Cofferdams

6.
COFFERDAMS
Ben C. Gerwick, Jr., P.E. (dec.)
Patrick E. Durnal, P.E., MEng.
6.1. INTRODUCTION
Cofferdams are temporary enclosures to keep out water and soil so as to permit dewatering and the construction of the
permanent facility (structure) in the dry. This chapter confines itself to the structural cofferdams used to permit underwater
and underground constructions of bridge piers, intake structures, pump houses, and similar structures.
A cofferdam involves the interaction of the structure, soil, and water. The loads imposed include the hydrostatic forces of the
water, as well as dynamic forces due to current and waves. Soils impart loads against the walls of the cofferdam and provide
passive (internal) support during construction as well as after completion of the cofferdam. The structure itself interacts with
the water and the soil, keeping out the soil and water while exerting global forces on the soil.
The failure of a cofferdam, should it occur, would not only be catastrophic from the point of view of the work and workers
inside the cofferdam but could also precipitate disruption of the surrounding area, with damage to adjoining structures. Such a
failure could even make it impracticable to reconstruct a replacement cofferdam in the same location. Therefore, more than
usual precaution has to be taken to prevent failure or collapse.
For a cofferdam in water, and also in weak soil, the load follows the deformation; hence yielding does not relieve the forces.
Therefore, redundancy needs to be provided within the structural system, so as to ensure that partial failure does not lead to
progressive collapse. Large and deep cofferdams should be subjected to an analysis of failure modes and effects to verify
that progressive collapse will not occur.
Since cofferdams are constructed at the site of the work, operations must be carried out stage by stage, often under adverse
conditions. The loads acting on the cofferdam are often more severe during intermediate stages of construction than after the
completion of the cofferdam. Each stage must be analyzed and evaluated to ensure its stability and safety.
As the cofferdam is constructed, stresses and deformations are built in, which are not fully released during subsequent
stages. Thus residual stresses also need to be considered.
Because cofferdams are typically constructed under adverse conditions in a marine environment and because significant
deformations of elements may occur at various stages of construction, it is difficult to maintain close tolerances. Ample
provision must be made for deviations in dimensions so that the finished structure may be constructed according to plan.
The loads imposed on the cofferdam structure by construction equipment and operations must be considered, both during
installation of the cofferdam and during construction of the structure itself. Equipment is generally located high up, hence
induces critical loads at adverse locations and often involves a dynamic component.
Removal of the cofferdam must be planned and executed with the same degree of care as its installation, on a stage-by-stage
basis. The effect of the removal on the permanent structure must also be considered. For this reason, sheet piles extending
below the permanent structure are often cut off and left in place, since their removal may damage the foundation soils
adjacent to the structure.
Safety is a paramount concern, since workers will be exposed to the hazard of flooding and collapse. Safety requires good
design, proper construction, verification that the structure is being constructed as planned, monitoring of the behavior of the
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cofferdam and surrounding area, provision of adequate access, light, and ventilation, and attention to safe practices on the
part of all workers and supervisors.
6.2. DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

6.2.1. Hydrostatic Pressure
The maximum probable water height outside the cofferdam during construction and the water heights inside the cofferdam
during various stages of construction need to be considered. These result in the net design pressures shown in Fig. 6.1.
Figure 6.1 Hydrostatic forces on partially dewatered cofferdam.
Determination of the probable maximum external water level needs to consider such phenomena as rise in water level due to
flood, high tide, storm surge, and waves and wave crest to trough differentials on either side of the cofferdam. While the
season of the year in which the structure is planned to be constructed can be taken into account, it must be recognized that
cofferdam work is often delayed owing to causes both within and beyond the contractor's control, so the cofferdam may be
subjected to higher levels arising later in the year.
The inside water level is that to which the cofferdam will be pumped down so that work may be executed in the dry. This is
usually 0.5 to 1.0 m (1.6 to 3.2 ft) below the elevation of the work in progress, for example, the installation of bracing. If there
is no seal course, the water will be pumped down below the excavation level using wells or sumps. The phreatic surface
profile can then be estimated, and steps taken to ensure that it always stays a meter or so below the soil surface.
If there is a concrete seal course, the inside level may be assumed as the level of the top of the underwater concrete. Since
concrete placed underwater typically slopes downward toward the edges, this elevation will always be somewhat lower than
that at the location of discharge.
6.2.2. Forces Due to Soil Loads

The soils impose forces, both locally on the walls of the cofferdam and globally upon the structure as a whole. These forces
are additive to the hydrostatic forces.
Addressing first the global loading, in the most common case where the bottom is relatively level, the forces balance. When,
however, a cofferdam is constructed on a slope, such as the bank of a river, there will be a net force trying to slide and
overturn the cofferdam. A cofferdam is a relatively poor structure to resist such unbalanced loads because it has little weight
and often is not founded on competent soils. Further, the necessary structural rigidity can be obtained only with additional
bracing and connections. At one stage, just prior to placing the tremie seal, there is no bottom to the structure and no support
from the bearing piles.
However, satisfactory solutions can often be obtained by providing one or more of the following:
Increased penetration of sheet piles so as to develop shear resistance, bearing, and uplift (skin friction).
Increased stiffness of sheet piles.
Diagonal bracing (in vertical plane) to ensure rigid truss action of bracing frame.
Adequate connections of bracing frame to sheet piles so as to make sheet-pile walls act like flanges of a truss.
Installation of batter piles and vertical piles to support the bracing frame. (These are sometimes driven through pipe
sleeves in the bracing frame.)
Installation of batter piles, connected to sheet piles at the top.
Installation of ground anchors or anchors to deadmen on shore.
Temporary placement of sand and gravel surcharge on low side of cofferdam.
Minimization of vibration, heave, and lateral movement by use of suitably spaced non-displacement foundation and hold-
down pile.
Local soil forces are a major component of the lateral force on sheet-pile walls, causing bending in the sheets and wales and
axial compression in the struts (see Fig. 6.2). These forces are proportional to the effective unit weight of the soil, so that
submerged soils contribute only about half the force that the same soils would contribute if located above water. Critical
cases may occur when surcharges are placed or soils are exposed at low tide.
Figure 6.2 Soil forces in typical weak muds and sands.
A detailed analysis of soil forces on sheet-pile walls requires the use of advanced principles of soil mechanics applied to
carefully determined values of the various properties. However, preliminary values may be computed on a semiempirical
basis.
For sands, a unit weight of 16 to 18 kN/m3 (100 to 115 lb/ft3) can be assumed. The angle of internal friction φ can be taken at
30 to 35°, giving an active pressure coefficient Ka of 0.33.
For cohesive soils, such as clays and silts, typical of marine sea floors, φ can be taken at 15°, the shear coefficientc varies
from 14 to 50 kN/m2 (300 to 1000 lb/ft 2), and the unit weight is 18 to 20 kN/m2 (115 to 125 lb/ft2).
Because the softer of these clay soils such as "bay mud" will tend to creep as the sheet piles deflect, at-rest pressures may
develop, giving Ko as high as 0.8. At the same time, Kp may be as low as 1.2. With firmer clays, the values of Ko and Kp
approach 0.5 and 1.4, respectively. For submerged soils, the unit weight should, of course, be reduced by the buoyant effect of
the water, 10 kN/m3 (62.4 1b/ft3).
Satisfactory approximate computations of soil forces acting on the structure may usually be carried out by the method of
equivalent fluid pressure. This, of course, gives a triangular distribution of pressure, which is approximately valid for
determining total loads on a cofferdam and for the distribution of loads on the sheet piles. However, it is inadequate for
proportioning the loads on the bracing, particularly at the top level. Therefore, for the bracing it is usually best to compute the
total load by the method of equivalent fluid pressure, then redistribute it on a trapezoidal or rectangular pattern, from which
the loads acting on the upper levels of bracing may be found (Fig. 6.2).
For fully submerged soils, the following values of equivalent fluid pressure may be assumed for preliminary calculations of the
loads acting on the wall. These include both hydrostatic and soil pressures.
Medium dense sands 13 kN/m 3 (80 lb/ft 3 )
Firm clays 12 kN/m 3 (70 lb/ft 3 )
Soft clays and silts 14 kN/m 3 (90 lb/ft 3 )
Firm clays may temporarily exert much lower forces owing to their sealing off the water head. However, progressive deflection
of the sheet piles may subsequently allow the full water head to act.
Soft clays and silts are very sensitive to surcharge loads as, for example, sloping bottom or an adjacent riverbank. For these
cases a more in-depth geotechnical analysis is essential. Loose sands may liquefy under shock or vibration (e.g., pile driving)
and act as a heavy fluid, exerting a lateral pressure equal to their total density.
6.2.3. Current Force on Structure

The drag force D due to current is given by
where g = acceleration of gravity
ρ = density of water
A = projected area normal to the current
V = current velocity
Cd = drag coefficient
In metric (SI) units, ρ is approximately 10 kN/m3 and g is 10 m/s2; hence D = AC d·V2/2, where D is in kN. (Similarly, in English
units, ρ is approximately numerically equal to 2g, so we can write D = A·CdV2 where A is in ft2, V is in ft/s, and D is in lb force.)
The value of Cd depends on the overall shape of the structure and the roughness of the surface.
With a typical cofferdam, the current force consists not only of the force acting on the normal projection of the cofferdam but
also on the drag force acting along the sides.
With flat sheet piles, the latter may be relatively small, whereas with Z piles it may be substantial since the current will be
forming eddies behind each indentation of profile, as shown in Fig. 6.3. As a practical approach, therefore, the use of a drag
coefficient Cd = 2.0 will conservatively include the effect of the sheet piles; hence the drag forceD = AV 2 in SI units, and D =
2AV 2 in English units.
Figure 6.3 Current flow along sheet piles.
During construction the current force also acts on bracing and support piles and on the sheets which are partially installed.
The latter may pose a critical condition, requiring special temporary support or the use of current deflectors.
If the cofferdam will be subject to accumulating debris or ice floes during a flood, consideration must be given to the current
forces acting on the debris. In fact, the accumulation of debris is often the most serious factor. Debris and ice have been
responsible for the destruction of a number of cofferdams in rivers.
6.2.4. Wave Forces

