Building

Construction I

LECT. AR. PRADIP POKHAREL

LECTURE: 4 TIMBERING IN TRENCHES

TEMPORARY SUPPORT
 METHODS OF TIMBERING
1. Stay Bracing
o open timbering
o for firm / stiff / rocky hard soil
o for excavation not exceeding about 2m in depth
o consists of placing vertical sheets called polling
boards, opposite to each other against the walls
and holding them in position by one or two rows
of struts
o polling boards are placed at an interval of 2 –
4m and extend to full height of trench
o polling board : 200 x 40 – 50 mm., struts : 100
x 100 mm for up to 2m wide excavation and
200 x 200 mm for up to 4m wide excavation
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
o for loose / loamy / dry sandy soil
o for depth of excavation not exceeding 4m
o 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
o struts are then provided across the wales
Horizontal Sheeting
o for loose soil
o horizontal sheets are provided longitudinally
and supported by vertical waling and horizontal
struts
o if height is more, braces are also provided along
with struts
Vertical sheeting for deep trenches

o for up to 10m deep

trenches
o for soft ground

o 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
o each stage is 3m in
depth

o offset : 25 – 30 cm per
stage
o separate vertical
sheeting for each stage
supported by horizontal
wales and struts
3. Runner System
o closed timbering
o for extremely loose, soft and wet soil
o for soil needing immediate support after
excavation
o like vertical system except for, runners are
provided in place of vertical sheets
o runners with iron shoes at the end
o runners are driven 30 cm in advance by
hammering
o wales and struts are provided as in vertical
sheeting
4. Sheet piling.
This method is adopted when
(i.) soil to be excavated is soft or loose
(ii) depth of excavation is large
(iii) width of trench is also large and
(iv) there is sub-soil water.
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.