About us

Fondytest was created as an university project in 2001 at the Université catholique de Louvain by Professor Alain Holeyman. The aim of the project was to study and perfect the pile dynamic load test.

One big part of the project was the development of a testing prototype, a free-fall hammer which was precise enough to control not only the drop height to the centimeter but also the eccentricity of the drop.

Another side of the project was the improvement of the inverse analysis procedure used to process the test results.

The outcome was a sound and precise understanding of the advantages and limitations of dynamic load testing.


In 2018, the project matured into a spin-off company, thanks to an Innoviris grant.

Since then, Fondytest is composed of a small team of dedicated and enthusiast engineers, who strive to offer the best service, both in pile testing and geotechnical advice.

The Fondytest project is supported by many talented individuals and by the following outstanding organisations

UCLouvain
Innoviris
LTTO
Sopartec

The study also lead to two PhD theses and various papers, amongst which:

  • Huybrechts, N., De Vos, M., de Chaunac, H., Holeyman, A. E., and Bottiau, M. (2019). Static versus Dynamic Load Tests on Piles in Sand and Chalk, Bullock, P., Verbeek, G., Paikowsky, S., and Tara D. (eds.), Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Stress Wave Theory and Testing Methods for Deep Foundations, ASTM STP1611, 27-29 June 2018, San Diego, CA, USA, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA, USA, pp. 594-610.
  • Allani, M. and Holeyman, A., (2014). Flexural Analysis in Dynamic Pinned Head Pile Testing, Geotechnical and Geological Engineering, 32(1), 59-70.
  • Allani, M. (2014). Non-axial analysis and coupled modelling in dynamic pile testing, PhD thesis, Université catholique de Louvain.
  • Allani, M. and Holeyman, A. (2013). Numerical evaluation of effects of nonlinear lateral pile vibrations on nonlinear axial response of pile shaft, Soils and Foundations, 53(3), 395-407.
  • Allani, M. and Holeyman, A. (2012), Flexural behavior of piles in high strain dynamic testing, Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Testing and Design Methods for Deep Foundations, Matsumoto, T. (ed.), Kanazawa, Japan, 18-20 September 2012, Kanasawa e-Publishing Co., Ltd., Kakuma-machi, Japan, pp. 139-145.
  • Holeyman, A. and Allani, M. (2011). Flexural effects in dynamic determination of pile capacity, Geotechnics of Hard Soils - Weak Rocks - Proceedings of the 15th European Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, September 2011, Athens, Greece, Anagnostopoulos, A., Pachakis, M., and Tsatsanifos, C. (eds.), IOS Press, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, pp. 873-878.
  • Allani, M. and Holeyman, A. (2010). Signal analysis of axial and flexural behavior in high strain dynamic pile testing, Proceedings of the International Conference on Geotechnical Engineering (ICGE'10), Hammamet, Tunisia, 25-27 October 2010, Bouassida, M., Hamdi, E., and Saïd, E. (eds), Nouha Editions, Tunisia, 10p.
  • Charue, N., Holeyman, A., Hübner, A., Saal, H., and Tomboy, O. (2007). Design, Build Up And Control of a Large Scale Experimental Set-up For Laterally And Vertically Loaded Piles In Dry Sand, Proceedings of the 17th International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference (ISOPE 2007), 1-6 July 2007, Lisbon, Portugal, pp. 1239-1247.
  • Charue, N. and Holeyman, A. (2005). Automated procedure of pile dynamic test signal matching, Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ICSMGE), 12-15 September 2005, Osaka, Japan, Millpress, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Vol. 4, pp. 2087-2090.
  • Charue, N. (2004). Loading rate effects on pile load-displacement behaviour derived from back-analysis of two load testing procedures, PhD thesis, Université catholique de Louvain.
  • Charue, N., Holeyman, A., Huybrechts, N, Legrand, C., and Maertens, J. (2002). Results of an international Pile Testing prediction event, Proceedings of the 27th Annual Conference on Deep Foundations - The Time Factor in Design and Construction of Deep Foundations, 9-11 October 2002, San Diego, CA, USA.
  • Charue, N., Huybrechts, N., and Holeyman, A. (2001). Prediction and verification of a precast concrete pile driven in Boom Clay, Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering (ICSMFE), 27-31 August 2001, Istanbul, Turkey, A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Vol. 2, pp. 863-868.
  • Holeyman, A., Couvreur, J.-M., and Charue, N. (2001). Results of dynamic and kinetic pile load tests and outcome of an international prediction event, Proceedings of the Symposium on Screw Piles: Installation and Design in Stiff Clay, 14 March 2001, Brussels, Belgium, Holeyman, A.E. (ed.), Balkema, Lisse, The Netherlands, pp. 247-274.