As the first step of a thorough investigation into the analysis and design of laterally loaded pile-soil systems, the ultimate aim of which is to enable the accurate prediction of behaviour from simple soils tests, this thesis presents solutions for a laterally loaded flexible pile in an elastic soil. The analysis differs from most previous attempts in that the soil is considered to be continuous.

A solution is presented, in the form of a computer program, for a single free or fixed-head pile loaded with moment and/or shear at or above ground level. The soil is taken to be linearly elastic and continuous with pro­perties which may vary with depth, in layers.

The effects of the various pile and soil properties on system behaviour are studied, and tables are presented which give approximate ground level deflections for a pile in a soil of constant elastic properties. A pile characteristic length is defined and shown to be significant economically. Both the tables and the computer program can be used in design as long as the limitations of the elastic soil model are recognised and strength requirements are met.

Photoelastic and full-scale pile tests are described and compared with theory.