Waves acting on a cofferdam are usually the result of local winds acting over a restricted fetch and hence are of short
wavelength and limited to height. Waves can also be produced by passing boats and ships, especially in a restricted waterway.
In most cases the waves acting against the face of a cofferdam are nonbreaking; that is, they reflect from the face of the
sheet piles, forming a clapotis or standing wave. The effect is essentially hydrostatic in character. Attention is directed to the
fact that since the water level inside the cofferdam is generally constant, the trough of the clapotis may lead to a temporary
net outward hydrostatic force on the sheet piles; hence they must be well tied at the top.
Cyclic wave loads, particularly if allowed to cause play in the connections, may lead to fatigue. Methods of calculating these
wave forces are given in the Shore Protection Manual of the U.S. Army Engineers Waterway Experiment Station. The manual
also gives a method of calculating the impact of breaking waves, which may develop a dynamic component owing to the
compression on entrapped air. Figure 6.4, which is from that manual, shows the typical profile and pressure distribution of
waves acting on a cofferdam. Especially in the surf zone, with breaking waves, the dynamic forces can be much larger
because of the high velocity of the breaking or plunging wave.
Figure 6.4 Pressure distribution: nonbreaking waves.
In certain exposed and open sea areas, long-period swells may develop significant inertial forces, acting on the structure as a
whole. In this case, the added mass (a mass of water equivalent to that displaced) must be added to the displaced mass in
calculating the inertial component. Such forces can be very large. Evaluation is best made by diffraction analysis, in a manner
similar to that used on offshore caissons.
6.2.5. Ice Forces

These are of two types: the force exerted by the expansion of a closed-in solidly frozen-over area of water surface, and the
forces exerted by the moving ice on breakup.
Static Ice Force. This depends on the thickness of the ice sheet, the coefficient of thermal expansion of ice and the elastic
modulus of ice, as well as the degree of confinement and temperature differentials. As an example, a value of 200 kN/m2
(4000 lb/ft2) has been used on cofferdams and structures on the Great Lakes.
Dynamic Ice Forces. The values depend on the thickness of the ice sheet, the mode of failure of the ice against the
structure, the strength of the ice, planes of fracture, etc.
Average values acting on a cofferdam-type structure are often taken at 570 to 670 kN/m2 (12,000 to 14,000 lb/ft2) of contact
area, although extreme values may reach three times these values.
While this accounts for the normal force acting on the cofferdam, there is also an additional drag force shear along the long
sides. On the favorable side, a shear or cutwater nose may serve to break the ice, reducing shear to about one-third of the
value due to crushing.
6.2.6. Seismic Loads

These have not been normally considered in design of temporary structures in the past. For very large, important, and deep
cofferdams in highly active areas, seismic evaluation should be performed. The goal is to ensure that collapse will not occur
during the construction period, although local damage may be acceptable.
For the portion embedded in the soil, an imposed total value equal to the passive pressure sets an upper limit. This is
approximately valid for soft sediments such as those normally encountered in harbors but is too conservative for stiff clays
and sands.
For dense sands and for the firmer clays, an allowance of a 50 percent increase in active soil pressure is often assumed for an
earthquake. Since earthquake forces are of a temporary nature, allowable stress levels can be increased 33 percent. This is
safe for wales and sheet piles, but struts may have to be treated more conservatively because of their buckling mode of
failure.
For large cofferdam structures in deep water in a highly seismic area, the stability of the structure as a whole can be
computed by applying an added mass coefficient to reflect the acceleration of adjacent water by structure. For the typical
cofferdam configuration, an added mass of 0.5 times the mass of displaced water will be found approximately valid.
Earthquake responses and effects are minimized for highly flexible structures such as most sheet-pile cofferdams. For the
more rigid cofferdams now being considered for some deep-water bridge piers, there will be greater responses.
In loose sands, there is the possibility of liquefaction under earthquake. This can be minimized in a practical way by a blanket
of crushed rock placed around the cofferdam site.
6.2.7. Accidental Loads

These are the loads usually caused by construction equipment working alongside the cofferdam and impacting on it under the
action of waves. One approach is to assume a local velocity, say 0.6 m/s (2 ft/s), a distortion of the impacting vessel of 0.3 m
(12 in), and an added mass coefficient of 2.0 to be applied to the mass of the vessel. The impact can be significantly reduced
by fendering.
Logs and ice blocks can impact at the ambient current velocity. They can hit end-on and hence require consideration of local
punching shear.
6.2.8. Scour
Scour of the river bottom or seafloor around the cofferdam may take place owing to river currents, tidal currents, or wave-
induced currents. Some of the most serious and disastrous cases have occurred when these currents have acted
concurrently.
Although the bottom of a river or channel may be stable before the cofferdam is constructed, the very act of constructing a
cofferdam, along with moored barges, etc., may cause blockage of a significant portion of the cross-sectional area of the
stream, resulting in a dramatic increase in bottom current. The sediments on the bottom were previously in a condition of
dynamic stability, so any increase in the bottom current leads to erosion and scour.
Scour can cause a rapid lowering of the seafloor over the entire area adjacent to the cofferdam or local pockets at the
corners. The latter are due to eddy currents and can be minimized by streamlining, that is, rounding of the upstream corners
and providing a fin or tail to prevent vortices at the downstream corners. Scour is, of course, a greater potential when the
bottom is fine sand or silt.
A very practical method of preventing scour, suitable in many cases, is to deposit a blanket of crushed rock or heavy gravel
around the cofferdam, either before or immediately after the cofferdam sheet piles are set. Since scour can take place very
rapidly, a delay in the latter case may not be acceptable when the bottom is very loose sand or silt.
A more sophisticated method is to lay a mattress of filter fabric, covering it with rock to hold it in place. A fabric made of two
layers, one fine, random-oriented sheet, underlain by a layer of strong, coarse-mesh fibers, all having a specific gravity greater
than 1.0 (e.g., 1.05), is best. This is laid on the bottom before starting construction. The support piles and sheet piles are then
driven through it. When it will be necessary to later drive piles through scour protection rock, the size of stable rock may be
minimized by using high-density rock such as iron ore.
6.2.9. Protection in Flood and Storm

When a flood or storm exceeds the limits assumed in design, radical steps may have to be taken promptly in order to prevent
loss of the cofferdam. These limits should be established by the designer of the cofferdam and be shown in the plans in
writing so there can be no confusion or delay.
Practical steps have consisted of the following: flooding the cofferdam; preinstallation of a log boom to prevent debris from
lodging against the cofferdam; provisions for clearing debris during the flood or storm; installation of extra ties diagonally
across the bracing, so as to ensure that it will act as a space frame (wire rope plus turnbuckles can be quickly installed); tying
sheet piles to top wale, if not previously done as part of the design; and removing all barges from alongside the cofferdam.
Ice floes can exert a very heavy and potentially damaging impact on cofferdams. In the past it has been common to attempt to
deflect them by a boom or barge moored independently of the cofferdam. However, the possibility that the barge or boom may
break loose under the ice floe or storm, etc., and itself impact the cofferdam must be considered. Moorings for such a barge
or boom must therefore be carefully designed to ensure against such a failure.
Similarly, when attempting to construct a cofferdam in a swift river current or where wind-driven waves are coming from one
direction, the mooring of a large barge can effectively still the surface water. The moorings must, of course, be adequate for
the design storm or flood, or else the floating breakwater must be removed at the onset of extreme conditions.
Flow deflectors can also be used; one type consists of steel frame jackets made of tubular members, through which pin piles
are then installed. Sheet piles or stop logs can then be installed across the front of the jacket.
6.3. COFFERDAM CONCEPTS

The typical cofferdam for a compact structure, such as a bridge pier, intake structure, or pump house, consists of sheet piles
set around a bracing frame and driven into the soil sufficiently far to develop vertical and lateral support and to cut off the
flow of soil and, in some cases, the flow of water (Fig. 6.5). The structure inside may be founded directly on rock or firm soil or
may require pile foundations. In the latter case, these generally extend well below the cofferdam.
Figure 6.5 Typical cofferdam, without seal or pilaes.
In order to dewater the cofferdam, the bottom must be stable and able to resist hydrostatic uplift. Placement of an underwater
concrete seal course is the safest and most common method. However, in hard and relatively impermeable soils, or where
dewatering can be carried out well below the excavated bottom, the concrete seal may be omitted. In the latter case, the sheet
piles must penetrate a sufficient distance to cut off water flow and to ensure stability against a "plug-type" shear failure.
An underwater concrete seal course may then be placed prior to dewatering in order to seal off the water, resist its pressure,
and also to act as a slab to brace against the inward movement of the sheet piles. The concrete seal may be locked by
adhesion and shear to the piles in order to mobilize their resistance to uplift under the hydrostatic pressure (Fig. 6.6).
Figure 6.6 Typical cofferdam (with seal).
For larger areas, such as locks and dams, cellular cofferdams or double-walled cofferdams are often used. These develop
their resisting force by acting as a gravity retaining wall. In this concept, parallel walls of sheet piles are tied together, with
either sheet-pile diaphragms or tie-rods, and the space between is filled with granular material. In such cases, the dewatering
is usually carried out by pumping.
Cellular cofferdams may be built on bare rock, since penetration is not necessarily required for stability although it is required
in sands and clays. The underlying soils must be capable of providing the required bearing support and lateral shear
resistance.
6.4. COFFERDAM CONSTRUCTION STAGES

