Q&A Report: Webinar 5 - DFI India Webinar Series on Steel Retaining

Title: Deep cofferdams, quay walls and breakwaters built with circular cells (s
Speaker: Mr. Joao Martins, Head of the Technical and Marketing Department, Arc
Report Generated:
09/24/2020 01:28 AM EDT

Q&A Report
Sl. No. Last Name First Name

1 A. N. Deepak

2 BALAKUMAR Venkatraman

3 Gaddam Satish Kumar

4 Gaddam Satish Kumar

5 Illickal Anirudhan

6 Illickal Anirudhan
7 Illickal Anirudhan

8 Kapoor Anurag

9 Kapoor Anurag

10 MANDAL AVIK KUMAR

11 MANDAL AVIK KUMAR

12 Peter Rajan

13 Pundir Vijay Kumar

14 RAMULU D SIDHU

15 STEFANI STENI

16 STEFANI STENI

17 STEFANI STENI

18 VELUGU SURESH KUMAR

19 khan EA
5 - DFI India Webinar Series on Steel Retaining Structures and Foundations (23rd
dams, quay walls and breakwaters built with circular cells (straight web steel sheet piles)
artins, Head of the Technical and Marketing Department, ArcelorMittal Commercial RPS – Sheet Piling –

Question Asked

Hi, In case the length of sheet pile required is high, is it

acceptable to increase the length by welding smaller length sheet
piles. Does it have any impact on behavior of sheet piles. Is it
acceptable for all shapes - Flat type, Z, U etc.

In one of your slide while lifting the sheet pile was bending. How
do you decide the handling method as single point lifting or two
point lifting.Is it like precast piles. Dont you recommend a strong
back.

Is cellular sheet pile method for breakwater an economical (cost

& time) compared to stone/concrete armour type breakwater ?

Can we use the dredged sand to fill inside the cells ?

Are the drain holes equiped with filter to prevent loss of fines?

In the case of varying sheet pile length in circular arrangement, is

the rear one longer
Can we profile the bent piles (straight section to bent) onsite?

Please specify the most important factors on which the

interlocktension depends

Please specify the most important factors on which the

interlocktension depends

What is the selcetion criteria for adopting the "Cofferdam" made

with "Plane steel sheet piles" and the "Cofferdam" made with the
other sections of "Steel Sheet Pile" like "I/H/Trapezoidal
section"?

What is the mimimum required embedment for the "Cellular

Cofferdam" made with plance steel sheet pile"..Will it determined
only for the individual plane steel sections seperately as these will
be installed or the minimum embedement depth shall need to be
determined from the overall stability of the cellular cofferdam?

How do we control or maintain the accuracy of joining the Arc

Piles with Circular piles

how much life of steel sheet pile structure?

Is huge quantity of filling material easily available to fill the cells.
and what kind of materials was used in those projects as a filling
material to satisfy stability criteria?

After the installation of Concrete or Sheet pile Diaphragm Walls

and Cells, in the past we used to either grout or jet grout a "base
slab", sometimes anchored into the foundation layer by vertical
beam "nails" to avoid both water ingress and cell or large
concrete box base uplift and foundation satability. How often is
this necessary nowadays with the improved sheetpile and
vibratory installation techniques?

In your slide referring to the project in Northern Canada: is there

a critical temperature for the installation in extremely cold
climates? When we do soil freezing, for example, the choice of
probe steel is critical to avoid brittleness, especially when using
liquid nitrogen at minus196°C?

Grouted bases in Cells or large structural boxe help keep water

inflitration negligibly low and, therefore, the backfill material
quite dry (little or no granualr flotation) thereby maintaining the
effective sheetpile weight as you have explained. Does such
grouting prejudice a temporay structure to enable removal at the
end of the project?

How to get design software "Cofferdam" for our use? Can we

buy?

what is the tolerance in geometry during construction? & how can

it be accounted in design?
etaining Structures and Foundations (23rd Sept 2020)
ular cells (straight web steel sheet piles)
rtment, ArcelorMittal Commercial RPS – Sheet Piling – Luxembourg

Answer

You can splice steel sheet piles that have the same shape, but different thicknesses. This is valid for all hot rolled sheet piles. Ea
shape is usually available in 3 different thicknesses, the rolled-down, nominal and rolled-up shape, from -1.0 to +1.0mm compa
to the nominal section. For instance, the AZ23-800, AZ25-800 and AZ27-800 have the same shape, but different thicknesses (1
12.5 and 13.5mm). Note however that due to rolling tolerances, you should inform the mill about the splicing that is foreseen. I
are going to splice the same profile, you can also specify the required lengths and match-marking, which means that the piles th
should be spliced are cut from the same bar (which can be up to 100m long) and marked at the mill. This ensures that the shape
almost perfect for splicing. You still need to prepare the ends for butt-welding, but the geometry is the same.

