2012 - TEMPORARY SHORING - Temporary Soil Nail Wall Provision
2012 - TEMPORARY SHORING - Temporary Soil Nail Wall Provision
2012 - TEMPORARY SHORING - Temporary Soil Nail Wall Provision
soil nail walls for any construction surcharge if construction traffic will be above and
within H of walls. For temporary guardrail with 8 ft posts above soil nail walls, analyze
walls for a horizontal load of 300 lb/ft of wall.
Place geocomposite drain strips with a horizontal spacing of no more than 10 ft and
center strips between adjacent nails. Attach drain strips to excavation faces. Use
shotcrete at least 4" thick and reinforce shotcrete with #4 waler bars around nail heads.
Two waler bars (one on each side of nail head) in the horizontal and vertical directions
are required for a total of 4 bars per nail.
(D) Preconstruction Meeting
Before starting soil nail wall construction, hold a preconstruction meeting to discuss the
construction, inspection and testing of the soil nail walls. If this meeting occurs before
all soil nail wall submittals have been accepted, additional preconstruction meetings may
be required before beginning construction of soil nail walls without accepted submittals.
The Resident, District or Bridge Maintenance Engineer, Bridge or Roadway Construction
Engineer, Geotechnical Operations Engineer, Contractor and Soil Nail Wall Contractor
Superintendent will attend preconstruction meetings.
Construction Methods
Control drainage during construction in the vicinity of soil nail walls. Direct run off away from
soil nail walls and areas above and behind walls.
Install foundations located behind soil nail walls before beginning wall construction. Do not
excavate behind soil nail walls. If overexcavation occurs, repair walls with an approved method
and a revised soil nail wall design may be required.
Install positive protection in accordance with the contract and accepted submittals. Use PCB in
accordance with Section 1170 of the Standard Specifications and Standard Drawing No. 1170.01
of the Roadway Standard Drawings. Use temporary guardrail in accordance with Section 862 of
the Standard Specifications and Standard Drawing No. 862.01, 862.02 and 862.03 of the
Roadway Standard Drawings.
(A) Excavation
Excavate for soil nail walls from the top down in accordance with the accepted
submittals. Excavate in staged horizontal lifts with no negative batter (excavation face
leaning forward). Excavate lifts in accordance with the following:
(1) Heights not to exceed vertical nail spacing,
(2) Bottom of lifts no more than 3 ft below nail locations for current lift and
(3) Horizontal and vertical alignment within 6" of location shown in the accepted
submittals.
Remove any cobbles, boulders, rubble or debris that will protrude more than 2" into the
required shotcrete thickness. Rocky ground such as colluvium, boulder fills and
weathered rock may be difficult to excavate without leaving voids.
Apply shotcrete to excavation faces within 24 hours of excavating each lift unless
otherwise approved. Shotcreting may be delayed if it can be demonstrated that delays
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will not adversely affect excavation stability. If excavation faces will be exposed for
more than 24 hours, use polyethylene sheets anchored at top and bottom of lifts to protect
excavation faces from changes in moisture content.
If an excavation becomes unstable at any time, suspend soil nail wall construction and
temporarily stabilize the excavation by immediately placing an earth berm up against the
unstable excavation face. When this occurs, repair walls with an approved method and a
revised soil nail wall design may be required.
Do not excavate the next lift until nail installations and testing and shotcrete application
for the current lift are accepted and grout and shotcrete for the current lift have cured at
least 3 days and 1 day, respectively.
(B) Soil Nails
Drill and grout nails the same day and do not leave drill holes open overnight. Control
drilling and grouting to prevent excessive ground movements, damaging structures and
pavements or fracturing rock and soil formations. If ground heave or subsidence occurs,
suspend soil nail wall construction and take corrective action to minimize movement. If
property damage occurs, make repairs with an approved method and a revised soil nail
wall design may be required.
(1) Drilling
Use drill rigs of the sizes necessary to install soil nails and with sufficient capacity
to drill through whatever materials are encountered. Drill straight and clean holes
with the dimensions and inclination shown in the accepted submittals. Drill holes
within 6" of locations and 2° of inclination shown in the accepted submittals
unless otherwise approved.