6.4.1. Typical Cofferdam Construction Sequence
For a typical cofferdam for a bridge pier or intake structure, the construction sequence involves the following stages of work:
1. Predredge to remove soft sediments and to level the area of the cofferdam (Fig. 6.7a).
2. Install temporary support piles (Fig. 6.7b).
3. Set a prefabricated bracing frame and hang on the support piles (Fig. 6.7b).
4. Set steel sheet piles, starting at all four corners and meeting at the center of each side (Fig. 6.7c).
5. Drive sheet piles to grade (Fig. 6.7c).
6. Block between bracing frame and sheets; as necessary, provide ties for sheet piles at the top (Fig. 6.7c).
7. Excavate inside the grade or slightly below grade, while leaving the cofferdam full of water (Fig. 6.8a).
8. Drive piling (Fig. 6.8b).
9. Place rock fill as a leveling and support course (Fig. 6.8b).
10. Pour tremie concrete seal (Fig. 6.8c).
11. Check blocking between bracing and sheets (Fig. 6.9a).
12. Dewater (Fig. 6.9a).
13. Construct new structure (bridge pier or intake structure) (Fig. 6.9a and b).
14. Flood cofferdam (Fig. 6.9c).
15. Remove sheet piles (Fig. 6.9c).
16. Remove bracing (Fig. 6.9c).
17. Backfill (Fig. 6.9c).
Figure 6.7 Cofferdam construction sequence (I). (a) Predredge. (b) Drive support piles; set
prefabricated bracing frame and hang from support piles. (c) Set sheet piles; drive sheet piles; block
and tie sheet piles to top wale.
Figure 6.8 Cofferdam construction sequence (II). (a) Excavate inside to final grade. (b) Drive-bearing
piles in place. (c) Pour tremie concrete.
Figure 6.9 Cofferdam construction sequence (III). (a) Check blocking; dewater; construct footing
block; block between footing and sheet piles. (b) Remove lower bracing; construct pier pedestal;
construct pier shaft. (c) Flood cofferdam; pull sheets; remove bracing; backfill.
Predredging (Stage 1). Prior removal of soil to form a deep basin means that the cofferdam will not have to resist
temporary soil pressures in addition to water pressure. When the seafloor is sloping, prior dredging removes unbalanced soil
loads acting on the, structure as a whole. This predredging, to be effective, must extend well back from the cofferdam wall, so
as to leave a berm at the toe of the slope.
Predredging also permits the setting of a completely prefabricated bracing frame. Such a frame comprises two or more sets of
horizontal bracing, tied together with vertical and diagonal trussing and hence acting as a space frame. Finally, it is generally
significantly less costly to predredge than to dig inside, even though the quantity is obviously greater.
When predredging all the way to grade, the subsequent outward pressure of the tremie concrete seal course must be
considered. Otherwise the sheet piles may progressively deflect outward as the seal concrete is poured. Often, it will be
necessary to backfill outside the cofferdam with granular material to at least the height of the seal prior to placing the tremie
concrete.
Predredging also facilitates pile driving inside the cofferdam. If it is possible to predredge to grade, it may be possible to drive
the piles before the cofferdam bracing frame and sheet piles are installed, moving stage 8 up to 2.
On the negative side, predredging obviously increases both dredging and backfill quantities. It may extend the cut too close to
existing structures. Dredging in the open water may stir up bottom sediments into the water, although this normally will be of
little real ecological significance unless the sediments are contaminated.
Predredging can also facilitate the removal of surface or subsurface layers of hard material, such as boulders or limestone
layers. In fact, if heavy excavation is required, such as blasting or use of very heavy buckets, or removal of obstructions or old
piles is required, these can only be done efficiently by preexcavating before the cofferdam is started. Performance of such
heavy excavation inside a cofferdam structure is usually excessively difficult owing to restrictions of space between bracing
and the need to exercise care to prevent damage to the bracing.
When the site conditions and requirements of the project do not permit predredging to grade, excavation will, of course, have
to be carried out inside the cofferdam, and the sheet piles and bracing will have to be designed to resist the forces from the
soil during all stages of construction.
In competent soils, such as sands and firm clays, this can be accomplished in a practical manner by selecting sheet piles of
adequate length and strength to resist the soil pressures during excavation, transferring the load to the bracing above and to
the passive pressure zone of the soil below. Then, when the excavation is completed, the piles can be driven and the
underwater concrete seal can be constructed.
If the depth of inside excavation is too great for practical spanning of the sheet piles between the bracing and the soil, another
level of bracing may be lowered into place and blocked to the sheet piles after partial excavation (Fig. 6.10). Such a lower level
of bracing may be particularly useful if the driving of piles requires jetting, or the vibration may otherwise temporarily destroy
the passive resistance of the "passive-zone" soils below the excavation limits.
Figure 6.10 Large and deep cofferdam for bascule pier of the 4th Street Bridge over Mission Creek
Channel, San Francisco, Calif.
When constructing cofferdams in very weak silts and muds, there may be inadequate passive resistance. In such a case the
sheet piles must be very long and very strong, often exceeding the limits of practicability and economy. This becomes
particularly critical when relatively shallow excavations are to be carried out in very deep muds. Many failures have occurred
when there was inadequate recognition of this problem. The failure may be characterized by either excessive rotation or
excessive deflection, as shown in Fig. 6.11a and b.
Figure 6.11 Deflections of sheet piles in soft soils (a) rotational, (b) bending.
Economical and practical solutions have been devised. In one, the site is predredged several feet below grade, and an artificial
"stratum" of sand and gravel is dumped to act as support for the sheet piles and to develop lateral support for the sheet piles
(Fig. 6.12).
Figure 6.12 Use of sand and gravel mat to provide improved passive resistance.
Then the sheet piles need only be long enough to penetrate through the sand-gravel stratum. Such a system was successfully
employed for 24 shallow cofferdams for the west side of the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge near San Francisco, reducing the
required length of sheet piles from 24 m (80 ft) to 11 m (35 ft).
However, the above solution assumes that predredging can be carried out. If predredging is not permissible (the initial
premise), a sand-gravel "stratum" may be created by injection, that is, by using sand-drain equipment and an excess of air
pressure to force the sand bulbs out at the desired elevation (Fig. 6.13).
Figure 6.13 Creation of firm stratum to provide temporary support for cofferdam.
A more conventional solution is to cantilever the sheet piles, using a two-level bracing frame. The sheet piles are tied back at
the top level and cantilevered below the lower level. The efficacy of this system depends on using high-strength sheet piles
(high section modulus) and yield strength and on maximizing the distance between top and lower bracing levels. In some
cases, it may be desirable to raise the top level above that which otherwise would be required (Fig. 6.14). The lower level of
bracing must resist the force from the soil plus that of the tie. The sheet piles need to penetrate below the inside excavation
only far enough to prevent run-in of sand or a local shear failure of the soil underneath.
Figure 6.14 Use of cantilevered cofferdam concept for shallow cofferdam in weak material.
Since deflections in cantilever will be relatively large, the possible remolding effect on soft clays, and thus an increase in
active pressure, must be considered.
Temporary Support Piles and Bracing Frames (Stages 2 and 3). These must provide sufficient lateral support to resist
current and wave forces during the installation of the sheet piles. In calm water this can usually be done by installing vertical
piles, using the bracing frame to establish a fixed-end condition and short moment arm. In strong currents or waves, batter
piles or similar lateral support may be required. Recent practice has been to employ large-diameter (l to 2 m) vertical piles to
act as spuds. The bracing frame generally consists of wales, struts, posts, and diagonals. Today, cofferdam bracing frames
are almost always made of steel structural shapes and tubes.
Bracing frames are generally made up of a combination of welding and bolting. Bolts facilitate subsequent disassembly if
required for removal. At intersections of struts and wales, sufficient stiffeners must be provided to prevent local distortion.
Since field welds are very unsatisfactory owing to wet conditions and vibrations of the elements, bolting is preferred for field
connections. A typical framing arrangement is shown in Fig. 6.15.
Figure 6.15 Typical framing arrangement: (a) Elevation, (b) intersection of struts, and (c) plan view.
Wales are subject to combined stresses, that is, normal loads applied horizontally causing bending, plus bending due to dead
weight in the vertical direction, plus axial compression from the ends and from diagonals. Standard structural design
procedures provide methods for analyzing the stresses due to these combined forces.
Struts are subjected primarily to axial load as horizontal columns. They also have bending in the vertical plane due to dead
weight, frame action, accidental dredging or pile driving impacts, and any equipment or frames/platforms supported on them.
As columns, they must be supported in both the horizontal and vertical planes to keep the length to radius of gyration ratio
(Kl/r) within allowable limits so as to prevent buckling.
Struts are also subjected to temperature loads. In cofferdams in waters, these are usually negligible since the top level (where
temperature differentials are greatest) is generally free to expand and contract. However, they must be considered in land
cofferdams where the walls are rigidly restrained.
In some cases, the lowest bracing frame must be installed below the level of predredging;
That is, it is not practicable to predredge to a depth that will enable the entire frame to be set as a single prefabricated unit. In
such a case, the third (lower) frame is made up separately and hung immediately beneath the upper prefabricated space
frame. After further excavation inside, the frames can be lowered to grade. Frame lowering is facilitated by outward inclination
of the sheets using guide blocking added to the lower brace levels. Over flooding the interior a few feet will offset unbalanced
dredged soil loads that can press the sheets inward and may cause friction on the wales to impede the frame lowering.
For such a frame, having bracing in the horizontal plane only, the column effects (Kl/r) will usually control the size of the
struts. The lower frame must be well supported, either by piles or from the upper frame. It should be truly horizontal and well
blocked to the sheet piles. These precautions are important to prevent any tendency for the frame to rotate under load.
Therefore, maximum prefabrication of as complete a space frame as possible is to be preferred. To transport and place such
a huge and heavy frame requires careful planning.
The initial space frame is usually assembled on a barge. In extreme cases it may be assembled on skidways on shore, like an
offshore platform jacket, and later skidded out onto a barge. Alternatively, the space frame may be assembled on location,
supported above water on large spud piles, and progressively lowered down as each level, and its next set of vertical bracing
are completed. In such cases, the spud piles, acting in cantilever, must be adequate to provide lateral support.
If transported by barge, the frame, often weighing several hundred tons, can be lifted by a floating shear-leg crane barge or
derrick barge and set over the support piles. Some of the bracing members may be made buoyant by closing the ends. Then
the frame may be reassembled, launched, and floated into exact location where spud or support piles may be driven through
sleeves. The load is then transferred to these support piles. Once again, consideration must be given to lateral forces,
including an accidental impact from work barges.
With very deep cofferdams, two or more prefabricated space frames may be set on top of one another, joined by pin piles
(long pipe piles running through vertical pipe sleeves). Funnel-shaped guides are used to help position the sectional frames
over the spud piles as they are set.
Bracing by means of a series of circular compression rings is often an attractive solution because it eliminates cross bracing
which would interfere with excavation and subsequent pier construction. However, such bracing must be designed with
particular care to prevent the possibility of buckling of the ring wales. Causes of buckling are the following:
1. Out-of-round tolerances in compression-ring prefabrication and installation
2. Uneven bearing of sheet piles on compression rings. Poor blocking
3. Unbalanced soil loads, often due to equipment or unequal excavation
4. Failure to consider each stage of excavation in the design; the ring which is currently the lowest at one stage may carry
much more load at that stage than subsequently when a lower ring is set
5. Accidental damage to a ring, as by a bucket
6. Installation at an angle with the horizontal
7. Inadequate web stiffeners leading to web buckling
Because the mode of failure of a ring wale is sudden and transfers its load plus impact to an adjoining set, progressive
collapse is possible and has occurred. Thus each ring should be evaluated on the basis of its ability to arrest an adjacent local
collapse.
Steel Sheet Piles (Stages 4 and 5). Many different types are used. For cofferdams, where bending predominates, the Z
sections, WF, or pipe Combi wall sections predominate.
Whatever section is adopted, the sheet pile should be sufficiently rigid and of sufficiently thick metal, 12 mm (1/2 in) or
greater, so as to withstand driving stresses and local twisting. Figure 6.16 illustrates some of the various shapes of
commercially available piles.
Figure 6.16 Typical configuration of steel sheet piling.
Use of 350 MPa (50,000 lb/in2) yield steel is desirable to prevent local damage, increase interlock strength, and provide
greater bending resistance and hence greater height between horizontal bracing levels. It is subject to much less damage and
distortion than the steels of lower yield strength.
It is essential in water cofferdams (and most land cofferdams as well) that the sheet piles are continuously interlocked. To
ensure this, they must be set accurately and driven progressively. By setting the corners first and working in both directions
toward the middle, minor adjustments can readily be made. As a control and guide to accurate setting, sheet-pile locations
should be marked on the wale. An allowance should be made for interlock play [usually about 3 mm (1/8 in) per pile].
Sheet piles must be set against falsework or guides, giving enough support at a high elevation to hold them accurately in
alignment and giving support against wind during the initial phases. A partially set sheet-pile wall is very susceptible to wind
damage, being a large, flat wall of little strength. For this reason, the wall may be tied to the upper guide (by temporary
bolting) to give it restraint in both directions. Also, it is not advisable to leave a large exposed panel of sheet piles undriven
overnight or over weekends. Generally a panel should be set and at least partially driven before the end of the day's work.
Some not so amusing stories are told about returning to work the morning after a day of setting, only to find the sheet piles
bent flat on the ground.
Threading of sheet piles has historically been done by hand, but this resulted in many mashed fingers and was slow. New
devices have been developed, both hydraulic and mechanical, by which the second sheet pile can be engaged to the first pile
at ground then run up and automatically entered into the interlock of the first pile. In the case of multiple cofferdams and
reuse of sheet piles, it is often practicable to handle, set, and remove the sheet piles in pairs, using a short weld along the
interlock at the top to mate each pair.
In driving, no sheet pile should have its top extending more than a short distance, for example, 1.5 m (5 ft), below its neighbor
at any time. Otherwise, it may tend to deviate from true alignment, and the subsequent driving of adjoining piles will result
either in high friction or worse in driving out of the interlock.
Sheet piles are best driven by a vibratory hammer, as long as a satisfactory rate of penetration is being achieved (Fig. 6.17).
Vibratory hammers work well in silts and sands, satisfactorily in soft clays, and poorly in gravels, peat, and sandy clay
hardpan. For the latter soils either a diesel or steam hammer is used. The impact hammer should not be too large or it will lead
to tip and/or butt deformations. A cast-steel driving head [cap block] should be employed, properly grooved for the sheets
selected. In some very hard driving, for example, when the sheet piles must toe into cobbles, etc., cast-steel sheet-piletip
protectors may be effectively used to prevent tip damage.
Figure 6.17 Driving steel sheet piles in succession for Skyway pier foundation SF-Oak, Bay Bridge,
Calif.
Tie and Block Sheet Piles (Stage 6). Ties are usually installed at the top because the sheet piles may not bear on the top wale
after the cofferdam is fully dewatered. Rather, owing to continuity effects, they may tend to move away from the top wale. To
prevent vibration and minimize bending moments in the sheets, provision of J-bolt ties is useful. Bolts are superior to welds,
since the latter often fracture under vibratory loads.
Excavation (Stage 7). Inside excavation is usually done with a clamshell bucket. It is essential to prevent hooking of the
bucket under a brace. In addition to using care, temporary setting of one or more vertical sheets against the internal bracing
(so as to act as guides) may be useful.
In stiff clays it is hard to excavate under bracing, since a large ridge will be left. This can be knocked down by a diver and jet or
by swinging the bucket (taking care not to hit or snag the bracing).
After gross excavation, usually to 0.5 to 1.0 m (1.65 to 3.3 ft) below final grade, the clay that is still adhering to the sheet piles,
especially in the indented profiles, must be removed. This is usually done by using an H-beam as a long chisel, augmented by
a jet. This is run up and down along the sheet piling. The completeness of cleaning underwater should be verified by a diver.
This cleaning is done to ensure that the tremie concrete seal will properly seal the entire inner perimeter. Obviously, in those
relatively few cases where no seal is used, the sheet piles do not have to be cleaned. Later, after piles have been driven, but
prior to placing rock backfill or tremie concrete, silt and sediments are cleaned from the bottom by means of an airlift pump.
This is effective in removing soft siltation material from the pockets left by the clamshell bucket.
Pile Installation (Stage 8). Unless the pilings were driven from floating equipment right after the predredging, they are
driven now (Fig. 6.18). Since their tops or cutoffs are generally in or just above the tremie concrete seal, it follows that the
heads may have to be driven a substantial distance underwater. Also, in the case of bridge piers, batter piles are often
required, directed radially out on all four sides, as well as vertical piles, and these too may require that the heads terminate
underwater.
Figure 6.18 Driving 100-ft open end 42-in pipe pile with drive shoes in flooded cofferdam to bedrock,
Wakota Bridge I-494 over Mississippi River, Minneapolis, Minn.
The bearing piles, both vertical and battered, should be carefully arranged so as to avoid running into each other or into the
tips of the sheet piles, during both setting and driving, and below ground. This may necessitate minor readjustment of the
specified plan layout, which, of course, must be approved by the design engineer.
Piles can be set through the bracing and supported in templates affixed to the top level bracing. There are three methods used
to drive such piling: (1) with an underwater hammer; (2) with a follower; (3) with an above-water hammer, acting on a longer
pile than required, followed by a cutoff and removal for reuse of the extra length.
With the underwater hammer, method 1, the difficulty lies with the physical dimensions of the hammer and leads and
consequent interference from bracing and previously driven piles. If a hammer accidentally lands on a previously driven "high"
pile, the hammer will be badly damaged. Hence piles may have to be cut off before driving adjoining piles. If it hits on bracing,
it may cause serious distortion or the collapse of the brace.
Underwater steam hammers use air pressure in the hammer casing so as to exclude water. This air pressure reduces the
efficiency of the hammer, particularly with depths greater than 18 m (60 ft). The new hydraulic hammers do not use air and
hence do not lose as much energy underwater.
The use of a follower, method 2, was discouraged or prohibited until recently because of bad experience with poorly made
followers. Today's followers have a machined cast-steel driving head (socket) at their base and a properly reinforced head.
They are fitted with guides so as to be supported in the leads and maintained in axial alignment. Followers can be designed
for impedance compatibility with the pile and heat-treated after fabrication so as to anneal the welds and prevent brittle
fracture under repeated impacts.
Both methods 1 and 2 encounter serious difficulties if any piles do not bring up to required bearing. Underwater splices are
really not practicable for most piles, although they can be implemented with pipe piles and, in some cases, with prestressed
concrete piles if proper detailing has been made beforehand. In any event, they are very costly and time-consuming.
Method 3 involves the handling and setting of a pile long enough to keep its head above water when its tip is at the designated
elevation. Hence, if it becomes necessary to splice, the splice can be made above water.
Full hammer efficiency is available. The piles can be threaded past each other with minimum clearance. Unless the total pile
is prohibitively long, the setting and driving rate is significantly faster.
However each pile must be subsequently cut off. In the case of batter piles, underwater cutting may be required in order to set
and drive adjoining piles. As many as possible, however, will not be cut until after dewatering when they can be cut "in the
dry."
These long "cutoffs" can now be taken back to the fabrication yard and spliced onto the next piles. Thus there is no cutoff
loss, except on the last pier driven.
Batter piles generally extend under the edge of the cofferdam; hence they may limit the penetration of the sheet piles. In some
cases, it may be necessary to increase the plan size of the cofferdam so as to obtain adequate penetration of the sheet pile
prior to intersection with the batter pile.
Where solid or closed-end bearing piles are used inside the cofferdam, their displacement may cause excessive heave or
lateral movement of the sheet piles and previously installed foundation pile. Open-ended pipe pile or H-piles may be
preferable, especially in dense soils.
Jetting is seldom done in cofferdam piers but may occasionally be necessary with displacement piles. In at least one case, for
bridge piers in sand, the use of jetting led to a liquefaction and a loss in passive resistance for the sheets, resulting in a flow of
sand underneath and collapse of the cofferdam even before dewatering.
Both jetting and driving vibrations can cause local liquefaction of the sand and loss of support. Various steps to overcome this
include placing of a lower set of bracing at the bottom of the excavation, so as to provide support in lieu of the soil's passive
