The award winning Osterberg Cell®, or "O-Cell", gets its name from the inventor, Dr. Jorj O. Osterberg. The O-Cell is a hydraulically driven, high capacity, sacrificial loading device installed within the foundation unit. As the load is applied to the O-Cell, it begins working in two directions; upward against upper side shear and downward against base resistance and lower side shear (if applicable).
By virtue of its installation within the foundation member, the O-Cell load test is not restricted by the limits of overhead structural beams and tie-down piles. Instead, the O-Cell derives all reaction from the soil and/or rock system and the foundation element itself.
Each O-Cell is specially instrumented to allow for direct measurement of the O-Cell's expansion. By measuring the top of shaft movement and compression, the upward and downward O-Cell movement is determined. Strain gages are often used to separate stratigraphic zones. Loadtest provides a detailed data report containing tables, graphs, calibrations, detailed description of the tested element and subsurface. Graphs include load and movement data, t-z and q-z plots, strain gage load distribution and an equivalent top load plot.
O-Cells range in capacities from 200 kips to 6,000 kips. By using multiple O-Cells on a single horizontal plane, the available test capacity can be designed to obtain virtually any load. By utilizing multiple O-Cells on different planes, distinct elements within a shaft or pile can be isolated for testing. Using the O-Cell, Loadtest has elevated the application of deep foundation load testing, from expensive, time-consuming, small scale field tests to state-of-the-art, short-duration, full scale load testing of production shafts and piles.
O-Cell® Load Testing