| Summary: | In most structures, the foundation is an integral part of the design process, and bridgesare no exception. Notably for bridge supports, but also for other structures, several pilesare frequently needed to adequately transfer the load downwards from the superstructureto sufficiently stiff soil or bedrock. These are often joined together at their heads by apile cap, thereby forming a pile group. Currently, the design of the latter relies on a timeconsumingtrial-and-error procedure in which individual configurations are tried one by onebefore the preferred arrangement is chosen. Yet, there is no guarantee that there is not abetter configuration that simply was not tested. In this thesis, a numerical analysis tool isdeveloped to search for all viable configurations with respect to the bearings of the piles,before analysing the pile forces and highlighting the most favourable arrangements. A userguide to the elaborated script is provided, and the accuracy and performance of the developedprogramme are confirmed by way of three case studies on bridge supports in northern Sweden. Â
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