Reduced skin friction sheet pile

A method of reducing skin friction on a sheet pile for application in soils and forming with duplicate ones of the sheet pile a wall structure, comprising the steps of:

• providing a sheet pile formed of extruded sheet material, elongated and of constant size and shape along its length and having opposed exterior surfaces and elongated side edges shaped for connection to side edges of duplicate ones of the sheet pile,
• determining the portions of the piles to contact the soils, and
• adhering a friction reduction coating to the opposing exterior surfaces of the portions of the sheet piles to contact the soils with enough strength and abrasion resistance to withstand the abrasion forces applied to the pile during driving operations into the soils, and
• driving the sheet piles into the soils.

A method of reducing the skin friction on driven sheet pile for application in soils and forming with duplicate ones of the sheet pile a wall structure, comprising the steps of:

• providing first and second sheet piles of similar configuration, the first and second sheet piles being of formed sheet material, elongated and of constant size and shape along their lengths and each having opposed exterior surfaces and elongated opposed side edges configured for interlocking with the side edges of the other sheet pile,
• determining the depth to which the sheet piles are to be disposed into the soil,
• adhering a friction reduction coating to the opposed exterior surfaces of the portion of the first sheet pile to contact the soil after being driven with enough strength and abrasion resistance to withstand the abrasion forces applied to the pile during driving operations into the soils,
• driving the portion of the first sheet pile to which the friction reduction coating has been applied into the soil,
• connecting together a side edge of the first sheet pile and a side edge of the second sheet pile, and
• driving the portion of the second sheet pile to which the friction reduction coating has been adhered into the soil such that the first and second sheet piles interlock to form a first wall structure.

A method of installing a driven wall structure of sheet pile through compressible soil and harder soil beneath the compressible soil with fill soil applied to the surface of the compressible soil, the wall including a series of elongated sheet piles each having opposed side surfaces, elongated opposed edges shaped for slidably locking to the edge of an adjacent pile, an upper end portion and a lower end portion;

• adhering a friction reduction coating to at least one of the side surfaces of at least some of the piles along the lengths of the piles which are to be contacted by the compressible soil and by the fill soil after the piles have been driven into the compressible soil and harder soil, and the fill soil has been added to the surface of the compressible soil, the friction reduction coating having enough strength and abrasion resistance to withstand the abrasion forces applied to the pile during driving operations into the soils;
• joining an edge of each pile to another previously driven pile and driving the lower portion of each pile into the compressible soil and the harder soil to a depth at which the friction reduction coating is contacted by the compressible soil;
• after the piles have been driven to form the wall structure, applying fill soil on the surface of the compressible soil with the fill soil in contact with the friction reduction coating of the piles;
• and
• settling the compressible soil and the fill soil against the friction reduction coating to reduce the friction between the compressible soil and fill soil with respect to said piles as the soils settle.