Drilled shafts are rarely ideal cylinders and irregularities in the shaft construction can affect shaft performance. PDI’s Shaft Area Profile Evaluator (SHAPE) offers quality control of shaft radius, volume and verticality. SHAPE is a cost-effective quality assurance testing device used for deep foundations such as drilled shafts, bored piles, slurry walls, barrettes and more to better characterize the three-dimensional profile of these and other excavated deep foundation elements. It provides a fast, economical representation of the foundation excavation and verticality prior to placing concrete in wet conditions.

“We felt the market needed a modern and rugged device where we eliminate common points of failure such as electronic cables running from the surface to the device to provide increased accuracy and performance,” stated George Piscsalko, President of PDI.

SHAPE’s drilling stem advancement rate is approximately one (1) foot per second, offering simplicity in analysis with a clean signal and 3D profile views.  It is a completely wireless device, requiring no electronic cabling from the surface to the device during operation. This increases overall system reliability. SHAPE automatically corrects for changes in wave speed with depth by measuring the wave speed at each measurement location along the length of the excavation, and adjusting the radius calculation based on the measured wave speed at any depth location.

SHAPE samples all eight sensors simultaneously at a high rate of speed, allowing the SHAPE to be quickly deployed and construction to continue at a rapid rate. The SHAPE can be operated on site or remotely with PDI’s SiteLink® technology.

SHAPE is the latest addition to Pile Dynamics extensive line of quality assurance and quality control systems for the deep foundations industry. The company is located in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, with offices and representatives worldwide.