Deep Foundations on Bored and Auger Piles: Proceedings of the 4th International Geotechnical Seminar on Bored and Auger Piles, Ghent, Belgium, June 2-4, 2003

We all should request the fundamental right to be wrong, especially when related to discussions on very difficult and specialized topics such as the screw or bore pile-soil interaction problem. The outcome of such discussion sessions however generally results in a remarkable levelling up of our understanding. This cannot be acquired without an intensive interplay among academicians, design specialists and contractors.
Although progressing very well over the last years, the design criteria for bored and auger piles are still not fully under control and in acceptable synergism with the real pile foundation behaviour. The economic situation over the past couple of years in many countries worldwide, had some braking influence on several research minded initiatives linked to the deep foundation engineering. On the other hand, such strong and difficult competitive market, also favorized the ingenuity of the contractor's world. Many new ideas on auger piling were born recently without being fully exploited yet. In these proceedings the deepening of such new technologies are discussed and promoted.