Shoring is a common practice in construction sites, and it refers to a process of supporting structures and excavated grounds using strong and sturdy material while installation or removal of other structure is underway. In mining fields, for example, trenches extend meters down proving risky for the miners. Here, they use of shoring structures to reinforce unstable mined ground and provide a safe working area for the miners and their heavy machinery.
Generally, there are two main types of shoring materials used in various types of shoring for excavation: aluminum hydraulic and timber. Depending on the nature of the project or the state of the excavated ground, shoring materials can be applied differently.
Which are these shoring mechanism and their different area of application?
Shoring System for Excavated Ground
In heavy-duty excavation projects such as building a tunnel through a hill, large excavation shoring is required to ensure the remaining soil doesn’t cave in. The tunnel needs to be supported with shoring materials until the surrounding walls are built. Such projects involve highly specialized operations with an advanced level of engineering in determining how and to what extent shoring structures are placed. Soil component differs, and so the different types of shoring for excavation will vary. The common types of shoring mechanism used to shore excavated grounds are: soil nails and shotcrete, soldier pile and lagging, and pressure grouting.
- Soldier Pile and Lagging: This shoring mechanism functions through erecting verticle piles made of steel while horizontal lagging placed to straighten the walls of the excavation. As the H-shaped steel pile is driven along the excavation perimeter, lagging is inserted simultaneously at regular intervals. After excavation, the remaining soil carries a lot of weight. Therefore, a lagging is used to resist and cancel out the load by distributing it to the piles.
- Soil nails and Shotcrete: When unsupported cuts are produced, this mechanism is often applied. Steel bars and driven and mounted at different points across the exposed wall face. Then, bolstered with head plates. For maximum strength, flexible wire mesh may be used to reinforce the soil face.
- Pressure Grouting: This is another functional method of excavation shoring. It is a process aimed at reinforcing and stabilizing clean sand through injection of chemicals like fine cement to hold the sand together. Here, the idea is to prevent the sand from sloughing off during excavation.
When shoring is used to stabilize soil structure, the design of the retaining wall, waterproofing units and the water channels should be seamlessly arranged for sound structural design throughout construction. Ensuring quality standards on the different types of shoring for excavations will substantially reduce the time spent on a particular section of the project as well as reducing the overall cost.