Trench Cutter Case Histories and Their

Possible Application for Offshore Piles as

Relieve Drilling

Giovanni Spagnoli, Arthur Bi &

Leonhard Weixler

Geotechnical and Geological

Engineering
An International Journal

ISSN 0960-3182
Volume 32
Number 3

Geotech Geol Eng (2014) 32:713-724

DOI 10.1007/s10706-014-9747-6

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Geotech Geol Eng (2014) 32:713–724
DOI 10.1007/s10706-014-9747-6
TECHNICAL NOTE
Trench Cutter Case Histories and Their Possible
Application for Offshore Piles as Relieve Drilling
Giovanni Spagnoli • Arthur Bi •
Leonhard Weixler
Received: 23 December 2013 / Accepted: 15 March 2014 / Published online: 1 April 2014
 Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014
Abstract As of 30th June 2013, according to the
European Wind Energy Association, there are 1,939
offshore wind turbines, with a combined capacity of
6,040 MW. They are fully grid connected in European
waters in 58 wind farms across 10 countries. About
70 % of the foundations used for wind energy are
monopiles with a diameter up to 6 m. The monopiles
are installed by using hammers. However, there are
situations where the piles cannot be installed without
the ‘‘driving and drilling technique’’, above all in the
glacial areas, where glacial tills, boulders or cobbles
can be encountered. A new technology for supporting
the installation of monopiles is the monopile-trench
cutter. The following paper describes four onshore
trench cutter case histories in hard geology. Based on
several projects, a correlation between net cut perfor-
mance and uniaxial compressive strength (UCS)
values of the in situ rock is briefly described. The
variation of the cut performance decreases logarith-
mically with increasing UCS values. However, the
data showed are only based on projects already
performed, and it is not possible to extrapolate the
G. Spagnoli (&)  L. Weixler
Department of Maritime Technologies, BAUER
Maschinen GmbH, BAUER-Str. 1,
86529 Schrobenhausen, Germany
e-mail: giovanni.spagnoli@bauer.de
A. Bi
BAUER Technologies Far East Pte. Ltd., 30, Tuas
Avenue 11, Singapore 639108, Singapore
data for future projects in similar geological condi-
tions. The findings of this paper want to show how the
trench cutter technology might be a suitable technol-
ogy for supporting monopile installation in difficult
sea beds. Besides, the information contained in this
manuscript wants to be an aid for contractors involved
in offshore pile installation.
Keywords Offshore wind  Monopiles 
Trench cutter  Performance  Uniaxial
compressive strength
1 Introduction
According to EWEA (2013a), in the first 6 months of
2013, Europe fully grid connected 277 offshore wind
turbines—up 145 from the same period last year
(Spagnoli and Weixler 2013a)—with a combined
capacity totalling over 1 GW in seven wind farms, i.e.
Thornton Bank (Belgium), Gunfleet Sands 3, Lincs,
London Array, Teesside (UK), Anholt (Denmark),
BARD offshore 1 (Germany). 268 foundations were
installed in ten wind farms: i.e., NorthWind (Bel-
gium), Gwynt y Môr, West of Duddon Sands (UK),
BARD offshore 1, Dan Tysk, MeerWind, Nordsee
Ost, Global Tech 1, Trianel (Germany), Arinaga Quay
(Spain). As of 30th June 2013, there are in total 1,939
offshore wind turbines with a combined capacity of
6,040 MW fully grid connected in European waters in
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714
58 wind farms across 10 countries. According to
EWEA (2013b), monopile substructures remained the
most popular substructure type with 355 installations
(73 %) in 2012. 1,376 monopiles foundations were
fully installed at the end of 2012 as a cumulative value
(74 % of all installed foundations). Monopiles are
large diameter, thick walled, steel tubulars that are
driven (hammered) or drilled (or both) into the seabed.
Outer diameters usually range from 4 to 6 m, and
typically 40–50 % of the pile is inserted into the
seabed. The thickness and the depth the piling is
driven depend on the design load, soil conditions (for
instance, in soft soil regions deeper piles and thicker
steel are required), water depth, environmental condi-
tions, and design codes. Monopiles are currently the
most common foundation in shallow water (up to
25 m) development (DNV 2013) due to their lower
cost and simplicity. However, since they are limited by
depth and subsurface conditions, they are likely to
decline in popularity in deeper water. However, in
nascent markets such as the U.S., and for the near-term
future, monopiles are expected to be heavily employed
