Diaphragm wall Construction

INTRODUCTION

The recent construction boom and the volumes of construction has thrown up a number of challenges. The construction industry is facing a problem of huge volumes, shorter construction period, shortage of labour and are realizing the importance of planning and mechanization in the construction technique and methodology. Although to a larger extent the construction industry is able to adopt to every growing requirements of the market to deliver the super structure, It is not the same for the substructure and here is where all of us in this industry including architects, structural consultants, contractors and project management companies have to team up to provide solutions in particular with very restrained plots in down town areas.

 The recent bylaws allowing five basements have also added to the challenges that the industry is facing in the construction of the same. This is not only throwing challenges to the designers and contractors to construct such deep basement but also to keep time lines of the construction of the project which otherwise becomes unviable.

DEEP EXCAVATION
Soil retention is required for the excavated area extending to multiple levels below ground level. In almost all the cases retention of excavated areas are totally taken for granted until now, but the industry is slowly waking up to the fact that considerable time and money has to be spent on soil retention before actually getting into real act of construction taking into account safety of people working in the excavated areas, stability of adjoining structures, soil sliding due to slip circle failures & ground water control.

Excavation shall be done using mechanical methods to the required depth in normal soil. The excavated earth has to be removed using conveyers as the ramp to go down to this depth is normally not practical. Excavation in disintegrated or sheet rocks has to be done using heating, wedging, using chemicals or controlled blasting so that the adjoining structures are least disturbed. This may be a long drawn process and requires meticulous planning and execution.

WATER DISPOSAL Water due to rains or underground water table has to be disposed off by using proper drainage system. The drainage system shall be designed taking into account the soil parameters, quantum of underground water flow and the surrounding areas. Water disposal shall be a combination of sump tanks, swales and well point system. The purpose of draining the water is to get a clear work area, avoid slippages of soil due to free flow of underground water, avoid weakening of the founding strata, efficient working & utilization of labour & equipments.

EARTH RETENTION Deep excavations in restricted areas cannot be done without providing adequate support to the retention of the earth.

Retention is required from the point of view of safe working in the basements till it reaches ground level, protecting the labourers & Staff working in the basements who will be in danger from sudden soil collapses, providing protection to the adjoining buildings from settlements due to soil movements and erosions.

Earth retention can be safely provided by the following methods,

Open Excavation. Contiguous Piling. Soil Nailing. Secant Piling. Diaphragm Walls/Slurry Walls. Sheet Piling. Shoring/Strutting/Bracing. Anchored Contiguous Piling /Secant Piling/ Sheet piling/Diaphragm wall.

1. Open Excavation
Providing sufficient benching and slopes, Open Excavation is generally the cheapest & are done where the plots with soil parameters & safer slopes permit them. Proper sloping & benching to be provided so that excavation can be done in step wise, but this method may not be possible for the deep excavation in the restricted plots. The nature of the soil, ground water table & the adjoining structures dictate the acceptability of the open excavation for greater depths of basements.

Open Excavation Advantages: Allows continuous excavation, storing and backfilling operations. The open trench needs only the design of the cut bank slope. Sloping the excavation is the simplest method to design and use. Because there are no additional support operations and equipment, it is the economical choice. The open trench provides easy access to the work because equipment and construction materials are minimized. It requires very unskilled workers for the operations.

Open Excavation Disadvantages: The slope of the bank requires more excavation and backfill volume than the other options.

The only bank support is the strength of the soil. If drying, flooding, or change of soil properties weakens the soil, then sloughing and collapse can happen with little or no warning. The sloped banks require a wider work area.
The bank slopes may force the use of larger equipment because the distance to reach into the trench is increased and a greater volume of soil must be excavated and backfilled. May not be suitable in Urban down town areas.

FIG 1. OPEN EXCAVATION

2. Soil Nailing
Soil Nailing is a process of providing reinforcement bars into soil at specified spacing both in horizontal and vertical direction into the soil. Anchorage length depends on the slip circle of the soil and hence requires a larger length to be effective. The excavated surface has to be in slope and has to be gunited to protect slippage of the soil. Soil nailing to a large extent depends on the frictional forces of soil, soil nail & becomes zero in ground water conditions or due to rain & are susceptible to failures.

