Technical exploration for carbon reduction in building pile foundation engineering

Under the implementation of China’s carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals, the low-carbon development of pile foundation engineering has become imperative. Based on analyzing the sources of carbon emissions in pile foundation engineering and considering its technical characteristics, this paper proposes carbon reduction technical pathways and methods from perspectives of investigation, design, pile type selection, construction, and operation-maintenance. Key approaches include: Accurate investigation to fully utilize natural foundation bearing capacity, thereby avoiding pile usage while ensuring compliance with deformation requirements in codes or designs; Design optimization through correct conceptual design and rational schemes; Pile type innovation via deep soil-pile interaction to achieve complementary strengths and reduce pile quantity; Performance enhancement by maximizing material properties to improve single-pile bearing capacity; Energy conservation by developing high-efficiency pile engineering equipment and eco-friendly practices; Quality-efficiency synergy through digitalization and intelligent technologies for enhancing engineering quality and optimizing resource utilization; Reutilization of existing piles through proper assessment to reactivate their capacity and minimize the number of new piles required; Unlocking the value potential of pile foundation engineering through dual-functional pile systems, thereby optimizing resource utilization.