(Kaiser and Snyder 2012). Pile driving is more
efficient and less expensive than drilling. If possible,
piles should be driven to their full design penetration
without the need to clean out the soil plug or drill
below the initial refusal level of an open-ended tubular
pile. Such delays cause increased driving resistance
due to setup (i.e. the increase of shaft friction). As part
of a 280 million Euro EPC contract (Engineering,
Procurement and Construction) to provide balance of
plant on the Belwind project (North Sea), Van Oord
sourced and installed 56 monopiles and transition
pieces. The monopiles weighing between 300 and 500
tons were installed from a floating crane. The mono-
piles were driven around 35 m into the seabed, an
operation which took approximately 3 h. The final
blows were around 12 times the force of the first ones.
Installation of the 56 monopiles was completed
between September 2009 and February 2010 (Doug-
las-Westwood 2011).
2 Pile Refusal
There are many situations where piles cannot be
driven to their full penetration without the need for
‘‘drilling-and-driving’’ techniques. Although installa-
tion times for monopiles using this composite
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sequence are relatively long—for example, the con-
struction of monopiles as part of the North Hoyle wind
farm in the United Kingdom in 2003 required
approximately 70–90 h on average (Malhotra
2011)—sometimes the ‘‘drilling-and-driving’’ is the
only solution. For instance, the North and Baltic Sea
are regions where glacial till, boulders and cobbles are
found, due to the several advances and retreats of
continental ice sheets during the Pleistocene. Subsea
soils in the North Sea to a depth of 150 m often consist
entirely of glacial deposits. Glacial tills are character-
ized for having cu values up to 350 kPa, which may be
considerably greater at depth in, for instance, North
Sea deposits. In fact, Strandgaard and Vandenbulcke
(2002) assumed for the Samsø Wind Farm cu values
for the clay till in the order of 700 kPa. Glacial tills are
also characterized by low plasticity and deformation
modulus between 10 (loose state) and 1,440 (dense
state) MPa (Weltman and Healy 1978; Bowles 2001).
When the pile is driven to great penetration or when it
encounters a stronger material such glacial till, the pile
may plug, so that the soil inside the pile moves with the
pile as it moves downward. The soil plug needs to be
removed down to within a diameter of the pile tip,
balancing this against the danger of upheaval failure of
the remaining soil plug (Randolph et al. 2005).
The main objective of the geotechnical design for
driven monopile foundations is to select a foundation
size that can develop the required axial capacity,
perform adequately under lateral loads without exces-
sive deflection and rotation at mudline, and withstand
the installation stresses needed to penetrate the pile
without buckling the walls. A typical driven pile
design will require the prediction of: (1) Penetration
resistance with depth, (2) Depth to fixity under lateral
loads, (3) Minimum required penetration depth for
fixity and axial capacity considerations, (4) Driveabil-
ity evaluation (Malhotra 2011). Driveability evalua-
tions are a crucial part of the design process.
Commercial computer programs based on wave
equation models enable the piling engineer to predict
driveability, optimize the selection of hammer, select
energy level which will not damage the pile, and
ensure that the correct dolly and adapters are used.
However, according to McClelland and Reifel (1986),
it is difficult to predict when a pile will plug. During
continuous driving in clay, plugs can form due to soil
setup if driving ceases for several hours. Strandgaard
and Vandenbulcke (2002) also report for the Samsø
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Fig. 1 Interpretation of pile drivability. Curve 1 is the
estimated resistance to driving based on remolded side friction
in clay, static side friction in sand and end bearing on pile wall;
curve 2 is the estimated resistance to driving based on remolded
side friction in clay, static side friction in sand and end bearing
on whole pile area (plug); curve 3 is the computed ultimate
compressive capacity (modified after McClelland and Reifel
1986)
Wind Farm difficulties to produce a driveability
design profile due to the glacial deposits. Weltman
and Healy (1978) report several situations where
drilled piles were installed in glacial tills (e.g. Boggart
Pits, Heatons Canal Bridge, Ring O’Bells Canal
