Chapter 5.1 - Excavations
Chapter 5.1 - Excavations
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
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.
Types of Excavation
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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.