Construction

Technology 2
ECE10306
CHAPTER 3
BASEMENTS FOR BUILDINGS

SHYAM AGASTHYA, Senior Lecturer

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
National University of Science and Technology
MUSCAT
 Chapter Content
● Introduction
● Methods of Basement Construction
● Techniques of Basement Excavation
● Controlling Groundwater Intrusion
● Shoring
● Underpinning
● Waterproofing for Basements

2
Shyam Agasthya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUST, OMAN
 Introduction
● Basements are common in high rise buildings and are used as car
parking, storage of services and underground dwelling areas

● Basement is also called as Deep Pit and it means excavations are

over 4.5m

● The main purpose of creating basement is to

○ Provide additional space in the building
○ Perform as buoyancy raft
○ Reduce net bearing pressure by removal of soil

3
Shyam Agasthya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUST, OMAN
 Methods of Basement Construction
● The three common methods of basement construction are
○ Construction by Sheet Pile Supports
○ Construction by RCC Diaphragm Wall
○ Construction by Bored Pile or Secant Pile Wall

● Whatever may be the method chosen, it is essential that

excavation is adequately supported, ground water properly
removed and shoring and underpinning is properly done

4
Shyam Agasthya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUST, OMAN
 Methods of Basement Construction
● Basement Construction using Sheet Piles
○ It is the best method for sites where the space around
excavation is insufficient for sloping back of sides
○ Sheet piles comprises of row of piles which interlock
with one another to form a continuous wall which is
either temporary or permanent
○ These piles are made of rolled steel sections and the
interlocking system should be waterproof so that
groundwater should not enter inside excavation

5
Shyam Agasthya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUST, OMAN
 Methods of Basement Construction
● Basement Construction using Sheet Piles

6
Shyam Agasthya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUST, OMAN
 Methods of Basement Construction
● Basement Construction using RCC Diaphragm Wall
○ A diaphragm wall is constructed by excavation in a
trench which is temporarily supported by bentonite
slurry
○ On reaching founding level, the steel reinforcement is
lowered into the trench followed by concrete to
displace the bentonite
○ This method is suitable for sites where obstructions in
the ground prevent sheet piles from being driven and
where occurrence of groundwater is unfavourable for
other methods of support
7
Shyam Agasthya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUST, OMAN
 Methods of Basement Construction
● Basement Construction using RCC Diaphragm Wall

8
Shyam Agasthya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUST, OMAN
 Methods of Basement Construction
● Basement Construction using RCC Diaphragm Wall

9
Shyam Agasthya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUST, OMAN
 Methods of Basement Construction
● Basement Construction using Bored Pile
○ Contiguous bored pile wall is a line of bored piles
installed close to each other
○ Smaller diameter micro piles are installed in between
each adjacent pile to fill the gaps between main piles
○ The gap between the micro piles and main piles are
grouted using concrete
○ This method is used when builtup areas where noise
and vibration should be limited

10
Shyam Agasthya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUST, OMAN
 Methods of Basement Construction
● Basement Construction using Bored Pile

11
Shyam Agasthya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUST, OMAN
 Techniques of Basement Excavation
● There are three methods of basement excavation
○ Open Cut Method
○ Cut and Cover Method / Bottom Up Method
○ Top Down Method

12
Shyam Agasthya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUST, OMAN
 Techniques of Basement Excavation
● Open Cut Method
○ It is the simplest and most straightforward technique of
providing an excavation to the required depth
○ The sides of excavation are sloped to provide stability
○ Upon excavation to required depth, basement is
constructed from bottom upwards
○ After completion of construction, remaining excavated
areas between basement and side slope are backfilled

13
Shyam Agasthya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUST, OMAN
 Techniques of Basement Excavation
● Open Cut Method

