Many buildings and bridges built on timber pile foundations still stand in France. The bridges on rivers “Loire” and “Seine”, the castle of Chambord, the “Grand Palais” in Paris are a few examples of French monuments founded on timber piles. However, despite a large number of buildings and bridges constructed in France, the feedback on the residual bearing capacity and the degradation of timber piles is scarce. The main objectives of this work, which is part of the “Pieux Bois” national research project, are, on the one hand, to define a methodology in order to analyze timber pile foundations degradation, and on the other hand, to propose a design method of timber piles based on the results obtained from pressuremeter tests. The state of the art made in the national project identified about one hundred French bridges built on timber piles between the Middle Ages and the industrial era. They are mainly located in basins of rivers. Pathologies were observed on bridges and reinforcement solutions were implemented in order to avoid any future problems. The methodology for the inspection of timber pile foundations given in the Dutch guide was applied to investigate the degradation of timber piles under an existing railway bridge near Bordeaux. Series of laboratory tests were carried out on soil (silt) and wood with a direct shear box. The mechanical properties of the interface were studied. Shear tests between mortar, steel and silt were also carried out. The influence of material roughness and silt moisture content on the shear strength properties of the interface was examined. In addition, timber piles were driven and loaded on two experimental sites. The timber piles were instrumented with removable extensometers. The results of these load tests were included in a database which contained timber piles loading test results published in literature. The approach adopted to establish the design method of deep foundation based on the results obtained from pressuremeter tests described in the new national standard for application of Eurocode 7 was modified. A new model of calculation of timber piles shaft and base resistance driven in clay silt and sand gravels was determined with statistical studies from this database
