plate for connecting the adjustable leveling system to the anti-jacking pile, and; 
     FIG. 6 is a side view of the adjustment post. 
    
    
     In summary, the invention is directed to an anti-jacking pile solution particularly suited for use in permafrost and cold regions. The pile includes bond breaking material for preventing frozen soil from directly gripping a pile near the surface of the soil and pulling the pile upward. A collar is attached to the pile to prevent damage and/or displacement of the bond breaking material during driving of the pile. The pile may be attached to a structure by way of an adjustable connection system. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     FIG. 1 shows a pile  10  after it has been driven into place into the soil  12 . A connection portion  13  of the pile  10  extends above the surface  14  of the soil  12 . The diameter and thickness of a steel pile will vary according to the particular building or structure design. 
     A pilot hole  16  may be drilled into the soil  12  to facilitate driving of the pile  10 . A bond breaker material  18 , is applied to the pile  10  prior to driving of the pile into the soil  12 . The bond breaker material  18 , is preferably a plastic material such that marketed under the names PERMALON® or CANVEX CB12WB, both of which have good elastic qualities under subfreezing conditions. Preferably, the bond breaker material  18  comes in six and eight foot wide rolls having ten to twelve mil thickness and is fastened to pile  10  with an approximately two-inch wide tape. The bond breaker material  18  is wrapped around the pile  10  in two layers and the first layer has a ½ pipe circumference overlap. It should be understood that the width of the bond breaker material  18  could vary and other products having similar good elastic qualities under subfreezing conditions could be substituted. Seams between adjacent wraps are preferably taped full length of the wrap and the lower end  19  of the bond breaker material  18  should also be taped in a thickness necessary to provide a sufficient clamping surface. Alternatively, a layer of grease may be applied to the pile  10  prior to application of the bond breaker material to further facilitate movement of the bond breaker material  18  relative to the pile  10  during soil movement. 
     In regions of Alaska, the continuous permafrost  20  may extend 1800 feet below the surface  14  of the soil  12 . At the surface  14 , the soil  12  may unthaw and refreeze to a much colder temperature than the permafrost  20 . This area of the soil  12  between the surface  14  and the continuous permafrost  20  is known as the active layer  22 . This active layer  22  is the part of the soil  12  that acts to pull the pile  10  upwardly as the soil  12  expands during frost heaves. Therefore, it is the portion of the pile  10  that is to be permanently located the active layer  22  that needs to be covered by the bond breaker material  18 . The active layer  22  is generally less than five feet in depth and therefore it is preferred that the bond breaker material  18  be applied to that portion of the pile  10  and preferably extending a few inches above the surface  14  of the soil  12  to compensate for uplift of the soil during frost heaves. It should be understood by one skilled in the art that the depth of the pile  10  into the soil  12  will vary according to construction requirements, and it should be understood that the pile  10  will generally extend fifteen to twenty-five feet farther into the continuous permafrost  20  for conventional housing construction. 
     A collar  24  is attached to the pile  10  adjacent the lower end  19  of the bond breaker material  18 . The collar  24  is preferably constructed of steel. As shown looking at both FIGS. 1 and 2, the collar  24  extends circumferentially around the pile  10  preferably overlapping the bond breaker material  18  and tightly engaged thereto to hold the bond breaker material  18  in place during welding of the collar to the pile  10 . Prior to driving the pile  10 , the collar  24  is preferably fillet welded in place along its lower edge  25 . The collar  24  is generally constructed of ¼ inch in thickness and approximately four inches in height. Although these dimensions are preferred, they may be varied as long as the function of the collar  24  of protecting the bond breaker material  18  during driving of the pile  10  is performed. The diameter of the collar  24  will vary in accordance with the diameter of the pile  10  being driven. Piles  10  for typical housing construction are six inches to ten inches in diameter. 
     Now looking to FIGS. 3,  4 ,  5  and  6 , the supporting beams  30  of a building (not shown) are connected to the pile  10  by an adjustable connection system  32 . The system uses a two-part telescoping sleeve  34  and post  36  which slides into pile  10  and is welded thereto. The sleeve  34  includes four plates  38 ,  40 ,  42  and  44  extending horizontally outwardly from the sleeve  34  to accept connection to support struts  46 ,  48 ,  50  and  52 . The opposite ends of support struts  46 ,  48 ,  50  and  52  are connected to brackets  54 ,  56 ,  58  and  60  which are in turn connected to the support beams  30 . 
     As shown in FIG. 5, a plate  62  is used to join sleeve  34  directly to support beam  30 . Plate  62  provides a larger surface to engage support beam  30  to allow for slight variations in alignment. Sleeve  34  slidably engages post  36  which slides into pile  10  and is welded thereto. The telescoping sleeve  34  and post  36  are adjustably connected by bolts. Post  36  includes a plurality of holes  64  to facilitate vertical adjustment of the telescoping sleeve  34 . 
     While this invention has been described as having a preferred design, it is understood that it is capable of further modifications, uses and/or adaptations of the invention following in general the principle of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within the known or customary practice in the art to which the invention pertains and as maybe applied to the central features hereinbefore set forth, and fall within the scope of the invention and the limits of the appended claims.