14
Shyam Agasthya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUST, OMAN
 Techniques of Basement Excavation
● Cut and Cover Technique
○ This technique is employed in constrained sites where
ground movements to adjacent areas has to be kept to
a minimum
○ Retaining walls are required to support the excavation
with the provision of bracing as the excavation
proceeds downward till the required depth
○ The basement is then constructed bottom up with
removal of temporary struts

15
Shyam Agasthya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUST, OMAN
 Techniques of Basement Excavation
● Cut and Cover Technique

16
Shyam Agasthya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUST, OMAN
 Techniques of Basement Excavation
● Top Down Technique
○ Top down construction is the reverse method of bottom
up construction in which the permanent structure is
built from top to bottom of the basement along with
deep excavations
○ In this method, the basement floors are constructed as
the excavation progresses
○ The basement concrete slabs act as lateral bracing for
the perimeter wall system

17
Shyam Agasthya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUST, OMAN
 Techniques of Basement Excavation
● Top Down Technique
○ Ground level and subsequent basement slabs are
poured, accessing holes left to allow excavation
beneath
○ As each subsequent subgrade level is completed, the
floors act as lateral bracing for the perimeter wall
system

18
Shyam Agasthya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUST, OMAN
 Techniques of Basement Excavation
● Top Down Technique

19
Shyam Agasthya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUST, OMAN
 Controlling Groundwater Intrusion
● Groundwater refers to residual water that percolates
downward to the water table after runoff, evaporation and
evapotranspiration
● There are four basic methods of controlling groundwater
intrusion into the basement construction
○ Open Pumping
○ Pre Drainage
○ Cutoff
○ Exclusion

20
Shyam Agasthya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUST, OMAN
 Controlling Groundwater Intrusion
● Open Pumping
○ Here the water is permitted to flow into an excavation
and collected in ditches and sumps before being
pumped away

21
Shyam Agasthya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUST, OMAN
 Controlling Groundwater Intrusion
● Pre Drainage
○ Here the groundwater is lowered before excavation
using pumped wells, well points, ejectors and drains

22
Shyam Agasthya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUST, OMAN
 Controlling Groundwater Intrusion
● Cutoff
○ Water entry is cutoff with steel sheet piling, diaphragm
walls, bore pile or grouts

● Exclusion
○ Water is excluded with compressed air, slurry shield or
earth pressure shield

23
Shyam Agasthya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUST, OMAN
 Shoring
● Shoring is a system to provide temporary support to
structures that are in an unsafe condition till such time as
they have been made more stable

● If the excavation depth exceeded 1.5m, shoring is necessary

● Until adequate shoring is provided, no person or equipment

shall be allowed to enter the basement area

24
Shyam Agasthya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUST, OMAN
 Shoring

25
Shyam Agasthya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUST, OMAN
 Underpinning
● It is a process of strengthening and stabilizing the
foundation of an existing building

● It involves excavating under an existing foundation and

building up a new supporting structure from a lower level
to the underside of the existing foundation

● The objective is to transfer the load from the foundation to

a new bearing at a lower level
26
Shyam Agasthya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUST, OMAN
 Underpinning

27
Shyam Agasthya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUST, OMAN
 Waterproofing for Basements
● BS 8102: 2009 is the code of practice for protection of
below ground structures against water from ground defines
the below performance levels for dryness of building
basements

28
Shyam Agasthya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUST, OMAN
 Waterproofing for Basements
● There are three types of waterproofing systems for
basements
○ Membrane System
○ Integral System
○ Cavity or Drainage System

● In membrane system a physical barrier is formed by using a

sheet membrane or liquid membrane or both to the flow of
water

29
Shyam Agasthya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUST, OMAN
 Waterproofing for Basements
● Integral system provides protection against water
penetration based on the use of admixtures with
waterproofing properties in the concrete mix to form
concrete with surfaces that are repellent to water and / or
to fill the capillary pores

● A cavity system allows water to enter the structure, contain

and direct it to sumps from where it is removed by drainage
or pumping

30
Shyam Agasthya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUST, OMAN