1 2 3

Construct perimeter walls. Excavate for roof. De-water to first basement.

Construct bored piles with Cast roof skeleton. Excavate to first basement.
plunge columns

4 5 6

Cast first basement De-water to second basement. Cast whole of second basement.
skeleton Excavate to second basement. Line perimeter walls from roof to
first basement.

7 8 9

Encase columns from second Line perimeter walls from Waterproof and backfill roof.
to first basement. first to second basement. Cease de-watering.
Fill holes in first basement. Fill holes in roof.

Fig 4.4 Staged construction sequence, semi top-down

46 Chapter Four IStructE Design and construction of deep basements including cut-and-cover structures
excavated ground surface can be expected, the lowest
basement floor may need to be isolated in the short
term from upward pressure from the soil below it. It is
particularly applied to basements and cut-and-cover
construction of greater depth; time and cost may be
saved. The apparent advantage of simultaneous
excavation and superstructure activities may be
diminished by lack of site space and access for these
operations. Some savings may result from the reduced
need for propping to soffit shutters for floor slabs cast
before excavation beneath them.
The sequence of top-down requires structural
column installation as ‘plunge columns’, with the
column foundation below final excavation level.
The development of the construction sequence Fig 4.5a Semi top-down construction,
was originally shown by Zinn4.1, although the earliest Singapore M.R.T, C705 Boon Keng Station
deepest examples were those in Paris4.2. In later years, © Benaim
the method was developed in Hong Kong and now
virtually all deep basement works there are
constructed by this method.

4.2.5 Semi-top-down construction

This method of construction uses the ground-floor
slab or substructure roof as a working platform with
large openings, the slab being designed to act as a
frame to provide lateral support to the external walls.
Excavation takes place beneath this floor and the
arisings are removed through the large openings. This
technique, with only a skeletal structure for the
working platform and one intermediate floor, was
used for a 25m-deep excavation for station
construction on the Singapore MRT4.3 (see Figure
4.4). After initial construction of the roof, its skeletal Fig 4.5b Semi top-down construction,
plan shape provided a working platform for Singapore M.R.T, Illustrating Plunge Columns
excavation down to concourse level using backhoes © Benaim
and long-arm excavators. The concourse slab was
then built, again with large openings to allow
excavation beneath, at the same time supporting the
sidewalls to the box. Figure 4.5 (a-c) show semi-top-
down construction for cut-and-cover construction on
Singapore MRT works.

4.2.6 Bottom-up and top-down methods

Combinations of bottom-up and top-down methods
of basement construction can have advantages. For
example, the central core may be constructed as if for
bottom-up, leaving the perimeter walls behind soil
berms or temporarily braced. Perimeter top-down
construction is then propped from the central floors.
This mix of methods was used for the basement of
the Main tower in Frankfurt4.4. The five-storey Fig 4.5c Semi top-down construction,
basement, in weak Frankfurt Clay below the 198m- Singapore M.R.T, C705 Potong Pasir Station
high tower, was founded on a piled raft. This part of © Benaim

IStructE Design and construction of deep basements including cut-and-cover structures Chapter Four
47