CHAPTER 2

PRELIMINARY WORKS
Ø Water is always present in the ground
Ø Ingress of water can cause problems
§ Flooding of the excavation
§ Collapse of the ground
§ Waterlogged working conditions
§ Undermining of supports to excavation
Ø Reasons why ingress of water must be
removed or controlled
§ To reduce flow of water into the excavation
§ To assist in supporting the excavation safely
§ To increase the bearing capacity of the soil
§ To control artesian pressure
§ To offset quicksand conditions
Ø Pumping from open sump within the
excavation
• Normally sumps are sited within the excavation
area, but may be outside when large quantities
of water have to be pumped
• A minimum of 2 pumps are normally used
• The sump is excavated to the full depth required
to drain excavation
• Filter should be used to prevent loss of fine soil
• Drainage channel should be dug towards the
sumps to prevent water remaining on the
surface of the excavation
Ø Installing well points or bored wells outside
the excavation
• Should be considered when the water table is too
high
• Or when subsoil is too porous to dispose of
groundwater
• Mechanical wells 75mm in diameter closely
spaced around excavation
• Suction pump connected to a discharge pipe to
drain
• Well points are effective up to 5 metres below
the suction pump inlet, and therefore at greater
depths they will need to be set in stages
Ø Sheet piling around the excavation
• Is used to seal off the flow of water when there is
a layer of impermeable strata below the reduced
level
• In cases such as this, the water can be virtually
sealed off
• It should be noted that this may NOT work in all
circumstances due to the presence of an artesian
head of pressure
Ø Earthwork support
• Providing everything requisite to uphold the
side of the excavation
• Timber planking and strutting
v Firm soil - May be excavated to the full depth
v Weak & waterlogged soil – supported BEFORE
excavation by driving timber runners
v Or a drive and dig procedure
• Steel sheet piling
v Corrugated sheets of steel are driven so that the
edges overlap