Bridge, Finger House Railway Bridge) with max cu
at pile base ranging from 136 up to 365 kPa.
McClelland and Reifel (1986) showed in Fig. 1 that
between the estimated resistance to driving after a long
delay in the driving and the estimated resistance
during continuous driving without estimated plugs, the
pile driveability is less definitive because the penetra-
tion to which the pile can be driven may depend on
factors that are not easily predictable. Besides, the
Fig. 1 shows that the effect of the pile plugging on the
pile penetration is very significant, because this
indicates that the pile would reach refusal almost
immediately if it plugs after the tip enters the sand
layer found at a penetration of 72 m.
Hard driving may also be experienced if the pile
encounters cobble layers, boulders or if the pile is
715
driven in rock. Driving piles in rock might experience
refusal. According to Stevens et al. (1982), driving in
rock is no longer possible when the RQD is[50 %, the
recovery rate of the rock is[85 % and the UCS of the
formation is [5 MPa.
Cleaning out the soil plug is an effective way of
reducing the driving resistance, thus obtaining deep
penetration, because of the elimination of base resis-
tance. It is particularly advantageous for obtaining
deep penetration into coarse soils; e.g. to develop
uplift resistance, to avoid excessive settlement due to
vibration effects, or to reach rockhead. This is because
the base resistance in a coarse soil represents the major
proportion of the total resistance to the driving of the
pile. Removal of the soil plug is not particularly
effective for piles penetrating deeply into clays where
the base resistance is only a very small proportion of
the total resistance. Drilling out the soil within the pile
does not reduce the external shaft friction of the
surrounding clay (Tomlinson and Woodward 2007). A
sandy-soil plug, a plug of clay or weak broken rock
can be removed by lowering the trench cutter down the
tube. Trench cutter performances in hard geology
based on twenty-eight onshore projects and their
possible offshore use is analyzed for supporting
monopile installation where boulders or hard soil
layers impede the proper pile installation.
3 Trench Cutter Technology
In the excavation of shallow underground works in an
urban environment using the ‘cut and cover’ method,
the choice is often made to use concrete diaphragms in
order to support the side walls, before proceeding with
the excavation of the ground. When these diaphragms
exceed a depth of about 20 m, trench cutters are
generally used to excavate the panels, using a supply
of bentonite mud (Cardu and Oreste 2013).
The trench cutter (Fig. 2) is an excavating machine
that operates on the principles of reverse circulation. It
is made up of a heavy steel frame with two gear boxes
at the bottom of the frame. Cutting wheel drums fitted
with a series of teeth are fixed to the gearboxes; they
rotate in opposite directions, break up the soil and mix
it with the bentonite suspension. As the cutter
penetrates, soil, rock and bentonite are conveyed
towards the openings of the suction box, from where
they are pumped by a centrifugal pump through the
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Fig. 2 Trench cutter system
slurry pipe incorporated in the cutter’s frame, via the
mast head into the slurry conveying system to the de-
sanding plant. There solid soil and rock particles are
separated from liquid bentonite which is pumped back
Fig. 3 Cutter head with components
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into the trench or for storage and later reuse. The
torque output of the cutter wheels in combination with
the weight of the cutter is sufficient to cut into any type
of soil, to crush cobbles, small boulders or weak rock
and to over-cut concrete of adjacent panels as well.
The verticality of the trench cutter and thus the trench
alignment are measured on two axes by means of two
independent inclinometers. Adjustment of verticality
in the two directions is carried out by a system of
steering plates.
In order to absorb the impact caused by the crushing
of the boulders the drive gears are protected by elastic
shock absorbers, which are positioned between cutter
wheels and drive gears (Fig. 3).
The cutter wheels are equipped with long tooth
holders. They enable excavation in all types of soil,
including plastic clays. The cut produced by the teeth
covers the full width of the tooth holder. Depending on
soil type, different teeth can be deployed, ranging from