Soil Nailing; Advantages

Soil nail walls can be built to follow curved or zigzagged outlines. The equipment used is highly portable and can fit easily into small spaces. The process is flexible and makes modifications easy to carry out (e.g., nails can be moved as needed during construction). Construction causes less noise and traffic obstruction on highways. The process creates less impact on adjacent or nearby properties than do other construction methods. It generally requires less space and manpower

Soil Nailing;
Disadvantages
The method cannot be used at sites where groundwater is a problem. It is inappropriate for sites with soils having very low shear strength, in sand and gravels that lack cohesion, and on sites with other unsuitable soils. Soil must be able to stand unsupported while it is being nailed and before shotcrete application. Good drainage is essential, especially for permanent structures and in places prone to freeze-thaw cycles. The extent of the soil nailing area must be available beyond the basement lines. May not be possible for greater depths of excavations.

FIG 2. SOIL NAILING

3. Contiguous Piling
A series of touch piling done alternatively and is designed as a vertical cantilever fixed at base. The limitations of these piles are to a maximum of 6m to 9m deep, however these piles may not be a safe option if there is ingress of water into the soil & is not suitable for greater depths. The piles can be designed for 450 to 1200mm diameter and can also be load bearing & restricted to a maximum depth of 9 meters. The piled wall has to be then gunited to give a true and vertical finish.

FIG 3. CONTIGUOUS PILE

Fig 4. Another photo showing Contiguous Pile

4. Secant Pile
Generally considered to be a superior product to contiguous pile walls, secant pile walls comprise interlocking piles to form a virtually watertight seal. Interlocking of the piles is necessary for excavations in granular material, in water-bearing ground, where soil loss between the piles would pose significant construction problems. These walls generally comprise the conventional 'hard-soft' form where the 'soft' low strength un reinforced piles are first installed, then the alternating 'hard', reinforced piles are scalloped into the 'soft' piles, forming the virtually watertight seal. Where possible guide walls are utilized by Vibro -pile to ensure correct positional tolerance and wall alignment. Alternatively, Vibro -pile's proprietary concrete mix designs and special tooling enable all the piles to be 'hard' reinforced if required, in order to maximize the load-carrying capacity of the interlocked wall, resulting in savings in economy and scale.

Secant Piling; Advantages

Increased construction alignment flexibility. Increased wall stiffness compared to contiguous piles. Can be installed in difficult ground (cobbles/boulders). Less noisy construction.
Disadvantages
Verticality tolerances may be hard to achieve for deep piles. Total waterproofing is very difficult to obtain in joints. Increased cost compared to sheet pile walls

FIG 4. SECANT PILING

5. Diaphragm Walls/Slurry Walls Diaphragm walls are cast in situ RCC walls provided along the perimeter of excavation with sufficient reinforcement. These RCC walls are cast in panels of 4m to 5m in length and in alternate panels and embedded into soil/rock below excavation levels. In case of meeting up rocky strata these walls has to be taken down after scooping out the strata and embedding the walls to sufficient depth below excavation levels. These walls are generally designed as cantilever walls unless otherwise anchored.

FIG 5. DIAPHRAGM WALL

6. Sheet piling The system comprises developed sheet pile sections with either an overlapping joint or an interlocking one. The sections can either cantilever to support the excavation, depending on the imposed loads. The installation of the sheet piling is by high frequency which is transmitted through a Vibratory head slung from a crane or mounted on an excavator. Due to the compactness of the plant, mobilization can be achieved on small building sites. During excavation ground anchors are progressively installed to restrain the sheet piling. This creates a 'reinforced earth zone' behind the sheet piling to form a retaining wall structure around the excavation. Hence, deep excavation can be supported in a wide range of ground conditions.

Advantages:
This method provides positive trench wall support. Excavation and backfill quantities are minimized. Access to the trench is maximized. A minimum of right of way is needed. The tight sheets are very effective in helping to control ground water.

Disadvantages:
The piles are expensive to buy or rent and install. The installation and extraction process can cause surface settlement in un compacted soils. The shoring design usually requires a professional engineer stamp. The soil conditions must be fairly soft or the sheets will be damaged while being driven. Any underground obstruction more than a few inches in size can damage the pile by bending and splitting the interlocks. Underground utilities will often prevent the effective use of sheet pile shoring.

