Reliability of plate-bearing tests of pile foundations for bridge abutments

The requirements for the plate-bearing test of bore piles are determined by technical regulations for the construction of pile foundations for bridge abutments. There is no information about the plate-bearing test reliability in the literature. Bridge pile foundations as bridge elements relate to strategic and economically responsible objects of the transport infrastructure in the Russian Federation and must have a high reliability level at the design stage and operation.Purpose: Practical application of the reliability theory for plate-bearing tests to ensure control for construction and economic expenditures.Approach: The probabilistic approach in providing plate-bearing test reliability is conditioned by a random nature of the stress-strain state of soil under the bore pile tip and nonfailure operating probability.Research findings: Probability density functions allow restrictions such as loading stages and time without the reliability reduction of plate-bearing tests and the possibility of using the experimental load–soil settlement relation to substantiate the program requirements and economic feasibility of works.