teeth for cutting soft soils to percussive teeth for
crushing boulders. In order to prevent blockages in the
mud hose pipe, the openings of the suction box are
reduced by half the diameter of the hose pipe. The
performance and output of a cutter is crucially
dependent on the crowd force V characterized by the
cutter’s weight and the torque H delivered by the cutter
wheels. Both of these components mutually influence
each other. Although, in the case of a high H/V ratio,
the available torque may be adequate, the teeth simply
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Fig. 4 H/V ratio of the cutter teeth of a trench cutter. Sensitive
controls in respect of H and V forces allow excavation to be
continuously optimized
scrape along the base of the trench without making any
progress at all (Fig. 4). Alternatively, if the H/V ratio
drops too low, then the teeth bite too hard into the
ground and cause the cutter wheel to stop.
The standard set of cutter wheels is equipped with
tungsten carbide-tipped teeth. They are inserted into
long teeth holders and can easily be replaced. Ejector
plates, attached to the suction box, remove any spoil
between the tooth holders, particularly in cohesive
soils. Standard cutter wheels are primarily used in
mixed soils. Based on the large number of available
cutter teeth with differently shaped tungsten carbide
tips, the available selection ranges from aggressive
cutter teeth through to impact teeth. Round shank
chisel-cutter wheels are equipped with special round
shank chisels. They are primarily deployed for cutting
in cemented sands, conglomerates, cobbles, and
weathered rock. The gapless distribution of cutter
teeth across the entire cutter wheel ensures that the
whole area under the cutter wheel is cut away, making
it impossible for the cutter wheel to ground. The roller
bit-cutter wheel has been developed for extremely
hard rock formations (UCS [120 MPa). The roller
bits are arranged on the wheel in such a way that the
entire rectangular cross section of the trench is cut.
The central ridge below the gear shield is removed by
flipper teeth. To generate the right amount of crowd
717
pressure required by the roller bits, the main cutter
frame is surcharged with additional ballast (Spagnoli
and Weixler 2013b) (Fig. 5).
4 Trench Cutter Case Histories
Four projects are described in detail. In addition, 28
more projects are listed below with information
regarding trench cutter performance, geology and
project country.
A project was carried out in China for the Laojie
station of the Shenzhen Metro, which is located at the
Eastern part of the Shenzhen urban area, where the
ground conditions presented soft soil on top and hard
granite at lower levels. The typical soil condition
consisted of three distinct layers of variable thickness,
comprising top soft soil, completely to highly decom-
posed granite and moderate decomposed granite
(Fig. 6).
The maximum uniaxial compressive strength
(UCS) of rock indicated by the site investigation was
138 MPa, with the ground water table at 2.5 m below
the ground surface. The diaphragm wall toe level was
designed to penetrate the lower hard rock layer. For
the diaphragm walls—used as a part of permanent
structures—a special type of joint system was
designed for this project, also in order to obtain better
resistance to lateral forces induced by an earthquake.
After the construction of a primary panel, the
reinforcement cage with the attached I-beam
(700 9 350 9 10 mm) was installed. The reinforcing
cage of the successive or secondary panel was lowered
to provide an overlap at the joint. A typical full
example is given in Table 1. The excavation process
in this specific site was the most consuming part in the
whole process, above all in primary panels. Other
factors which influence the excavation time are:
maintenance, bottom cleaning, recycling/desanding,
steel cage installation, gravel backfill and concreting.
For the offshore use of the trench cutter inside the
monopiles, the only time-consuming part is the
excavation, as no cementing will be performed.
Giving an exact percentage of the cutting time is
always subject to ground conditions and sometimes
site activities/operation too. Therefore, it is hardly
possible to give precise values. For excavating the top
soft soil in the Laojie station to about 15 m a hydraulic
grab was adopted. A BC 25 cutter was selected due to
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Fig. 5 Different cutter teeth. a Standard teeth; b round shank chisel-cutter wheel; c roller bit-cutter wheel

