ABSTRACT ON SHEET PILE RETAINING

WALLS
Apart from the established fact that sheet pile walls are used in Waterfront
structures, for river bank protection and for retaining the sides of cuts made
in the Earth, the sheet pile wall system also support Deep Excavation sites,
like parking slots in multi-storey buildings as in cities.So,the design and
analysis of Sheet pile walls has its significant importance.The materials of
sheet pile walls can be Timber, Reinforced Concrete and Steel. Coming to the
stability of sheet pile, they act as cantilever wall and derive its support from
the lateral resistance of the foundation soil.
The sheet pile below the dredge line is a passive pressure zone and the
above is active pressure zone. Depth of sheet pile below the dredge line is
the parameter to be designed here. With simplified earth pressure diagrams
adopted for design, in granular soils, the depth required can be found , and
factor of safety of 1.5 to 2 is provided to that. In cohesive soils, formation of
tension cracks in active zone needs to be considered during the design.
Similarly, the required depth can be found using the sum of moments of
forces about base being zero. And F.O.S of 1.5 to 2 is provided. The basic
failure procedures, to be kept in mind, while designing are Flexural failure,
Rotational failure due to inadequate penetration and Deep seated failure.