Flat sheet piles are quite flexible and can accommodate large deformations before reaching the plastic state. However, experien
has long piles can bend and reach plastification. It depends on the steel grade, and the way you lift the pile. Hence, the standard
procedure is to lift flat piles that are above 15m with 3 supports. It is also clear that it is a flexible boundary. The contractor cou
also lift 15.5m with a single point, but in case of problems, the contractor could be held responsible because the recommendatio
EN12063 limits the length to 15m.

Based on information we receive from our customers, a permanent breakwater with circular cells is usually a little bit more
expensive than a stone armour type breakwater. Nevertheless, it depends on the specific location and soil conditions. The
breakwaters that we showed in presentation were more cost-effective because in those locations there was not sufficient rock or
concrete close to the job-site. Bringing this material from other locations would have been more expensive than importing a
prefabricated product that can be delivered by vessel or barges directly to the port. Note that the execution of the steel sheet pile
structures is usually faster than the execution of alternative solutions, even for breakwaters.

The backfill should be granular, either sand or gravel, or rock (quite rare). These fills have a high internal friction angle, and thu
reduce the pressure inside the cells, and consequently also reduce the interlock tension. It can also be an hydraulic fill, as was th
case in most of the breakwaters (although not shown in the presentation). Hydraulic fills need more time to reach the required
compaction for fills. You can reduce the settlement time by using vibroflotation, or any similar procedure, as long as you don't
induce too many vibrations / high pressure close to the interlocks of the sheet piles. Note that the interlocks are quite tight, so th
lot of water (and sand) from an hydraulic fill can flow over the top of the piles during backfilling.

Yes, the drains are executed with special devices and filters to prevent washing off the fines inside the backfill. There are sever
manufacturer of such filters around the globe.

Generally speaking, the sheet piles in the front are the longer ones, unless the slope of the layers / bedrock require the rear piles
be longer. In most cases, staggering the sheet pile length does not reduce the amount of sheet piles required, but if the bedrock i
horizontal, such as on the edge of a river bed, then there is no other solution than staggering the sheet piles.
You can bend the piles (or cut & weld them) on site if required. However, due to the fact that you need a powerful equipment to
bend the piles over the whole length with a uniform angle, we always recommend ordering the bent piles (as wells as the juncti
piles) directly from the mill. The mill has the experience and equipment to do this in a safe and protected environment (hall). If
need to splice piles at the job-site, please enquire with the mill about the welding procedure and installation to do it. Flat sheet p
have internal residual stresses which can be released when cutting a sheet pile (in any direction!!). Tip: buy some additional pil
just in case.

The interlock resistance depends on two main factors: geometry of the interlock (including the tolerances) and steel grade. Wel
on or close to the interlocks may reduce drastically the interlock resistance!
The tension in the intrelocks depend mainly on the soil properties (prefer a granular soil with a high internal friction angle), the
water pressure, the radius of the arc and main cell, and the angle of the junction pile (for circular cells). To achieve an equilibriu
the junction pile needs to deform a little bit, and based on lab tests and numerical simulations. These tests proved that the optim
angle of the junction piles lies between 30° and 45°. Obviously the required equivalent width of the structure may also have an
influence on the angle of the junction pile. Its optimization is an iterative process.

A deep cofferdam or breakwater built with standard steel sheet piles (double wall) needs a quite high embedment length of the
piles (HZ or tubes), and in most cases, to optimize the solution, two or more levels of tie-rods, with at least one below water. Th
double-wall cofferdams are used for temporary structures and for short structures. As explained during the presentation, circula
cells and diaphragm cells are quite interesting for specific applications (such as a temporary cofferdam resting on rock) or when
structure is quite long, usually above 200m (see the breakwater in Cost Rica, totalling more than 500m), due to the cost of the
templates. The wharf in Canada shown on one of the slides is quite short and is an exception.