Stabilize drill holes with temporary casings if unstable, caving or sloughing
material is anticipated or encountered. Do not use drilling fluids to stabilize drill
holes or remove cuttings.
(2) Steel Bars
Center steel bars in drill holes with centralizers. Securely attach centralizers
along bars at no more than 8 ft centers. Attach uppermost and lowermost
centralizers 18" from excavation faces and ends of holes.
Do not insert steel bars into drill holes until hole locations, dimensions,
inclination and cleanliness are approved. Do not vibrate, drive or otherwise force
bars into holes. If a steel bar cannot be completely and easily inserted into a drill
hole, remove the bar and clean or redrill the hole.
(3) Grouting
Remove oil, rust inhibitors, residual drilling fluids and similar foreign materials
from holding tanks/hoppers, stirring devices, pumps, lines, tremie pipes and any
other equipment in contact with grout before use. Measure grout temperature,
density and flow during grouting with at least the same frequency grout cubes are
made for compressive strength. Perform density and flow field tests in the
presence of the Engineer in accordance with American National Standards
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Repair surface defects as soon as possible after shooting. Remove any shotcrete which
lacks uniformity, exhibits segregation, honeycombing or lamination or contains any voids
or sand pockets and replace with fresh shotcrete to the satisfaction of the Engineer.
Protect shotcrete from freezing and rain until shotcrete reaches initial set.
(E) Construction Records
Provide 2 copies of soil nail wall construction records within 24 hours of completing each
lift. Include the following in construction records:
(1) Names of Soil Nail Wall Contractor, Superintendent, Nozzleman, Drill Rig
Operator, Project Manager and Design Engineer;
(2) Wall description, county, Department’s contract, TIP and WBS element number;
(3) Wall station and number and lift location, dimensions, elevations and description;
(4) Nail locations, dimensions and inclinations, bar types, sizes and grades and
temporary casing information;
(5) Date and time drilling begins and ends, steel bars are inserted into drill holes,
grout and shotcrete are mixed and arrives on-site and grout placement and
shotcrete application begins and ends;
(6) Grout volume, temperature, flow and density records;
(7) Ground and surface water conditions and elevations if applicable;
(8) Weather conditions including air temperature at time of grout placement and
shotcrete application; and
(9) All other pertinent details related to soil nail wall construction.
After completing each soil nail wall or stage of a wall, provide a PDF copy of all
corresponding construction records.
Nail Testing
“Proof tests” are performed on nails incorporated into walls, i.e., production nails. Define “test
nail” as a nail tested with a proof test. Proof tests are typically required for at least one nail per
nail row per soil nail wall or at least 5% of production nails, whichever is greater. More or less
test nails may be required depending on subsurface conditions encountered. The Engineer will
determine the number and locations of proof tests required. Do not test nails until grout and
shotcrete attain the required 3 day compressive strength.
(A) Test Equipment
Use the following equipment to test nails:
(1) Two dial gauges with rigid supports,
(2) Hydraulic jack and pressure gauge and
(3) Jacking block or reaction frame.
Provide dial gauges with enough range and precision to measure the maximum test nail
movement to 0.001". Use pressure gauges graduated in 100 psi increments or less.
Submit identification numbers and calibration records for load cells, jacks and pressure
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gauges with the soil nail wall design. Calibrate each jack and pressure gauge as a unit.
Align test equipment to uniformly and evenly load test nails. Use a jacking block or
reaction frame that does not damage or contact shotcrete within 3 ft of nail heads. Place
dial gauges opposite each other on either side of test nails and align gauges within 5° of
bar inclinations. Set up test equipment so resetting or repositioning equipment during
nail testing is not needed.
(B) Test Nails
Test nails include both unbonded and bond lengths. Grout only bond lengths before nail
testing. Provide unbonded and bond lengths of at least 3 ft and 10 ft, respectively.
Steel bars for production nails may be overstressed under higher test nail loads. If
necessary, use larger size or higher grade bars with more capacity for test nails instead of
shortening bond lengths to less than the minimum required.
(C) Proof Tests
Determine maximum bond length (LB) using the following:
LB ≤ (CRT × At × fy) / (QALL × 1.5)
Where,
LB = bond length (ft),
CRT = reduction coefficient, 0.9 for Grade 60 and 75 bars or 0.8 for Grade 150 bars,
At = bar area (in2),
fy = bar yield stress (ksi) and
QALL = allowable unit grout/ground bond strength (kips/ft).
