Abstract
The collapse of piled foundations in liquéfiable soil has been observed in the majority of recent strong earthquakes. This paper critically reviews the current understanding of pile failure in liquéfiable deposits, making reference to modern design codes such as JRA (1996), and taking the well-documented failure of the Showa Bridge in the 1964 Niigata earthquake as an example of what must be avoided. It is shown that the current understanding cannot explain some observations of pile failure.