Table 1 Panel excavation rate for the Laojie station job site
Description Primary panel Successive panel

Panel length (m) 5.0 4.4

Panel depth (m) 28.6 28.6
3
Excavation volume (m ) 160.2 100.7
Soil, by grab 84.0 52.8
Rock, by cutter 76.2 47.9
Excavation (h) 28.6 (69.25 %) 17.9 (61.08 %)
Soil, by grab 10.1 6.3
Rock, by cutter 18.5 11.6

supplementary soil investigation with rock strength

Fig. 6 Soil profile of the Laojie station
the requirement of keying into the bedrock for about
9.0 m, the demanding project program and the strict
requirement of verticality. Cutting wheels of 800 mm
fitted with tungsten carbide teeth for rock up to
60 MPa UCS and cutting wheels 800 mm fitted with
round shank chisel teeth for rock up to 120 MPa UCS
were used.
Original soil data showed a maximum UCS of
67 MPa, therefore cutting wheels armored with stan-
dard tungsten carbide teeth were selected for rock
cutting. Due to continuous equipment-/rock-related
problems and a very slow production (0.22–1.12 m3/h
in rock cutting) at the start of the project, a
tests was carried out. It proved that the maximum rock
strength was up to 138 MPa, which is two times higher
than original data 67 MPa, and averaged 101.3 MPa.
To overcome this problem and also economic concern,
it was decided to use cutting wheels armored with
round shank chisel teeth and change 500 pump to 600 for
hard rock cutting. Under such modifications, the net
rock cutting performance successfully improved to an
average of 3 m3/h.
Another project with trench cutter technology was
the Dhauliganga Dam. It is located in the state of
Uttarakhand at the border between India, Nepal and
China. The dam was 56 m high. The crown length of
the dam was 270 m. The dam axis was located at a
V-type valley with very steep side slopes. The bedrock
is formed of biotite gneiss and gneiss with bands of
mica schist with UCS values up to 60 MPa. The valley
deposits were mainly fluvial deposits formed of sand
and gravel (about 25 %) with some bands of marl type
layers. The main characteristic (about 75 %) however
was the presence of boulders throughout the whole
valley section. The boulders were found at any depth
with a size ranging from 20 cm to 6 m with UCS

