Building Construction I

CHAPTER 3: EXCAVATION AND TIMBERING OF FOUNDATION TRENCHES

PREPARED BY: AR. SABITA GURAGAIN
 Excavation
It is the preliminary activity of the construction project.
Excavation is a process by digging the earth surfaces and
create a hole or cave with the help of man or machinery is
called excavation.
Before a foundation can be laid, it is necessary to
excavate a trench of the required depth and width (by
hand or mechanical excavator)
On small sites or in confined spaces, excavation may still
be carried out by manual means using tools such as picks,
shovels and wheelbarrows. Larger scale excavation
works will require heavy plant such
as bulldozers and backactors.
Excavation work is always the most hazardous operations
and or work activity with heavy machinery on the
worksite.
Excavation
Surface Dressing trimmimg of natural ground, excavated surface and filled up area to remove
vegetation and/or small inequalities not exceeding 150 mm deep shall be described as surface
dressing and measured in square meters.
Excavation exceeding 1.5m in width as well as 10 m2 on plan but not exceeding 0.3m (300mm) in
depth shall be described as surface excavation.
Excavation exceeding 1.5m in width as well as 10 m2 on plan, and 0.3m (300mm) in depth shall be
described as excavation over areas and measured in cubic meters.

Why Excavation??
Excavation is the first step to any construction project because it clears space for the project,
whether you want to construct a commercial or residential building, roads, bridges, install pipes or
underground utility lines and it creates a strong foundation for the project and provides a stable
surface for the surrounding property.
Types of Excavation
Oversite Excavation
This involves the removal of top soil.
Depth varies from site to site but is usually in a 150 to 300 mm range.
The excavation method removes vegetation, soil, and any other decaying material that could
make the land unsuitable to bear structural loads.
Reduce Level (R.L.)
This is carried out below over site level to form a level surface on to build.
Required in irregular sites to form a level surface
It consists of both cutting and filling operations
The level to which the ground is reduced is called the formation level
Trench Excavation
This consists of narrow excavations primarily for strip
foundation and buried services such as pipelines and cables.
This trench can be made vertical, slanting or stepped to avoid
collapse and with their follow-up advantages and
disadvantages.
Done both manually (with use of spade, pickaxe, rammer, etc.
and for small buildings) and mechanically (with use of
bulldozers, trench diggers, etc. and for large buildings)
Typical Example of Trench Excavation
Battered/Sloped face Excavation
Advantage: no temporary support
required to the sides of excavation
Disadvantage: extra cost and time
required for over excavation and back
filling
Vertical/Straight face Excavation
Advantage: only required amount of
soil is removed and thus min. amount
of back filling
Disadvantage: side of excavation
require some degree of temporary
support
Problems in Deep Excavation
Excavation beyond 1.5m deep is deep excavation
Problems:
- collapsing of the sides of trenches
- water coming out of the sides or bottom of the
excavation
Precautions to be taken
“Timbering of trenches” for soil collapsing
“Dewatering” for water problems
When the depth of trench is large, or when the sub-soil is loose, the sides of the trench may
cave in.
Timbering is defined as providing temporary timber supports to stop the sides of trenches
from falling
Dewatering
Ground water can cause problem by its natural
tendency to flow into the voids created by
excavation
Water in excavation should be removed since it
can :
• make it impossible to adequately compact
the bottom of excavation to receive
foundation
• bearing capacity of the soil is reduced with
water stored in voids of the bottom of
excavation
Timbering of Trenches
Trench is a type of excavation or depression in the
ground.
Trenches are generally defined by being deeper
than they are wide (as opposed to a wider gully or
ditch), and by being narrow compared to their length
(as opposed to a simple hole).
When the depth of trench is large, or when the sub-
soil is loose, the sides of the trench may cave in.
The problem can be solved by adopting a suitable
method of timbering.
Timbering of trenches, sometimes also known as
shoring consists of providing timber planks or boards
and struts to give temporary support to the sides of
the trench.
Members Used in Timbering
Polling Board
A flat wooden plank which is in direct contact with the soil of the trench and is arranged in
an vertical position on the side is called a polling board or planking.
Sheeting
Sheeting is the process of holding a polling board or plank together or using a sheet instead
of a plank.
Wales or walling
The component attached to the trench wall, the sheeting to support the polling board, the
component which is perpendicular to the polling board and parallel to the trench wall is
called Wales or walling.
Members Used in Timbering
Strut
A piece of wood used to support sheeting/walling with two walls of a trench and to
maintain a certain distance between the Wales and the main line of the trench is called
a Strut.
Bracing
The diagonal straightening used between the walls to reinforce the timbering framework is
called bracing.
Runners
Trench walls are prone to collapse in very soft or hard soil. A special type of shoe made of
iron should be placed at the bottom of the polling board used in such circumstances and 30
to 40 cm cm above the bottom surface during excavation, the planks are lowered to a
greater depth with the help of shoe. These types of polling boards or sheets are
called runners.
Methods of Timbering
1. Stay Bracing
2. Box Sheeting (Vertical & Horizontal)
3. Runner System
4. Sheet Piling
1. Stay Bracing
Open timbering
For firm / stiff / rocky hard soil
This type of timbering is used when soil is moderately firm and excavation depth is not
more than 2 m.
Vertical sheets or poling boards are placed on the sides of the trench and it is kept in
position with one or two Struts rows.
These polling boards are placed at a distance of 3 to 4 m and are up to the full depth of
the excavation.
polling board : width 200 x thickness (40 – 50) mm.
struts :
- 100 x 100 mm (until trench depth is 2m)
- 200 x 200 mm (when trench depth is more than 2m)
2. Box Sheeting
This method is adopted in loose soils, when the depth of excavation does not exceed 4
meters.
There are two types of box sheeting:
i. Vertical Sheeting and
ii. Horizontal Sheeting
Vertical Sheeting
for loose / loamy / dry sandy soil
for depth of excavation not exceeding 4m
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
struts are then provided across the wales.
Vertical Sheeting for deep trenches
for up to 10m deep trenches
for soft ground
excavation is carried out in stages and at the end of each
stage offset is provided so that the width of the trench
goes on decreasing as the depth increases
each stage is 3m in depth
offset : 25 – 30 cm per stage
separate vertical sheeting for each stage supported by
horizontal wales and struts
Horizontal Sheeting
for loose soil
horizontal sheets are provided longitudinally and supported by vertical waling and
horizontal struts
if height is more, braces are also provided along with struts
3. Runner System
closed timbering
Used in extremely loose, soft and wet soil which
need immediate support after excavation
This system is like vertical sheeting of box system,
except that in place of vertical sheeting, runners,
made of long thick wooden sheets or planks with iron
shoe at the ends, are provided.
runners are driven 30 cm in advance by hammering.
wales and struts are provided as in vertical sheeting.
3. Sheet Piling
This method is adopted when
i. Soil to be excavated is soft or loose
ii. depth of excavation is large or more
than 10m.
iii. width of trench is also large and
iv. Water comes during excavation of soil.
Sheet piles are designed to resist lateral
earth pressure.
These are driven in the ground by
mechanical means (pile driving equipment).
They can be used for excavating to a very
large depth.
Thank You