resistance, or placement of a thick layer of crushed rock at the bottom of the excavation to prevent local liquefaction of the
sand and permit ready escape of the pore water.
Leveling Course (Stage 9). A sand-and-gravel leveling course is used to bring the excavation to grade, ready to receive the
tremie concrete seal. This rock subbase also gives temporary support to the seal during placement and prevents intermixing
of mud, sand, and concrete.
Underwater Concrete Seal (Stage 10). The purpose of the seal is to (1) prevent upward flow of water, (2) act as a lower
strut for the sheet piles, (3) tie to the driven piles that resist uplift, (4) provide weight to offset the uplift due to differential
head, and (5) provide support for subsequent construction of the pier or intake structure. In many modern piers, the tremie
concrete seal course is also designed to function as part of the structural footing block. In the latter case, it may be
reinforced.
Underwater concrete may be placed, either by the tremie (pipe) method or by the grout-intruded aggregate method. For tremie
concrete, the mix selected should be cohesive and highly workable. A typical mix is as follows:
Coarse aggregate: gravel, rounded, 20 mm (¾ in), maximum 55 percent of total aggregate
Fine aggregate: sand, coarse gradation, 45 to 50 percent of total aggregate
Cement: 320 kg/m3 (500 lb/yd3)
PFA (pozzolan): 80 kg/m3 (130 lb/yd3)
Water-reducing admixture (WRA) not high-range water-reducing admixture (HRWRA)
Plasticizing or air-entraining admixture
Retarding admixture (as required)
Anti-washout admixture (as required)
Water and WRA, to give slump of 160 to 185 mm (8 to 10 in)
Water-cement ratio, 0.42 to 0.45
PFA (pozzolan), as a partial replacement for the cement, improves flow and reduces heat. The pozzolan should be tested for
compatibility with cement and admixtures. Normally, a 15 to 20 percent replacement is used, although a higher percentage
may be used (up to 50 percent), provided the delay in gain of strength is recognized.
Admixtures are commercially available with combined water-reducing, plasticizing, and retarding effects. HRWRAs, often
called superplasticizers, are not suitable for mass concrete placements such as those typical of cofferdams. The high mass
generates heat, and the heat causes the HRWRA to "go off" prematurely and erratically so that the slump suddenly decreases.
This can result in a disastrously unsatisfactory placement of tremie concrete. Further, not all conventional admixtures are
compatible and suitable for underwater concrete. A trial batch of several yards, placed in a box or pit, may indicate the degree
of segregation and the workability and flow performance (Fig. 6.19).
Figure 6.19 A trial batch is essential to verify the cohesiveness, slump, slump flow and washout of
the concrete mix. (a) Trial batch, (b) initial 8- to 10-in slump, (c) initial 21- to 26-in slump flow, and
(d) washout tests.
Placement of tremie concrete is best initiated in a sealed tube or tremie pipe of 250 to 300 mm (10 to 12 in) in diameter. A
plate, with gasket, is tied to the end of the tremie pipe, which is then lowered to the bottom (Figs. 6.20 and 6.21). The
hydrostatic pressure holds the plate tight, so the pipe stays empty to the bottom. Obviously the empty pipe must have
sufficient weight so as to not be buoyant. Concrete is then introduced to fill the pipe. It is desirable to first place 1 m 3 (l yd3)
of concrete from which the coarse aggregate has been omitted, then follow with the regular mix.
Figure 6.20 Arrangement of tremie pipe for start of operations.
Figure 6.21 Fitting a closure plate on tip of tremie pipe.
The upper end of the tremie pipe is capped with a hopper. Concrete should be delivered to the hopper, at atmospheric
pressure, in a continuous stream, such as that obtained by pumping, conveyor belt, or a bucket with an air-controlled closure
device.
The pipe is first placed on the bottom, empty and sealed as described. It is filled just above the balancing point at midheight of
the pipe. Note that with a 250 to 300-mm (10 to 12-in) tremie pipe, there is very little friction head loss. Then the pipe is raised
150 mm (6 in) or so off the bottom, the seal is automatically broken by the excess concrete head, and the concrete flows out.
In normal pours, the concrete exiting from the pipe flows up around the pipe to the surface, then slowly cascades down the
surface. With admixtures which reduce internal shear, the flow may push out under the previously placed concrete. The pipe
must always be kept embedded in the fresh concrete, a minimum distance of 1 m (3 ft) (Fig. 6.22).
Figure 6.22 Advanced tremie concrete placement sequence, Olmsted Dam Tainter Gate shells filling,
Ohio River, Ill.
The joints in the tremie pipe should be bolted and gasketed to be watertight. Otherwise the downward flow of the concrete will
suck in water and mix it by the venturi effect. Leaking joints have caused disastrous washing out of the mix in some extreme
cases. A slightly inclined tremie pipe, where practicable, will allow the air to escape along the upper side.
If the tip of the pipe is accidentally raised above the surface of the concrete, the seal will be lost, the flow rate will increase,
and water will be mixed with the concrete, causing severe segregation and laitance formation.
Any mixing of the tremie concrete and water leads to the formation of laitance (leached-out cement), a soft material of low
specific gravity that rises to the top of the concrete. Segregation can also occur in cases of severe washing. It is marked by a
substantial increase in volume so that the cofferdam fills with less concrete placed than calculated. Any yield greater than a 3
or 4 percent gain should be viewed as an indication of probable severe segregation.
The slope of the tremie concrete surface will be between about 6 to 1 and 10 to 1. Tremie concrete has flowed up to 20 m (70
ft) from a single tremie pipe without excessive segregation; however, 10m (35 ft) is a more reasonable spacing.
In moving a tremie pipe, it should be raised clear of the water, resealed, and set back into the fresh concrete, in other words, a
complete restart. Dragging the tremie pipe through the fresh concrete inevitably produces segregation and excessive laitance.
Use of a rubber ball (volleyball) as a go-devil is widespread to start and restart a tremie pour, but it is not good practice. A
volleyball is inflated with less than 1 atm (l5 lb/in2) air pressure. Once the ball is pushed deeper than 10 m (30 ft), it collapses
and loses all sealing ability. A noncollapsible "pig" such as the sack of straw used in the 1900s was actually better.
This problem is exacerbated even in shallow placements, when restarting a pour after relocating the pipe or a loss of seal. The
use of a go-devil or pig of any type pushes a column of water down through the recently placed concrete, washing out the
concrete locally. Hence the resealing method is much to be preferred.
On very deep placements, over 15 to 21 m (50 to 70 ft), the plate on the tip may no longer be appropriate and a special pig of
rubber, with squeegees, such as used in pipelines, may be needed. This can give excellent results on the initial start but is not
suitable for restart into a previously placed but unhardened mass. In such a case, it is best to let the previous concrete harden,
jet off any laitance, and start anew with the pig. The delay, while undesirable, may be far less than the time required to remove
excessive laitance.
Ingenious valves have been developed in the United States (1920–1940), Europe (1970), and Japan (1980) but have not
proved fully satisfactory because the material being placed is not a homogeneous mix but contains coarse aggregate, which
can jam or wedge open a valve. Their use is not recommended for general practice.
The tremie-pipe layout and sequence should be such as to maintain acceptable flow distances and prevent cold joints (Figs.
6.23 and 6.24). In many cases, the latter requires that a relatively high rate of pour be maintained. Typical rates are 38 m3 (50
yd 3) per hour for small- and medium-sized cofferdams, 103 m3 (135 yd3) per hour for larger cofferdams. Retarding
admixtures will usually be needed.
Figure 6.23 Typical tremie pipe locations and sequence of concrete placement. Start placement
through tremie pipes 1. Place to full height. Insert pipes at 2 and continue placement until full height
is reached. Insert pipe at 3 and complete placement. (Above is typical for moderate seal
thicknesses.)
Figure 6.24 Layout of tremie pipes on one of main piers of Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, Calif.
As noted, tremie concrete will flow on a slight slope, about 1 on 10. Thus the spacing of pipes and points of placement
depends on depth of seal. The longer the flow distance, the greater the exposure of fresh concrete to washing. A typical flow
distance limit is 11 m (35 ft) as in (Fig. 6.25), although satisfactory underwater concrete has been placed in thick seals with
flow distances up to 15 to 21 m (50 to 70 ft).
Figure 6.25 Tremie concrete seal course at bottom of a medium depth cofferdam. GIWW gate
structure IHNC Floodwall, New Orleans, La.
Placement of tremie concrete directly by pump has been often tried, with generally unsatisfactory results except in confined
tubes such as drilled shafts. One problem is the formation of a vacuum when the concrete flows downhill faster than the pump
can supply it; this then results in the coarse aggregate segregating and jamming the pipe. An air-relief valve at the top will
help. So will an inclined pipe.
A greater problem is that the pump delivers the concrete in pulses that are not conducive to the smooth flow essential in
tremie concrete. More laitance is thus formed. It is better practice to use pumps (Fig. 6.26) or steel slick lines (Fig. 6.27) to
deliver the tremie concrete to the hopper and then allow the concrete to flow downward under gravity head only, that is,
through an open-top tremie pipe. An airlift pump may be operated in a far corner of the cofferdam to remove silt and laitance
and to prevent its being trapped by subsequent concrete.
Figure 6.26 Transporting concrete by barged ready-mix trucks, to concrete boom pumps and into
gravity tremie pipe hoppers, controlled in frames on bracing supported skids. I-205 Bridge, Ore.
Figure 6.27 (a) Transporting concrete by steel slick line to pumps and barge-mounted hoppers. (b)
Placement of concrete from hopper barge, to boom pumps, then into gravity feed tremie pipes.
Olmsted Dam, Ohio River, Tainter Gate Shell Filling.
The tremie concrete surface will be irregular, with a mound at the location of the pipe and valley in between pipe locations
(Figs. 6.28 and 6.29). In attempting to fill the valleys near the end of the pour, great care must be taken to properly embed the
tremie pipe; otherwise the concrete will just flow over the surface laitance. In many cases, therefore, it is best to just leave the
valley low. After dewatering, the valleys can be filled with concrete placed in the dry, usually as a part of the footing block pour.
Figure 6.28 Surface of tremie concrete seal immediately after dewatering bypass gate structure
IHNC Floodwall, New Orleans, La.
Figure 6.29 Tremie method for underwater concrete.
After the tremie seal has reached grade and initial set has occurred, a diver can remove the laitance by use of a jet. Later after
the cofferdam is dewatered, the laitance may have hardened so as to require a jackhammer to remove it.
The typical seal course develops a substantial increase in temperature owing to the hydration of the cement and mass of
concrete, which prevents rapid dissipation of heat. Therefore, for cofferdams where the seal must also serve important
structural functions, precooling by batching ice or by use of liquid nitrogen will have beneficial effects and reduce thermal
cracking. Covering the surface with a thermal blanket will also reduce thermal cracking (Fig. 6.30).
Figure 6.30 Covering the surface of the tremie concrete with an insulating blanket immediately after
dewatering, to reduce thermal gradients and strains. Hope Creek Nuclear Power Plant, N.J.
Horizontal lifts are undesirable in a tremie concrete placement, as they will have seams of laitance on the joint surface. If a
large cofferdam is to be subdivided, this should preferably be accomplished with a vertical bulkhead. After the first placement
is made, the bulkhead can be removed and the second pour made. If bulkhead is of precast concrete, it can be left in place
and the tremie will bond to it. Steel sheet piles may also be used as an intermediate bulkhead left in place.
The seal resists hydrostatic uplift by its weight and its bond to the piling, which then resist the uplift in skin friction against the
soil. Typical values of ultimate bond between tremie concrete and steel are 0.55 to 1.0 MPa (80 to 145 lb/in2), allowing the
use of a service level design bond stresses of 0.14 to 0.22 MPa (20 to 32 lb/in2). In U.S. practice, a few state departments of
transportation limit the allowable bond stresses to 0.05 to 0.07 MPa (7 to 10 lb/in 2). The DOTs may also limit the bond
between the soil and the sheet pile or uplift piles. Their specifications are requirement, likely based on past adverse
experiences related to poor-quality tremie concrete and steel surface cleaning. However, tests indicate that higher working
bonds on only 1.5B pile penetrations are achievable when tremie concrete pours are properly mixed and executed. Typically,
pile penetrations are greater than 1.5B so judgment is needed in applying the test results to a seal and hold-down connection
design. In cases where large-diameter pile holds down relatively thin seals, it is prudent to add shear rings in the bond zone to
develop bonds equivalent to the punching shear strength of the tremie concrete. Properly placed tremie concrete will be
homogeneous and of strengths comparable to those attainable in the dry (Fig. 6.31).
Figure 6.31 High-quality cores of tremie concrete from Lower Monumental Dam stilling basin repair,
Wash.
Between piles, the seal concrete must be thick enough to act as an unreinforced thick plate. Due to potential nonuniformity of
section and laitance formation, the design concrete section is reduced by at least 0.15 m (0.5 ft) for ballast and design
purposes. The allowable bending, punching shear and bond to the uplift pile and sheet pile may all be considered in design of
the tremie seal. If the cofferdam sheet pile and bracing are considered in the ballast determination, the slab bond and
strength of the seal need to be sufficient to transfer the cofferdam weight. In some designs angles are preinstalled on the
sheet pile in the seal zone to increase the bond and ensure that the cofferdam weight is transferred as needed.
History has recorded many poor performances and failures of tremie concrete when proper mixes and procedures have been
ignored (Fig. 6.32). Conversely, high quality can be achieved by the methods outlined here, even under extreme difficulties
such as deep water and high currents (Fig. 6.33). The weight of tremie concrete in place will typically run 21 to 22 kN/m3 (133
to 140 lb/ft3). Underwater, the net buoyant weight will thus be 11 to 12 kN/m3 (70 to 76 lb/ft3). Hence excavating deeper in
order to place a thicker seal is relatively inefficient. Such a procedure may also require deeper penetration of the sheet piles.
The use of additional piles may be a more effective way of resisting uplift.
Figure 6.32 Unsatisfactory results with tremie concrete placement due to improper mix and
procedure. Note segregation.
Figure 6.33 Satisfactory results with tremie concrete placement using proper mix and procedures.
(This is a second pier on the same project as that shown in Fig. 6.32, after corrective measures were
instituted.)
Concrete seals should normally be stopped about 150 mm (6 in) low, provided this can be done safely. The difference can be
made up in the dry pour of the footing block. By stopping low, there will be less removal of humps and high points, in order to
place the lower layer of reinforcing bars for the footing block.
In general, it must be assumed that full hydrostatic pressure will act on the underside of the concrete seal. The exception is
when a positive cutoff is achieved by deep penetration of sheet piles and a filtered seepage relief system (dewatering system)
has been installed below the seal. This is very difficult to ensure in practice.
The second method of placement of a concrete seal is by the use of grout-intruded aggregate (Fig. 6.34). In this case, coarse
aggregate [12 mm (½ in)] from which all fines have been removed is placed in the cofferdam. Vertical pipes for grout injection
are installed on 1.5 to 2.0 m centers. Other vertical slotted pipes are installed to serve as indicators.
Figure 6.34 Typical floating batch plant barge for tremie concrete or mortar placement.
Grout is now pumped through the pipes, so as to fill the voids and interstices in the rock with mortar. The grout must be very
fluid and have high resistance to segregation.
Usually the mix will consist of fine sand and cement in equal parts, plus admixtures designed to retard set, reduce water-
cement ratio, reduce bleed, promote fluidity, and prevent segregation.
If the seal thickness is too great for the first set of pipes (a typical lift is 1.5 to 2 m), a second set is installed, with its injection
points set so as to enable the new grout to be injected into that which has been placed earlier, before the earlier grout has set.
The keys to successful placement of grout-intruded aggregate concrete are the cleanliness of the coarse aggregate (no fines,
no silt) and proper control of the grout consistency. The rate of injection should be as rapid as possible.
The surface of a grout-intruded aggregate-concrete seal will require cleaning to remove the excess gravel, etc., much as does
a tremie-concrete seal. For grout-intruded aggregate, the sheet-pile interlocks must be fully engaged, and there must be no
holes; otherwise the fluid grout will flow out into the surrounding waters. A major problem which has occurred with grout-
intruded aggregate is blockage of grout flow. For example, fines have inadvertently collected in lenses or strata, preventing
grout flow. Marine organisms may grow, even in a short time, and block the flow of grout. Another frequent problem has been
excessive bleed, resulting in small voids under the particles of coarse aggregate.
Check Blocking (Stage 11). It is always prudent to have a diver check that the sheet piles are properly blocked against the
wales and that the blocks have not floated up or been displaced during construction operations.
Dewatering (Stage 12). During all previous steps, the water levels inside and out will have been equalized by a floodgate in
the sheet piles, so as to prevent water flow through the interlocks and through the fresh concrete.
After the seal has gained sufficient strength (usually 3 to 7 days), the cofferdam is ready for dewatering. The floodgate is
closed. It is often difficult to get the water level to lower initially, as water flows in through the newly driven interlocks as fast
as it is pumped out. Approximately, initial flows may be on the order of 0.025 gallons per minute per square foot wall per foot
of head. Later, after a head differential has been established, the sheet-pile interlocks will tighten.
Therefore, it is desirable to start dewatering with as much pumping capacity as possible.
High-volume low-head (irrigation) pumps can be used to augment the high-head submersible pumps. Start at low tide when
there is less total surface exposed (Fig. 6.35b).
Figure 6.35 (a) Filling navigable lagoon through levee breach cofferdam and permanent double-
walled sheet pile, Bethal Island, Calif. (b) Initial dewatering of Skyway pier foundation cofferdam SF-
Oak. Bay Bridge, Calif.
If an initial start proves infeasible, there are a number of ways of sealing interlocks. Sand cinders, sand and sawdust, and sand
and manure have all been used. However, subsea vibration in current and waves may cause the material to fall out. Oakum
caulking seams can be run by divers.
A final expedient is to drape weighted canvas or plastic sheets over the outside face of the sheet piles. These will be sucked
tight against the piling by the inflow.
Unfortunately, in not a few cases it has been found that the leakage is through a handling hole in a sheet pile that has been
spliced.
Construct New Structure (Stage 13). The initial element of the structure is usually the footing block, a thick and massive
block of reinforced concrete. Typically, this will develop high heat of hydration that will not dissipate for as long as 15 to 30
days. When the concrete finally cools, it will shrink. By this time, it is bonded to the tremie concrete. As a result, it will crack.
Many experienced engineers and contractors have learned to place additional reinforcement in the top and even at mid-depth,
so as to constrain the cracking.
An insulating blanket placed over the top of the footing block will help to reduce thermal strains and cracking. Another useful
step is to precool the concrete mix by mixing with ice or by use of liquid nitrogen. Using blast furnace slag-cement or replacing
Portland Cement in part by PFA will minimize this problem.
Flood Cofferdam (Stage 14). This can be done by opening a tide gate in the sheet piles at the waterline. Some cofferdams
are used to dewater vast areas that eventually require re-watering. In these cases a carefully planned siphon and scour
protection apron are needed to optimize the duration and efficiency of the cofferdam and levee breaching operations. (Fig.
6.35a)
Removal of Sheet Piling (Stage 15). Usually a vibratory hammer is most efficient in removal. Piles are often removed in
pairs to facilitate their reuse. It is often very difficult to pull the first pile. Once the first one is pulled, the others come more
easily. For the first pile, there is double interlock friction and general binding of the entire cofferdam. Usually a pile in the
middle of a side is easiest. Try driving (vibrating) down first to break the interlock friction. Sometimes a steam or diesel
hammer must be used to drive the first pile down.
Impact extractors are made with powerful capacity to free a pile. Their clamping to the pile requires careful detailing (e.g., use
of multiple high-strength bolts); otherwise they may rip out a section of steel from the sheet pile. Another "last resort" is to rig
jacks and break the binding by jacking one pile up against its neighbor.
Removal of Bracing (Stage 16). If possible, this should be designed to be lifted over the top of the partially completed
structure. This is expeditious and facilitates reuse. This may not be feasible owing to weight or interference, so removal in
sections may be required.
The removal, in sections, is practical if well conceived and detailed during initial design. Generally speaking, provision must be
made to relieve the built-in stress on a member to be disconnected before it is cut free. Bolted joints facilitate removal and
cause less damage than burning.
Upon release of a member, the remaining forces must go elsewhere, for example, into the backfill or into other bracing. Care
must be taken to ensure that a second brace is not overloaded so as to fail in buckling. Blocking may be used to transfer the
force to the structure.
When struts must pass through a massive portion of the new member, they are often best treated by casting them into the
structure. Blockouts can be provided at the edges to permit cutting back of the surface, if required, and filling the pocket with
concrete. Corrosion of steel underwater can be considered minimal because of the nonavailability of oxygen. For struts that
penetrate thinner walls, sleeves may be provided so that the struts can be later removed by pulling through.
Backfill (Stage 17). Since the backfill will be placed underwater, sand or sand and gravel should be used. In some cases
where the engineer so specifies, in order to provide passive lateral support to the pier, he/she may require the backfill to be
densified, for example by vibration.
Special steps may also be required to protect against both local and general scour, such as placement of filter fabric and
riprap.
6.5. COFFERDAMS FOUNDED ON ROCK OR THROUGH