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Fig. 7 Material excavated with the BC 40 for the Dhauliganga
project
values ranging from 60 to 120 MPa (Beckhaus et al.
2009) (Fig. 7).
The diaphragm wall operations started in mid-
January 2002, following a 2-month mobilization
period, and the last panel was finished in mid-March
2003, that is, 2 months ahead of the construction
schedule. The valley fill with gravel, sand and stones
was in reality very compact, because of glacial
overburden and due to seismic compaction. Therefore,
the amount of soil which had to be excavated by the
cutter was larger than initially planned. The key
equipment was the trench cutter BC 40, equipped with
specially designed rock cutting wheels (round shank
chisel wheels), which can excavate into hard rock such
as granite, basalt, gneiss. The first round shank chisel
wheels were developed for cutting in volcanic andesite
rocks with UCS values up to 200 MPa for the
Shiokawa Dam Project in Japan. The main advantages
of the cutter BC 40 for the Dhauliganga Dam project
were:
• capacity to excavate a trench up to 70 m depth;
• forming of joints between primary and secondary
panels by overcutting;
• forming of rock socket in bedrock;
• breaking of large boulders.
The cut-off wall was constructed as a series of
primary and secondary panels with an overcutting
ratio of 300 mm on each side. Excavation of the panels
is carried out in single bites by hydraulic diaphragm
wall grabs, supported by the box chisel, cross chisel
719
and BC 40 rock cutter. The bite length of the
equipment was 2.8 m. The single bite solution was
selected because it had to be assumed that one panel
would have to stand open for a considerably long time.
The average net performance of the round shank chisel
wheels was 2.9 m3/h. Figure 8 shows a performance
analysis of two panels excavated with RSC and roller
bits. Figure 8a shows the use of RSC wheels from a
depth of about 30 m, reaching a cutting speed of
0.68 m/h for this panel. Figure 8b shows the use of
roller bits from a depth of about 35 m, reaching a
cutting speed of 0.64 m/h for this panel. The concern
was not only the control of trench verticality, but also
the UCS of boulder reached 120 MPa which is very
difficult for RSC. When using roller bits cutter wheels,
which can handle the UCS up to 250 MPa, the
chiseling in principle is not required.
For the Puclaro Dam (Chile) a vertical concrete
barrier wall was constructed at the waterside dam foot
as a diaphragm wall to a depth of 60 m with a total
wall area of 16,500 m2. The top of the diaphragm was
directly connected to the bottom of the inclined
surface concrete slab. The construction of the dia-
phragm wall at the Puclaro Dam project is a very good
example which proves the technical and economic
feasibility of the diaphragm walling technology for
forming a watertight cut-off wall even in very difficult
soil conditions. It also shows very clearly that such a
task can only be performed when combining the merits
of various excavation technologies. The subsoil in the
valley was mainly consisting of alluvial sediments
which were deposited in the eroded valley cut. The
first 15 m were composed by dense alluvial gravels
and cobbles with high permeability (k-values ranging
from 10-2 to 10-4 m/s). Below 15 m heterogeneous
strata consisting of very dense sands, gravels, cobbles
and boulders with lower permeability were found.
Figure 9 shows a boulder encountered in this job site.
The valley flanks consisted of hard rock (sandstone on
one side and andesite with a compressive strength of
up to 180 MPa on the other side). They had an
inclination of up to 45 to a depth of 40 m towards the
valley center. The subsoil conditions were so complex
that the use of one type of equipment only would not
have made it possible to construct a diaphragm wall as
required in the specifications. The diaphragm wall was
constructed with a combination of excavation
equipments.
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Fig. 8 a, b Performance
analysis of a panel
excavated during the
Dhauliganga project

The first 15 m were excavated by grabs because
bentonite losses in high permeable soil could be solved
using a grab and adding just sand or using thick
bentonite slurry into the trench during the excavation
process. For the lower part of the Puclaro Project a BC
30 cutter was selected. It has a weight of about 40 tons
and is mounted on an 80 tons hydraulic crane and
powered by a hydraulic unit with 630 kW. The trench
cutter was chosen because the creation of joints at
60 m deep diaphragm wall panels could be resolved
very well both technically and economically by
cutting into the already concreted adjacent primary