FIG 6. SHEET PILING

8. Anchored Contiguous Piling/Secant Piling/Sheet piling/Diaphragm wall :

The above systems require anchorage of tie-backs/ anchor rods in to a dense soil/rock. This greatly depends on the distance between the end of excavation & the adjoining plot, otherwise the anchors enter into the adjoining property causes legal problems.

FIG 7. ANCHORED PILING

Top Down Construction

The Top-Down method enables the construction of a high-rise superstructure and its substructure simultaneously.

Top-down or Up-Down construction methods is another method for constructing deep excavations with construction sequenced to take up both super structure and substructure simultaneously. This method is adopted where a fast track construction of the project is required and site constraint prohibit from using the methods of retention not suitable to the site parameters as well as the soil conditions at the basement levels.

Stage 1: Construction of Diaphragm

walls/Contiguous piles / Secant Piles along the basement wall to be required depth.

Stage 2: Construction of the steel cased single

pile/ column with high grade of concrete set into the rock to the required carrying capacity.

Stage 3: Providing polythene sheet for the area

of slab to be cast at Grade level & casting the same with designed reinforcement with suitable pockets for works in the basements below.

Stage 4: Slabs thus designed at the grade level

shall take up all construction loads including heavy equipment, movements of the vehicles etc.,

Stage 5: Excavation shall be done using the mechanical equipments suitable for floor to floor depths provided for the basement starting from the open area. Excavation shall be continued under the concreted slab to the required depth up to the next level of basement. Stage 6: The contiguous pile / diaphragm wall are determined for maximum earth pressure as a continuous supporting system on slabs at different levels of basement. Stage 7: Any underground water shall be dewatered using a combination of sump tanks with pumps and automatic controllers, swales well point dewatering system. Stage 8: Sufficient air movement shall be maintained in

Stage 9: Proper safety measures shall be in place for any work being done under the slabs in basements. Stage 10: Proper Strutting of columns between already poured slabs shall be done if required to transfer the horizontal forces. Stage 11: Repeat the procedure from Stage 3 for the next level of slab at the basement.

Stage 12: However while doing the basement the structural column/pile shall be taken above ground level 1.
Stage 13: The super structure can be executed above level 1 leaving appropriate heights for movements of vehicles, equipments if required. Stage 14: Super structure shall be built as a normal

The following pictorial guide illustrates the construction sequence of a typical diaphragm wall.

Installation of retaining wall diaphragm wall

Concreting of Panel. Concrete is poured into the panel to form the panel wall.

Installation of Rebar Cage The reinforcementbar cage being placed within the panel.

FIG 8. SEQUENCE OF TOP-DOWN CONSTRUCTION

FIG 9. SECTION SHOWING TOP DOWN CONSTRUCTION

FIG 10. TOP DOWN CONSTRUCTION IN PROGRESS

SUPER STRUCTURE

NGL
-1LVL -2LVL -3LVL -4LVL -5LVL NGL VARIES

NGL

STAGE 1 5 STAGE 4 RETENTION 3 OF STAGE 2 EXCAVTION CONSTRUCTION CONTIGUOUS SOIL IS DONE CONSTRUCTION CONSTRUCTIO UNDER THE SLAB IS OF PILING BASEMENT WITH OF GIRDER N OF KING AFTER GAINING 7 ADOPTED TOP FLOOR SLAB CONSTRUCTION DAYS POSTS STRENGTH OF DIAPHRAGM WITH CUTOUT WALL CLEAR HEIGHT FOR THE SOIL & MOVEMENT FOR EQUIPMENT

Top - Down; Advantages

Fast track method of construction. Site Constraints. Right of Access can be Minimum. Plots can be utilized completely. Simultaneous construction of Sub & Super structures. Realistic achievement of the project timeline with multiple basements & storey thereby being economically viable. Safe.

Top Down; Disadvantages

Requirement of costly machinery & skilled labour. Project is completely dependant on the duration of construction of Diaphragm wall /contiguous piling in the initial stages. Access to equipment & labour is minimum.