BOULDERS
In many cases, bridge piers and pump houses are founded directly on hardpan or rock. In such cases it may be extremely
difficult to achieve sufficient penetration with the sheet piles to develop adequate shear resistance at the tip. Such
penetration may be aided in specific soils by one or more of the following steps:
1. Use of hardened-steel tip protectors for sheet piles.
2. Continued driving at refusal with a relatively small hammer, so as not to damage the tip, but rather chip into the rock.
3. Predrilling (line drilling) along the line of sheet piles. One way to align the drill and piles properly is to first set and drive the
sheet piles to a point just above grade, taking care not to bend the tips by driving into rock. Then a 150 to 300 mm (6 to 12
in) diameter bit is used to drill within the outfacing arch of each sheet or pair of sheets. In the case of pipe sheet piles, the
drill may be run down the center.
When adequate penetration below the tip cannot be reliably and positively ensured, it is important to provide shear resistance
at the lowest level possible by means of a bracing frame. This ensures the structural adequacy of the cofferdam, although it
does not prevent run-in of sand under the tip. Underwater concrete may be placed to seal tips.
Where a concrete seal must be placed directly on rock and its thickening is limited, anchors may be required to resist uplift. It
must generally be assumed that hydrostatic pressure can eventually penetrate through seams in the rock. Anchors may
consist of steel piles or ground anchors drilled and grouted into the rock, either before or after the seal is placed, but before
dewatering. Alternatively, a 0.5-m layer of crushed rock may be placed to serve as an underdrain.
Cofferdams that must penetrate overlying strata of hard materials or through boulders may present major difficulties. The
sheet piles are easily deformed, split, or driven out interlock. In the case of an upper stratum of hard material, predrilling (line
drilling) with a drill or high-pressure jet may permit penetration, especially if the piles fitted with hardened-steel tip protectors.
If blasting is indicated (e.g., when a coral or limestone layer must be penetrated), this is usually best done after the bracing
frame has been set, but before setting the sheet piles. Blasting adjacent to already installed sheet piles often causes
distortion, which later prevents driving them to grade.
Boulders embedded in running sands present perhaps the worst difficulties. The hard boulders cannot easily be penetrated;
they are extremely difficult to predrill because of sand run-in, and they do not always fracture by blasting. The following
methods have had some success:
1. Installing a third (or lower) set of bracing as deep as possible, just above the boulder elevation.
2. Keeping the water head inside the cofferdam above that outside, or filling the inside with bentonite slurry (drilling mud).
3. Injecting chemical grouts outside (silicates or polymers) to give cohesion to the sand. (This step is not always necessary.)
4. Progressively driving and excavating inside below the tips of the sheet piles. The driving should be performed with a
relatively light hammer or vibratory hammer.
A steel spud pile may be driven down in the inward-facing arch formed by the sheet piles to displace a boulder into the
excavated area. A high-pressure jet may be similarly used, although this is likely to aggravate the tendency for the sand to run
in.
6.6. CELLULAR COFFERDAMS

