DEEP BASEMENT

EXCAVATION
PREPARED BY:
ASHISH SHYORAN
(2013JE0876)
UNDER GUIDANCE OF:
PROF. LOHIT KUMAR NAINEGALI

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
ANCHORS OR STRUTS
DIFFICULTIES ASSOCIATED WITH DEEP
EXCAVATION
REATAINING WALLS COMMONLY ADOPTED
SOIL MOVEMENT DUE TO EXCAVATION
ALTERNATIVE EXCAVTION SCHEMES
CASE STUDY FOR EXCAVATION IN SOFT
CLAY

INTRODUCTION
NEED: Recent upsurge in commercial/residential
multi-storied buildings, hence, increasing
requirements of car parking and other utilities
DIFFICULTIES:
-Presence of congested roads around the site
-Conventional technique of sheet pile or
diaphragm wall -cant be used
-Providing anchors or strut- difficult
-open unsupported excavations - often not
possible

ANCHORS OR STRUTS
Basically a pre-stressing tendon
embedded and anchored into soil or
rock
Provide resistance to structural
movements by a tying back"
principle
Common applications are :
-General slope stabilization
-Tying back/stabilizing a retaining
structure
-Tying back/stabilizing for diaphragm
walls, but for a temporary nature
during excavation
-Tying back the entire building from
up possible uplifting

DIFFICULTIES ASSOCIATED WITH

DEEP EXCAVATION
Mechanized excavation preferred
Carried out either with mechanical excavators
or dozers which operate within the excavation
area

DIFFICULTIES ASSOCIATED WITH DEEP

EXCAVATION(contd.)

Ground water table - often very high - requires

large scale dewatering
-To reduce water pressure on the retaining walls
-To make the excavation stable from sand
boiling/piping failure
Such large scale dewatering - subsidence in the
surrounding area
In many countries, large scale dewatering for such
construction propose - not permitted, hence, the
excavation scheme has to be designed considering
the hydrostatic pressure on the retaining structure.

SAND BOILING & PIPING

FAILURE

DIFFICULTIES ASSOCIATED WITH DEEP

EXCAVATION(contd.)

Natural strata below the excavation level - often

comprising of loose sand or soft marine clay
deposit - dont provide adequate passive
resistance to the retaining structure to act as a
cantilevering wall ,hence, requires either
ground improvement or additional anchors/struts.
The plan dimensions of some of the commercial
buildings are very large exceeding 50 to 100m.
Design of strut for such span with large l/r is not
possible.
Also presence of struts significantly affects the
construction activities.

DIFFICULTIES ASSOCIATED WITH DEEP

EXCAVATION(contd.)
Fairly good waterproofing of the basement walls and
floor required
RCC diaphragm wall - the joint between the panels has
to be made water tight either using a PVC rubber
stopper or extensive grouting along the entire depth of
the joint
In several cases, the water tightness of RCC diaphragm
wall is questioned and as a result permanent wall is
made using in-situ concrete with formwork after
excavating with temporary support
In such case, appropriate waterproofing treatment can
be provided on the outer side of the wall before
backfilling, but this increases the cost.

RETAINING
WALLS
COMMONLY
ADOPTED

STEEL SHEET PILE WALL

Earth retention and excavation support technique
that retains soil, using steel sheet sections with
interlocking edges
Installed in sequence to design depth along the
planned excavation perimeter or seawall alignment
Easy installation & subsequent retrieval for reuse
Ideally suited for temporary application where the
bending moment expected is not very high
Beyond certain depth (3 to 4m) this will require
either anchors or strut to reduce the bending
moment

INSTALLATION VIBRATORY HAMMERS,

IMPACT HAMMERS, HYDRAULIC PUSHING

RCC DIAPHRAGM WALL

Used either for
temporary use or for
permanent use as
basement wall
Unlike steel sheet pile
cant be retrieved
However there are cases
where RCC diaphragm
wall has been used as a
temporary wall
Due to much higher
rigidity compared to
steel sheet pile, this wall

SECANT PILE WALL

Bored-cast-in-situ piles, almost touching each other
in a row
Depending on depth of excavation, the piles can be
provided with intermittent support with anchors or struts
If the soil retained is cohesionless with high water table,
the zone between the piles may need cement grouting
or inserting additional pile
Top of all the piles is normally connected with a common
copping beam which makes all the piles as an integral
wall
Total waterproofing is very difficult to obtain in joints
Increased cost compared to steel sheet pile walls

INSTALLATION OF SECANT
PILES

BERLIN WALL
Wide flange steel sections are inserted along the
excavation line with a centre to centre spacing of about 1m
Sections are either driven into the ground or they are
lowered in a pre-bored hole
Gap between the bore hole wall and the section is filled with
concrete from the bottom upto the excavation level.
Beyond this the gap is filled with soil.
Excavation is carried out in stages of 0.5 to 1m and as the
excavation progresses, wooden plank or steel formwork
plates are inserted between the steel sections to retain the
soil
The horizontal thrust of retained earth is transferred to the
steel section through the flange.