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Fig. 9 Boulder encountered in the Puclaro Dam
panels. Besides, the bottom of the cut-off wall had to
be keyed into the bedrock with a minimum of 50 cm at
any location. The steep dipping of the rock with 40
required a socket length of up to 3 m ensuring the
minimum of 60 cm at any location. This requirement
could only be fulfilled with a trench cutter which is
equipped with roller bits.
Brunner et al. (2011) report the use of a low
headroom trench cutter CBC25/MBC30 for cut-off
walls for a 240 MW Yeleh hydroelectric plant in the
South of Sichuan province (Fig. 10). The foundation
treatment included the construction of a 75 m deep
and 1 m thick concrete cut-off wall inside a 6 m
Fig. 10 Longitudinal section of cut-off system at Yeleh
hydropower plant axis. 1 Right bank cut-off wall upper portion
with grouting joint to tunnel; 2 tunnel for construction of right
bank cut-off wall at lower portion; 3 right bank cut-off wall
721
wide 9 6.5 m high tunnel. The excavated volume for
the Yeleh cut-off wall was about 19,000 m2 in very
dense sand, cobble and boulder formations.
Folk (2008) reports that the region contains glaciers
and abundant signs of glaciation. In this area the
Triassic strata are dominated by a succession of marine
clastic rocks, with subordinate carbonate rocks, and
basic to intermediate-basic volcanic rocks. Cretaceous
granite bodies of what in China is called the Yanshan
Orogeny intrude the Triassic strata. These granites
which contain anomalously high Bi and Be contents
are related to several mineral occurrences in the region
(Folk 2008). Typical geology of the area was exposed
quartz-feldspar rock face on the left bank and more
than 200 m thick alluvium and lake deposit on the right
bank. Soil type consisted of sand and silt (40 %), basalt
cobbles with dimensions ranging between 60 and
200 mm (ca. 35 %), gravel (20 %) and basalt boulders
with diameters from 200 mm (5 %). The strength of
boulders and cobbles was estimated to range between
100 and 160 MPa.
The projects described above were chosen because
their geologies are, in part, similar to the glacial
geologies of the North and Baltic Sea, where big
boulders and cobbles may jeopardize the pile driving
process. Table 2 presents a list of projects, where rock
type and UCS values are provided.
lower portion; 4 right bank curtain grouting; 5 river bed cut-off
wall; 6 left bank cut-off wall; 7 left bank curtain grouting; 8
tunnel for construction of left bank curtain grouting; 9
compacted asphalt concrete (after Brunner et al. 2011)
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Table 2 Project information based on job site results with

geology, UCS values and type of teeth
Country Rock UCS Teeth
(MPa)

Canada Granite 250 Roller

bits
Japan Andesite 250 Roller
bits
Japan Andesite 200 Roller
bits
Japan Andesite 150 Roller
bits
Japan Andesite 100 Roller
bits
Taiwan Quartz–sandstone 120 Roller
bits
Fig. 11 Correlation of the cutting performance with the UCS Austria Limestone 145 Roller
values of the rock in situ. The values shown in the diagram refer bits
to projects already performed. It is not expected the same exact Chile Andesite 140 Roller
performance in future projects in similar geological conditions bits
Singapore Granite 176 Roller
It is not possible to show the single performance due bits
to a contract agreement with contractors and custom- Singapore Granite 270 Roller
bits
ers. However, based on the results, it is possible to
Austria Quartz–phillite 120 Roller
observe how the trench cutter net performance
bits
decreases not linearly with UCS of the cut rocks, but
Canada Quartz–phillite 120 Roller
with a logarithmic path (coefficient of determination bits
R2 = 0.72) (Fig. 11). It is important to point out that Canada Granite/gneiss 170 RSC
the values shown are merely informative and they refer China Granite 138 RSC
to projects already carried out. For future projects, it is India Gneiss 120 RSC
not to be expected that the same performance can be China Granite 100 RSC
obtained in similar conditions. Trench cutter perfor- China Weathered tuff 30 RSC
mance depends not only on the UCS, but also on RQD India Quartz boulders 200 RSC
values, water content, state of the rock, type of rock,
Hong Kong Granite 150 RSC
presence and type of joints and type of teeth used for
Portugal Basalt 200 RSC
cutting the rock. Based on the results above, it is
South Granite/Gneiss 190 RSC
possible to state that the trench cutter technology Africa
might be suitable for being used as relieve drilling for Sudan Gneiss 110 RSC
big monopiles. Spagnoli and Weixler (2013b) describe Australia Basalt 250 RSC
the new technological development also based on the China Weathered conglomerate/ 40 Standard
use of trench cutter for offshore diamond exploration. sandstone
For the preparation for that project, cobbles of up to China Weathered mudstone 15 Standard
300 mm diameter were placed in the test pit and mixed China Weathered diorite 40 Standard
with steel bolts and nuts. The mixture was subse- Italy Limestone 100 Standard
quently excavated by a standard BC 30 cutter and Switzerland Granite 100 Standard
separated into its components by a screening plant.