Sheet-pile cellular cofferdams are utilized to dike off relatively large areas where the use of internal bracing and/or tiebacks
would be unsuitable owing to length or interference with the new structure.
Cellular cofferdams are practicable for dewatered depths up to 23 m (75 ft). They form a continuous gravity wall; hence they
impose high bearing and overturning pressures as well as lateral shear on the soil beneath. For this reason, they are best used
when founded on rock, hardpan, or dense sands.
The concept for the cellular cofferdam is that a circumferential ring wall is constructed progressively by setting and driving
interlocking flat sheet piles to form a closed cell (Figs. 6.36 and 6.37). The cell is then filled with granular material, such as
coarse sand, sand and gravel, or crushed rock. These fill materials, of course, develop tensile forces in the sheet-pile ring. The
successful performance of this system depends on the internal shear strength of the fill, its friction against the sheet piles,
and the tensile interlocking of the sheet piles.
Figure 6.36 Typical layout for steel sheet-pile cellular cofferdam.
Figure 6.37 (a) Cellular cofferdam enclosure for construction of a new lock for Olmsted Dam on the
Ohio River. (b) Due to deep soft clays, single-wall, combi-wall, and 54-in-diameter batter pile for new
sector gate and pump station was needed in lieu of cellular cofferdam, for the IHNC levee system,
New Orleans, La.
When sheet-pile cells are constructed on sedimentary soils, the sheet piles penetrate below the internal excavation level,
acting to seal off water flow beneath to some degree and to develop passive lateral resistance. If there is soft material in the
sheet-pile cell (e.g., mud), it must be removed before the fill is placed. Otherwise the soft material may develop high lateral
fluid pressures against the sheet piles, equal to the surcharge pressure acting on it.
In order for the sheet-pile cell to function properly, the general geometry of the cell must be maintained at all horizontal cross
sections, within limited tolerances. Further, the sheet piles must be stretched in tension by the fill in order to develop the
necessary friction in the interlocks. Finally, the entire ring of steel-sheet piles must be interlocked continuously.
To accomplish this, it is necessary that the sheet piles be accurately set. Therefore, falsework guides must be provided,
consisting of at least two and preferably more ring wales. Their supporting falsework piles are usually steel pipe spud piles
driven through sleeves in the lateral bracing of each ring wale. The procedure is, therefore, to set the group of ring wales, then
drive the vertical spud piles through the sleeves. Then the ring wales are raised to proper grade and pinned off.
Steel sheet piles are then set around the ring. The Ys (or Ts) should be set first, carefully positioned in exact horizontal
location and in vertical alignment. Standard flat sheets are then set progressively from the Ys toward a meeting point at the
center. The Ys and an occasional pile may be driven into the bottom a few feet only, during the setting, in order to enhance
lateral stability. The junctions are always made at a central point between Ys so that if there is any stretching or "shaking-out"
to fit, it is done as far away from the stiff Ys as possible. To aid in accurate setting and joining, the position of each pile should
be premarked on the top ring wale. It should be marked as the theoretical distance, center-to-center, of each interlock, plus a
small increment, say 3 mm (1/8 in), to provide for stretch. The final fit-up should remove all slack, but not be so tight as to
prevent a free-running entry of the last sheet.
Driving then proceeds in incremental fashion, starting at the Ys and working toward the centers. Each pile should be driven
not more than 1 m beyond the tip of its neighbor. Excessively hard driving of sheets usually indicates inaccurate setting, which
in turn develops excessive interlock friction at a later stage. (The field crew usually reports it as "encountering hardpan or
obstructions"; and, of course, once in a while they are right!)
Vibratory hammers are ideal for driving the sheet piles in cells, since if excessive friction does develop, a group of piles can be
raised back up and redriven in the same incremental fashion. Continued hard driving can drive sheet piles out of interlock,
destroying the tensile capacity of the ring.
Most cellular cofferdams are circular cells, with short arcs connecting adjacent cells.
In many cases, these short arcs can be set along with the adjacent circular cells, and thus set and driven vertically.
If, owing to the need to stabilize each cell as it is set by filling with rock (as, for example, when working in a swift river), the arc
has to be set later between two completed and filled cells, then the sheet piles will have to be set on a slight outward-leaning
angle so as to keep the same arc distances at top and bottom.
Consolidation of fill within the cells helps to improve the internal friction and prevent liquefaction under earthquake. Recently
it has become the practice to consolidate the fill by vibration. Such vibration is very effective in a cell because of its
confinement, provided the water can escape vertically, rather than just build up high pore pressure. In one case, intensive
internal vibration caused the bursting of a cell where a layer of impermeable fill prevented escape of the displaced water.
Therefore, the construction of several vertical drains or wells, combined with internal vibration, will expedite consolidation.
The Ys are the weak points structurally, that is, each Y and the three sheet piles connecting to it. Each leg on the Y is subject
to high tension, combined with bending and moment in the flat portion. The details of the Y, its angle, and its method of
fabrication are of primary importance. Many experienced designer-builders of cellular cofferdams use heavier-section steel,
higher-yield steel, or both for these critical piles. Whereas in the past many connectors were 90° Ts, the present improved
practice is to use 35 or 45° Ys so as to minimize the moments.
Where cellular cofferdams are founded on rock, it is very difficult to seat the sheet piles so as to prevent large underflows of
water. Among the methods used are the following:
1. Cleaning off to rock and pre-placing a graded layer of relatively low-permeability sand and clay into which the sheet piles
are toed. This can control but not eliminate underflow.
2. Using cast-steel "protectors" on the tips of the sheet piles to permit toeing into rock.
3. Preexcavating the rock surface so as to remove boulders, cobbles, ridges, and protuberances before the sheet piles are
set.
4. Pouring a slab of tremie concrete inside the cell before filling it.
5. Pouring tremie concrete or placing sacked concrete on the outside of the cell.
6. Placing an extensive blanket of clay on the outside of the cells.
The bursting effect of fill within the cells of cofferdams and the tensile stresses in the sheet piles may be reduced by draining
the cell fill through weep holes in the sheets as the cofferdam proper is dewatered. Such slowly drained fill will also
consolidate and have a higher angle of internal friction.
6.7. CONCRETE SLURRY WALL COFFERDAMS