Determine design test load (DTL) based on as-built bond length and allowable unit
grout/ground bond strength using the following:
DTL = LB × QALL
Where,
DTL = design test load (kips).
Perform proof tests by incrementally loading nails to failure or a load of 150% of DTL
based on the following schedule:
Load Hold Time
AL* Until movement stabilizes
0.25 DTL Until movement stabilizes
0.50 DTL Until movement stabilizes
0.75 DTL Until movement stabilizes
1.00 DTL Until movement stabilizes
1.25 DTL Until movement stabilizes
1.50 DTL 10 or 60 minutes (creep test)
AL* 1 minute
* Alignment load (AL) is the minimum load needed to align
test equipment and should not exceed 0.05 DTL.
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Reset dial gauges to zero after applying alignment load. Record test nail movement at
each load increment and monitor test nails for creep at the 1.5 DTL load increment.
Measure and record movement during creep test at 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 10 minutes. If test
nail movement between 1 and 10 minutes is greater than 0.04", maintain the 1.5 DTL
load increment for an additional 50 minutes and record movement at 20, 30, 50 and 60
minutes. Repump jack as needed to maintain load during hold times.
(D) Test Nail Acceptance
Submit 2 copies of test nail records including load versus movement and time versus
creep movement plots within 24 hours of completing each proof test. The Engineer will
review the test nail records to determine if test nails are acceptable. Test nail acceptance
is based in part on the following criteria.
(1) Total movement during creep test is less than 0.04" between the 1 and 10 minute
readings or less than 0.08" between the 6 and 60 minute readings and creep rate is
linear or decreasing throughout hold time.
(2) Total movement at maximum load exceeds 80% of the theoretical elastic
elongation of the unbonded length.
(3) Pullout failure does not occur at or before the 1.5 DTL load increment. Define
“pullout failure” as the inability to increase load while movement continues.
Record pullout failure load as part of test nail data.
Maintain stability of unbonded lengths for subsequent grouting. If a test nail is accepted
but the unbonded length cannot be satisfactorily grouted, do not incorporate the test nail
into the soil nail wall and add another production nail to replace the test nail.
If the Engineer determines a test nail is unacceptable, either perform additional proof
tests on adjacent production nails or revise the soil nail design or installation methods for
the production nails represented by the unacceptable test nail as determined by the
Engineer. Submit a revised soil nail wall design for acceptance, provide an acceptable
test nail with the revised design or installation methods and install additional production
nails for the nails represented by the unacceptable test nail.
After completing nail testing for each soil nail wall or stage of a wall, provide a PDF
copy of all corresponding test nail records.
Measurement and Payment
Temporary soil nail walls will be measured and paid in square feet. Temporary soil nail walls
will be paid for at the contract unit price for Temporary Shoring. Temporary soil nail walls will
be measured as the square feet of exposed wall face area. No measurement will be made for any
embedment or pavement thickness above soil nail walls.
The contract unit price for Temporary Shoring will be full compensation for providing soil nail
wall designs, submittals, labor, tools, equipment and soil nail wall materials, excavating, hauling
and removing excavated materials, installing and testing soil nails, grouting, shotcreting and
supplying drain strips and any incidentals necessary to construct soil nail walls. No additional
payment will be made and no extension of completion date or time will be allowed for repairing
property damage, overexcavations or unstable excavations, unacceptable test nails or thicker
shotcrete.
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No payment will be made for temporary shoring not shown in the plans or required by the
Engineer including shoring for OSHA reasons or the Contractor’s convenience. No value
engineering proposals will be accepted based solely on revising or eliminating shoring locations
shown in the plans or estimated quantities shown in the bid item sheets as a result of actual field
measurements or site conditions.
PCB will be measured and paid in accordance with Section 1170 of the Standard Specifications.
No additional payment will be made for anchoring PCB for soil nail walls. Costs for anchoring
PCB will be incidental to soil nail walls.
Temporary guardrail will be measured and paid for in accordance with Section 862 of the
Standard Specifications.
PE #