Chapter 5.1 - Excavations

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CEng 3093 – Building Construction

Chapter 5.1: Excavations

Construction of Foundations
o Some amount of excavation required for every building
a) Top soil consisting of organic matter is removed
b) Below the region of soil erosion (by water and wind)
c) below the level of permafrost
d) To the required depth at which the bearing capacity necessary for the building is met
o The sides of excavation too be protected from caving in by:
a) benching, sheeting (soldier beams and lagging, sheet piles, slurry walls, etc.) or
bracing (cross-slot, rakers or tiebacks)
b) De-watering using well-points & sumps, and watertight barriers
c) Mixing the soil by rotating paddles
o A variety of machines used for excavation
a) Bulldozers, Shovel dozers, Back hoes
b) Bucket loaders, Scrapers, Trenching machines
c) Power shovels, Tractor-mounted rippers, Pneumatic hammers
d) Drop balls, Hydraulic splitters, Blasting

Excavation

Excavation is the removal of earth to form a cavity in the ground. It can be done after site
preparation and setting out the exact position of the foundation. On small construction this
is carried out by hand but on large works it may be economical to use mechanical digger.

Setting out

It is the process of laying down the excavation lines and center lines on the ground before
excavation is started. It can be:
o Setting out of the building out line
o Setting out of foundation trench

Prepared by: Engr. Lucia V. Ortega


CEng 3093 – Building Construction

Setting out of the building out line: this task is usually undertaken once the site has been
cleared of any debris or obstructions and any reduced level excavation work is finished. It
is usually the responsibility of the contractor to set out the building(s) using the information
provided by the designer or architect. Accurate setting out is of paramount importance and
should therefore only be carried out by competent persons and all their work thoroughly
checked, preferably by different personnel and by a different method.

Setting out of foundation trenches:


o The objective of this task is twofold; First: it must establish the excavation size, shape
and direction. Second: it must establish the width and position of the walls. The outline
of building will have been set out and using this outline profile boards can be set up to
control the position, width and possibly the depth of the proposed trenches. Profile
boards should be set up at 1.5m- 2m clear of trench positions so they do not obstruct
the excavation work. The level of the profile cross board should be related to the site
datum and fixed at a convenient height above ground level.
o The trench depth can be controlled using a level and staff related to site datum. Simple
devices such as a leveling tube, a long wood or metal marker are required for
establishing vertical elevation. The tube will have to be filled with water and the water
level at one end of the house is aligned with the level of known bench mark. The other
end of the tube is moved to any point where elevation is required to be established.
The trench width can be marked on the profile board with either nails or saw cuts.

The procedures for setting out of foundation trench:

1. Preparation of foundation layout plan to suitable scale usually (1:50).


2. The center line of the longest outer wall of the building is first marked on the ground by
stretching a string between wooden or mild steel pegs driven at the ends. The line serves
as a base line from which the whole of the building can be marked.
3. Two pegs, one on either sides of the central peg, are driven at each end of the line. Each
peg is equidistant from the central peg, and the distance between the two outer pegs
corresponds to the width of foundation trench to be excavated.
4. The central line of the other walls, which are perpendicular to the long wall, are then
marked by setting out right angles. (Forming right angle triangle using 3, 4 and 5 units,
using theodolite, and prismatic compass.
5. Fixing profile board around the site to be excavated at a distance of 1.5m-2m from outside
dimension of proposed building position.

Types of Excavation

Excavation can be classified as:


1. Over site excavation
2. Reduce level
3. Trench excavation

Prepared by: Engr. Lucia V. Ortega


CEng 3093 – Building Construction

Excavation may be also classified as shallow and deep in the following manner:
1. Shallow excavation up to 1.5m deep
2. Deep excavation over 1.5m deep

Trench Excavations
o excavation of trench of required depth and width before laying out foundation
o done both manually (with use of spade, pick axe, rammer, etc. for small buildings) and
mechanically (with use of bulldozers, trench diggers, etc. for large buildings)
o Typical examples of trench excavation
1. Battered / Sloped face excavation
2. Vertical / Straight face excavation

Prepared by: Engr. Lucia V. Ortega


CEng 3093 – Building Construction

The methods of excavation and timbering to be used depend up on the following factors:
o Nature of the soil
o Purpose of excavation
o Presence of ground water
o Position of excavation
o The disposal of excavation
o Presence of large number of service

Deep Excavation
o In case of shallow excavation the following two conditions are satisfied:
a) No support is required to support the sides of trenches
b) No water is met with during the process of excavation of trench.
o If these two conditions are not satisfied, the excavation is termed as deep excavation.
It is clear that the height of deep excavation will entirely depend on the type of soil. If
the soil is firm and hard, the height is less and if the soil is soft and loose, the height of
excavation is more. However in practice the excavation beyond a depth of 1.5m is
generally treated as deep excavation

Problems of Deep Excavation


o The main problems of deep excavation will be:
a) How to prevent the collapsing of sides of the trench, and
b) How to prevent water oozing or coming out from the sides and bottom of the
trench.
o The first problem is solved by adopting suitable methods of temporary support
(timbering) and the second problem is solved by applying suitable method of
dewatering the trenches.