Continuous-ring (circular) walls of concrete constructed by the slurry method have been extensively used to construct shafts
for tunnel access. In this method trenches have been excavated in increments of 4 to 5 m (12 to 16 ft), with a width of 1 m (3
ft), using bentonite slurry to prevent caving. Tremie concrete is then placed in the "slot." Adjoining increments are constructed
so as to form a continuous ring that can then resist the external earth pressures. Such a cofferdam was constructed for the
access shaft on the French side of the Channel Tunnel.
This process has been extended to the construction of very large and deep cofferdams for bridge piers, underground power
plants, and ventilation structures for tunnels. Diameters of 100 m (328 ft) and more, wall depths up to 120 m (394 ft), and
excavated and dewatered depths of 80 m (262 ft) have been achieved in Japan.
Notable among these are the Kobe anchorage pier for the Akashi Strait suspension bridge, the world's longest, and the
Kawasaki ventilation shaft for the Trans-Tokyo Bay crossing (Fig. 6.38a and b).
Figure 6.38 (a) Slurry wall for cofferdam for Kawasaki Island Ventilation Structure, Trans-Tokyo Bay
Bridge, Japan. (b) Circular wall is 100 m (328 ft) in diameter and 124 m (406 ft) deep, for a
dewatered head of 80 m (262 ft).
One of the advantages of this method is that the wall can be constructed through any material from soft clays to sands to
boulders and rock. Extreme accuracy is required in order to ensure a geometrically accurate circular ring at the bottom as well
as the top.
Wall thickness must consider not only the ring compression but the moments induced by deviations in tolerances as well as
any unbalanced loads due to variations in the soils or to equipment.
Vertical reinforcement can be provided by cages of reinforcing steel or by steel beams set in the slots before placement of the
tremie concrete. However, it is very difficult to provide continuity in the circumferential direction. The conventional way is to
install internal ring beams as excavation proceeds inside, but this is expensive. Therefore, some very clever schemes have
been developed. For example, tension capacity on the inner face can be attained by steel bands anchored into the wall at
close spacing and grouted or wedged so as to take up all play. On the outside, the passive soil pressure resists bulging. Other
schemes are based on sheet-pile interlocks or overlapping headed bars.
6.8. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Anderson, H. V.: Underwater Construction Using Cofferdams, Best Publishing Company, Flagstaff, Arizona, 2001.
Anderson, P.: "Single-Wall Cofferdams," Chapter 8. In Substructure Analysis and Design, 2d ed., The Ronald Press Company,
New York, 1956.
Dept. of Army: "Structural Design: Physical Factors," Chapter 7. InShore Protection Manual 4th ed., Vol. II, U.S. Gov. Printing
Office, Washington, D.C., 1984.
Gerwick, B. C., Jr.: Construction of Marine and Offshore Structures, 3d ed., CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, Florida, 2007.
Leonards, G. A.: "Caissons and Cofferdams," Chapter 10. In Foundation Engineering, McGraw-Hill, New York,1962.
O'Brien, J., J. Havers, and S. Stubbs, Jr.: "Cofferdams and Caissons," Part D Chapter 4. In Standard Handbook of Heavy
Construction, 3d ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, 1996.
Winkerton, H. and H. Y. Fang: Foundation Engineering Handbook, Van Nostrand-Reinhold, New York, 1975.