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Geotech Geol Eng (2014) 32:713–724
Fig. 12 Sketch of the guide frame and trench cutter for monopile
support; a the trench cutter with the special frame used for drilling
the plug out; b the guide frame from above within the monopile;
c the trench cutter in the monopile for excavating boulders (mod-
ified after Spagnoli and Weixler 2013b)
The test clearly demonstrated that all types of cobbles
could be broken down by the cutter wheels and even
metal particles with a specific gravity of 7.8 g/cm3
could be lifted and conveyed by the mud pump
(Spagnoli and Weixler 2013b).
Once the problematic site inside the pile has been
reached the cutter tool is able to move in the two
directions (± in the x direction) within the borehole by
means of a special guide frame with a weight of 30
tons (Fig. 12). It is aimed at specifically cutting the
erratics which impede the pile driving. Thanks to the
special guide frame the trench cutter is also able to
rotate of ±90 within the borehole. The verticality of
the trench cutter and thus the trench alignment are
measured on two axes by means of two independent
inclinometers. Data provided by the inclinometers is
processed by a computer on-board the base carrier and
displayed on-line. The trench cutter, together with the
guide frame, might also be able to clean out the soil
723
plug. The trench cutters are designed for depths (water
and soil) up to 250 m.
Current relieve drilling for offshore piles both for
oil & gas and renewable energy applications are
performed by the top drilling units. Because of the lack
of performance data and literature information is not
possible to make a direct comparison with the offshore
trench cutter technology. However, one of the pecu-
liarities of the top drilling unit is the addition of the
drilling rods which is time-consuming. The trench
cutter does not need any drill rod addition as it is a
continuos drilling method.
One possible way to use the trench cutter for
offshore projects when pile refusal is reached is:
1. Hammer is removed from the top of the pile;
2. Frame is introduced with the trench cutter in the
pile;
3. Drilling starts;
4. Spoil can be either discharged in situ as done for
the BSD3000 project for the EMEC turbine
(Spagnoli et al. 2013) or stored on the jack-up/
vessel for late disposal;
5. Once the problematic section is drilled out, the
trench cutter is removed and the hammer is put
again on the top of the pile.
Even though the trench cutter may be used both
from a turbine installation vessel (similar to the MPI
resolution) and from a DP vessel, which however will
increase the initial costs of installation, the crane used
for controlling the trench cutter must be designed for
working in offshore conditions.
5 Conclusions
The paper showed four case histories of trench cutter
job sites in difficult geologies. Trench cutters are
normally used in the foundation engineering for
excavating diaphragm walls in order to facilitate
certain construction activities, such as retaining walls,
cut-off provisions to support deep excavation, final
walls for basements or other underground structure
(e.g. tunnel and shaft). The excavation of diaphragm
walls depends very much on several factors such as the
UCS, RQD values, water content, state of the rock,
type of rock and type of teeth used for cutting the rock.
Currently offshore monopiles are installed by ham-
mering them into the sub-soils. However, driving-
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724
drilling technique might be used when the monopiles
are installed in glacial areas such as the North and
Baltic Sea, where boulders can be encountered.
Twenty-eight projects were analyzed based on the
net trench cutter performance based on the UCS
values. The relation shows that the cutter net perfor-
mance decreases logarithmically for increasing UCS
of the cut rocks. The results are not universal and they
cannot in any form be used for interpreting future job
site projects in similar geological conditions.
In the typical offshore wind projects, the water
depths for monopile installation are between 10 and
30 m, which means that the hydrostatic pressure is
around 1–3 bar. Since the UCS of the rock is in the
range of 100–300 MPa, the hydrostatic pressure will
not have a significant influence on the cutting force.
Therefore, the standard trench cutter could be used.
Based on the results shown in the manuscript it is
possible to state that offshore trench cutter technology
might be suitable for supporting monopile installa-
tions without any modification on the cutting wheels in
the case where the piles are hammered in glacial
geology, and relieve drilling might be necessary.
Acknowledgments The authors wish to thank BAUER
Maschinen GmbH for the permission to publish the data and
Ms. Englert-Dougherty for the legal revision of the text. Thanks
also to the anonymous reviewers, who considerably improved
the quality of the manuscript.
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