Prepared by: Engr. Lucia V. Ortega


CEng 3093 – Building Construction

Methods of Timbering

1. Stay Bracing:
o open timbering
o for firm / stiff / rocky hard soil
o for excavation not exceeding about 2m in depth
o consists of placing vertical sheets called polling boards, opposite to each other against
the walls and holding them in position by one or two rows of struts
o polling boards are placed at an interval of 2 – 4m and extend to full height of trench
o polling board : 200 x 40 – 50 mm., struts : 100 x 100 mm for up to 2m wide excavation
and 200 x 200 mm for up to 4m wide excavation

2. Box Sheeting
o closed timbering, box like structure
o two types of box sheeting: (i) Vertical Sheeting and (ii) Horizontal Sheeting

Vertical Sheeting
a) for loose / loamy / dry sandy soil
b) for depth of excavation not exceeding 4m
c) consists of vertical sheets placed very near to each other / touching each other and
keeping them in position by longitudinal rows (usually two) of Wales
d) struts are then provided across the Wales

Horizontal sheeting:
a) for loose soil
b) horizontal sheets are provided longitudinally and supported by vertical waling and
horizontal struts
c) if height is more, braces are also provided along with struts

Prepared by: Engr. Lucia V. Ortega


CEng 3093 – Building Construction

3. Runner System:
o closed timbering
o for extremely loose, soft and wet soil
o for soil needing immediate support after excavation
o similar to vertical system except for, runners are provided in place of vertical sheets
with iron shoes at the end
o runners are driven 30 cm in advance by hammering
o Wales and struts are provided as in vertical sheeting

Prepared by: Engr. Lucia V. Ortega


CEng 3093 – Building Construction

Dewatering of Foundation Trench

 A process of removing Water and/or lowering the Water Table within a construction
site
 Purpose: To provide a dry working platform - (typically required by Code and
Specification)
 If the Water Table is above the working platform;
Options:
a) Keep water out
b) Let water in & remove it
c) Combination
 Classification of Water: water can be classified by its relative position to or within the
ground.
 Problems of Water in the Subsoil
a) A high water table could cause flooding during wet periods.
b) Subsoil water can cause problems during excavation works by its natural tendency
to flow into the voids created by the excavation activities.
c) It can cause an unacceptable humidity level around finished buildings and structures

Control of Ground Water

This can take one of two forms which are usually referred to as temporary and permanent
exclusion.
 Permanent Exclusion: This can be defined as the insertion of an impermeable barrier
to stop the flow of water within the ground.
 Temporary Exclusion: This can be defined as the lowering of the water table and within
the economic depth range of 1.5m can be achieved by subsoil drainage methods, for
deeper treatment a sump or pumps are usually involved.
o Simple Sump Pumping: suitable for trench work and/or where small volumes of
water are involved.
o WellPoint Systems: method of lowering the water table to a position below the
formation level to give a dry working area. The basic principle is to jet into the
subsoil a series of well points which are connected to a common header pipe which
is connected to a vacuum pump. WellPoint systems are suitable for most sub soils
and can encircle an excavation or be laid progressively alongside as in the case of a
trench excavation.
o Grouting Methods: these techniques are used to form a curtain or cut off wall in
high permeability soils where pumping methods could be uneconomic. The curtain
walls formed by grouting methods are non-structural therefore adequate earth
support will be required and in some cases this will be a distance of at least 4m from
the face of the proposed excavation. Grout mixtures are injected into the soil by
pumping the grout at high pressure through special injection pipes inserted in the
ground.

Prepared by: Engr. Lucia V. Ortega


CEng 3093 – Building Construction

a) Cement Grouts: mixture of neat cement and water cement sand up to 1:4 or
PFA (pulverized fuel ash) cement to a 1:1 ratio. Suitable for coarse grained soils
and fissured and jointed rock strata.
b) Chemical Grouts: one shot (premixed) of two shot (first chemical is injected
followed immediately by second chemical resulting in an immediate reaction)
methods can be employed to form a permanent gel in the soil to reduce its
permeability and at the same time increase the soil's strength. Suitable for
medium to coarse sands and gravels.

Prepared by: Engr. Lucia V. Ortega

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