BERLIN WALL

NAILED WALL
As the excavation progresses, the vertical face of the
excavation is supported by either steel plate or wooden
plank which is nailed into the ground using long
reinforcement rod
After nailing the plate, the excavation is advanced by
further 0.6 to 1m and another plate/plank is placed and
nailed
Planks/plates as well as the nails can rerieved for reuse
However unlike other methods, it is not possible to have a
vertical cut. The face of the retained earth is normally
inclined at 70 to 80 degrees with the horizontal.

INSTALLATION OF NAILED
WALL

SOIL MOVEMENT DUE TO EXCAVATION

SOIL MOVEMENT DUE TO EXCAVATION

ALTERNATIVE
EXCAVATION
SCHEMES

EXCAVATION WITH PERIPHERAL

SUPPORT
Excavation of the central area alone, leaving soil
with slope along the perimeter to support the
retaining wall.
Reduces the section of retaining wall but it has
following disadvantages:
-Construction joint is required in the basement
floors
-For completion of balance excavation along the
perimeter, it may not be possible to use excavators

EXCAVATION WITH PERIPHERAL

SUPPORT

TOP-DOWN CONSTRUCTION

After completion of perimeter retaining wall

(RCC Diaphragm) and pile foundation at
column locations, the ground floor slab is cast
first connected to the peripheral diaphragm wall
and the piles
Openings are provided at required
locations(staircase, lift well or ramp) to remove
the earth subsequently.
Slab can be cast on the natural ground itself,
hence no formwork required.
After this, the soil below the slab is excavated
upto the next basement level
Slab already cast serves as strut to support the
wall.
Process is repeated

TOP-DOWN CONSTRUCTION

CASE STUDY FOR EXCAVATION IN

SOFT CLAY
I. Provide cement injection grouting for a width of 2m on either side of the
diaphragm wall to improve the stability of the diaphragm trench and to reduce
the active pressure and to increase the passive resistance.
II. Complete RCC diaphragm wall along the perimeter of the building. This will
also serve as permanent basement wall. III. Complete pile construction within
the building area. The piles are constructed from the existing ground
level, but the concrete is poured only upto the required level of the
bottommost basement.
IV. The excavation is carried out for a depth of 4m throughout the building
area. This is maximum height of excavation which the RCC diaphragm wall can
permit as cantilever.
V. Provide peripheral dewatering outside the diaphragm wall to lower the water
table and reduce bending moment on the wall. Do not pumpout water within
the excavation area.
VI. Leaving a berm of 4 to 5m width from the diaphragm wall, excavate the
central area of the building with a convenient slope to the final founding level.
At this level, the piles already constructed will project out. Chip-off the extra
concrete to the required cut-off level.

CASE STUDY FOR EXCAVATION IN

SOFT CLAY(contd.)
VII. Construct the bottommost basement floor supported on
piles leaving a construction joint along the unexcavated area.
VIII. Raise the columns and subsequent floor of the higher
basement in the central area.
IX. Use the completed basement floors in the central area to
provide lateral support to the diaphragm wall with steel struts.
X. Remove the unexcavated soil along the perimeter to the
foundation level.
XI. Extract the dowel bars from the diaphragm wall and
complete the bottommost floor upto the construction join.
XII. Complete balance columns and floor area of higher
basement along the perimeter. XIII. Remove temporary strut
between the central portion and diaphragm wall.

REFERENCES
Berlie Zhu and Guobin Liu, (1994),
elasto plastic analysis of deep
excavation in soft clay, Proc of 13th
International Conference in Soil
Mechanics and Foundation
Engineering, New Delhi, India.
Malcolm Puller (2003), Deep
excavation a practical manual 2nd
Edition, Thomas Telford Ltd, 1 Heron
Quay, London E14 4JD

REFERENCES(contd.)

http://www.haywardbaker.com
www.slideshare.net
https://www.google.co.in
www.deepexcavation.com
oregonstate.edu
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr
www.youtube.com
http://www.ask.com/home-garden/backfill-construction
www.perfectparkusa.com
http://www.gemech.co.uk/contiguous_secant.html
http://www.plastifab.com/solutions/geofoam/retainingwall.html

THANK YOU