The minimum embedment depth of flat sheet piles varies from 0m to a few meters. It depends on the soil conditions. When rest
on bedrock, sliding may be the governing parameter, otherwise the overall stability needs to be checked. However, based on ou
experience, the logarithmic spiral failure plane is more critical than the overall stability, this means that usually with the minim
equivalent width of the cells for the overall stability (Bishop) is also verified.

The junction piles are the first piles to be positioned around the template. Hence, these piles are located as accurately as possibl
Once the cell is closed, it is recommended to position 2 or 3 sheet piles from the arc before backfilling the main cell. Due to the
limited swing of the interlocks, these piles in the arc are also positioned quite accurately, although they have not been fixed to a
template. After backfilling of the two adjacent circular cells, the rest of the piles from the arc are pitched and the closing of the
occurs at equal distance from the junction piles. In case of need, it is always possible to adjust the position of one or more adjac
piles to meet the required distance between the last piles. Generally speaking, it is easier to close the arcs than the main cell.

The durability of a steel structure depends on the exposed environment. According to the standard EN1993-5, corrosion rates in
natural soils and in the atmosphere are quite low, and in the permanent immersion zone the loss of steel thickness after 50 years
around 1.75mm. Hence, a flat sheet pile structure can be designed for service lives of 50 years and more, even without protectin
the steel (coatings,...)
Fills are preferably made with granular material, sand or gravel, rarely boulders or larger rock elements. Sand can usually be fo
close to the job-site. Hydraulic fills are also considered to be adequate. In most cases the availability of fill material is not an iss
In some projects, such as the one in Egypt, the sheet piles were installed on land, and did not need any backfilling. In Spain, a s
layer of fangos (very soft peat) was replaced inside the cells with sands.

For cofferdams built with flat steel sheet piles subject to very high water pressure difference, piping / heave in front of the struc
has to be analyzed with great care, and may govern the required embedment depth of the sheet piles in a sand layer. No addition
measures are required. When the cells rest on a rock layer, using concrete inside the cell, at the bottom, may be a solution to pre
the fill to be washed off through the gaps between the toe of the sheet piles and the rock layer. However, it is usually more cost
effective to pour a concrete ring against the sheet piles, or use sand bags / sand & cement bags that are lowered down on the inn
side of the sheet pile membrane.

We do not know of any recent project where steel sheet piles were driven into a freezed soil at -196°C. We will check with
specialists. However, we have supplied thousands of tonnes of steel sheet piles in Alaska, Siberia and other very cold countries
where the sheet piles were installed by deep temperatures, way below 0°C sometimes. For these special conditions, the
manufacturers can supply special steel grades which are less brittle in cold temperatures. Please contact the manufacturer befor
working on a final design to assess if the required sheet pile is available in these special steel grades (reference test: Charpy V-
Notch test at low temperatures). Basic guidance is given in Chapter 3.9 of EN1993-5.

Grouting around the steel sheet piles may indeed increase the resistance when starting to pull out the sheets, but if the crane has
sufficient pull force, then the static resistance can be overcome. Using a vibratory hammer reduces the friction, so that grouting
not been an issue encountered up to now on temporary strctures.

The software Cofferdam that I showed in my presentation is a quite old software that was developed by one of our engineers fo
internal use exclusively. It still works, but it is not very user-friendly. Note that we developed a more professional software wit
French software company for sharing with our customers if they are working on a project. It has less features than our own inte
software, but can be used for the design of circular and diaphragm walls, including the optimization of the geometry. It is not
available for sale. Please contact our local agency in case of interest.

The tolerance of the geometry and installation of the sheet piles is not covered by the European standard for the simple reason t
will have to be determined on a project basis. The position of the centre of each cell (circular or diaphragm) can be quite accura
is only the diameter that varies with the tolerances of the sheet piles and installation procedure. The formula used for the radius
the template is given in ArcelorMittal's brochure, but if you use other sheet piles, please contact the manufacturer to get their ow
recommendations. Do not forget to add the deformation of the cell due to the loads on one side of the structure (soil, berthing
loads,...). Generally speaking, the horizontal position of the cell might move by up to 30cm. The measurements performed in th
Swedish project (>13m of water pressure) showed displacements in the magnitude of 10 - 20cm when the water was lowered in
the cofferdam. So typically, the designer should allow for up to 30cm of movement of the cell, and in case of a capping beam o
concrete slab (quay wall for instance), ensure that the concrete slab can be adapted on the fly to this fluctuation along the wall.