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6.

Patrick E. Durnal, P.E., MEng.

6.2. DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

Figure 6.1 Hydrostatic forces on partially dewatered cofferdam.

6.2.2. Forces Due to Soil Loads

Increased stiffness of sheet piles.

Installation of batter piles, connected to sheet piles at the top.

Installation of ground anchors or anchors to deadmen on shore.

Temporary placement of sand and gravel surcharge on low side of cofferdam.

Figure 6.2 Soil forces in typical weak muds and sands.

Medium dense sands 13 kN/m 3 (80 lb/ft 3 )

Firm clays 12 kN/m 3 (70 lb/ft 3 )

Soft clays and silts 14 kN/m 3 (90 lb/ft 3 )

6.2.3. Current Force on Structure

where g = acceleration of gravity

A = projected area normal to the current

Figure 6.3 Current flow along sheet piles.

6.2.4. Wave Forces

6.2.5. Ice Forces

6.2.6. Seismic Loads

6.2.7. Accidental Loads

6.2.9. Protection in Flood and Storm

6.3. COFFERDAM CONCEPTS

Figure 6.5 Typical cofferdam, without seal or pilaes.

Figure 6.6 Typical cofferdam (with seal).

6.4. COFFERDAM CONSTRUCTION STAGES

2. Install temporary support piles (Fig. 6.7b).

5. Drive sheet piles to grade (Fig. 6.7c).

8. Drive piling (Fig. 6.8b).

9. Place rock fill as a leveling and support course (Fig. 6.8b).

10. Pour tremie concrete seal (Fig. 6.8c).

11. Check blocking between bracing and sheets (Fig. 6.9a).

12. Dewater (Fig. 6.9a).

14. Flood cofferdam (Fig. 6.9c).

15. Remove sheet piles (Fig. 6.9c).

16. Remove bracing (Fig. 6.9c).

17. Backfill (Fig. 6.9c).

1. Out-of-round tolerances in compression-ring prefabrication and installation

2. Uneven bearing of sheet piles on compression rings. Poor blocking

3. Unbalanced soil loads, often due to equipment or unequal excavation

5. Accidental damage to a ring, as by a bucket

6. Installation at an angle with the horizontal

7. Inadequate web stiffeners leading to web buckling

Coarse aggregate: gravel, rounded, 20 mm (¾ in), maximum 55 percent of total aggregate

Fine aggregate: sand, coarse gradation, 45 to 50 percent of total aggregate

Cement: 320 kg/m3 (500 lb/yd3)

PFA (pozzolan): 80 kg/m3 (130 lb/yd3)

Water-reducing admixture (WRA) not high-range water-reducing admixture (HRWRA)

Plasticizing or air-entraining admixture

Retarding admixture (as required)

Anti-washout admixture (as required)

Water and WRA, to give slump of 160 to 185 mm (8 to 10 in)

Figure 6.21 Fitting a closure plate on tip of tremie pipe.

6.5. COFFERDAMS FOUNDED ON ROCK OR THROUGH

1. Use of hardened-steel tip protectors for sheet piles.

6.6. CELLULAR COFFERDAMS

6. Placing an extensive blanket of clay on the outside of the cells.