Welcome to BC - Experimental Testing Site
The BC – Experimental Testing Site is a partnership that brings together designers, consultants, academics, contractors, and material suppliers to run full-scale pile experiments. Participants contribute expertise, time, and funding to generate high-quality instrumented data and to translate the findings into improved design methods, quality control, and future standards.
Situated in Balneário Camboriú, a coastal city with very high construction density and numerous high-rise towers, BC-ETS aims to:
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Improve pile installation techniques by systematically varying construction procedures and supplying evidence to update manuals and codes;
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Advance prediction methods for pile behavior and evaluate new materials applicable to foundations;
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Enable high-quality research that can be shared with the international geotechnical community and used in postgraduate education.
Images from BC-ETS 01
Key differentiators and focus
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Relevant scale: full-scale foundations and instrumented tests that matter for practice and research;
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Advanced testing: state-of-the-art static and dynamic load testing with comprehensive instrumentation to produce high-value datasets;
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Mobile experimental sites: a program of campaigns across contrasting soil profiles, applying best-in-class investigation methods;
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Settlement monitoring: follow-up of buildings on tested sites to compare predicted and measured settlements;
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Academic engagement: structured collaboration with universities and partner scholars to ensure access to data and joint studies;
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Sustainability: optimize foundation schemes and material use to reduce carbon intensity without compromising performance.