Thank you very much, everyone! I appreciate a lot every single reply.
At the end, the guy who designed the piles argued that those hooks “help confine the concrete” …whatever that means. He didn’t argue about tearout, development length, etc. The thing is that those hooks are just long enough to require spliced bars, when without them, single bars would have worked for the whole pile length.
Thanks again everyone for your help, I really appreciate it. I have been reading this website for a couple of years now, but this is my first question. I am amazed by the amount of specialized knowledge and the cooperative spirit of everyone here.
Thanks!