I N F ORMATION SHEET I

Chapter II: -Braced Cuts/cofferdam: Construction Excavations

2.1 Unsupported Excavations

Shallow excavations can be made without supporting the surrounding material if there is adequate space
to establish slopes at which the material can stand. The steepest slopes that can be used in a given
locality are best determined by experience. Many building sites extend to the edges of the property lines.
Under these circumstances, the sides of the excavation have to be made vertical and must usually be
supported by bracings. An unsupported cut with free slopes in soft cohesive soils are limited to very
shallow depths (max. 3 m). Independent from the depth, however, unsupported excavations require
protection using different techniques, such as:
a) Slope protection against erosion using geo-textile membrane,
b) Providing a filter layer made of gravel or single-grained concrete
The depth of excavation of unprotected excavation in soft soils should not normally exceed 3 m. A slope
up to 45° (1:1) can be used for temporary slopes without a need for further verification of its safety,
provided that slope is located above the groundwater. The height of a safe and long-term stable slope is
also dependant on the plasticity and the undrained strength of the soft soil. Soils with low plasticity are
usually prone to flow, especially when they contain fine sand and silt seems filled with water.

By large excavation works under groundwater, a verification of the safety of the sloped excavation is
necessary. Thereby, the standard safety factors or the mobilization of the shear strength can be used,
provided that the expected deformation of the soil will affect neither buildings nor pipe lines, other
structures or streets.

In all other cases and deep excavations in soft soils, providing support to the excavation using wall
systems, struts, anchors, raking props, bottom slab, etc. is necessary and cannot be ignored.
2.2 Excavation Retaining Systems

It is a legal necessity with any new construction to provide protection to the adjacent structures when
excavating to any appreciable depth. Without adequate lateral support the new excavation will almost
certainly cause loss of bearing capacity, settlements, or lateral movements to existing property.
New construction may include cut-and-cover work when public transportation or public
utility systems are installed below ground and the depth is not sufficient to utilize tunneling
operations.
The new construction may include excavation from depths of 1 to 20 m below existing
ground surface for placing any type of foundation from a spread footing to a mat, or for
allowing one or more subbasements.
All of this type of construction requires installation of a lateral retaining system of some type before
excavation starts. Excavations with lateral support are called braced cuts.

Peck 1969 summarized the experiences with performance of deep excavation support system, and the
factors that are most important in controlling the performance. These factors include:
a) The type and strength of the soil around and beneath the excavation,
b) The excavation and supporting procedure, and
c) Workmanship.
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Beside the above factors, the groundwater condition, the flexibility or rigidity of the components
used for construction, the time taken for construction are also important factors that influence the
performance of excavations.

Instructor: Addiszemen T,
2.3 Types of Walls

We might group these commonly used walls as follows:

a) Braced walls using Wales and struts
b) Braced sheeting
c) Soldier beam and lagging
d) Tie back anchorage
e) Bored-pile walls
A. Braced Walls Using Wales and Struts
Common methods of bracing the sides when the depth of excavation does not exceed about 3 m are
shown in Figs 2.1(a) and (b). The practice is to drive vertical timber planks known as sheeting along the
sides of the excavation. The sheeting is held in place by means of horizontal beams called Wales that in
turn are commonly supported by horizontal struts extending from side to side of the excavation. The
struts are usually of timber for widths not exceeding about 2 m. For greater widths metal pipes called
Trench Braces are commonly used.
They are seldom used today except in small projects such as bracing for water and sewer line
trenches that are over about 2.5 m deep.
They are not much used for large excavations in urban areas since the struts and rakers produce too
much clutter in the excavated area and increase both the labor cost and the possibility of accidents.
B. Braced Sheeting
When the excavation depth exceeds about 5 to 6 m, the use of vertical timber sheeting will become
uneconomical. Accordingly, steel sheet piles are used around the boundary of the excavation. As the
soil is removed from the enclosure, Wales and struts are inserted. The Wales are commonly of steel and
the struts may be of steel or wood. The process continues until the excavation is complete. Advantages of
both the soldier beam and lagging and the braced sheeting systems are that they are easy to install (unless the
excavation zone is rocky) and to remove and that the materials can be reused a number of times.
C. Soldier Beam And Lagging
In most types of soil, it may be possible to eliminate sheet piles and to replace them with a series of H
piles spaced 2 to 4 m apart. The H piles, known as soldier piles or soldier beams, are driven with their
flanges parallel to the sides of the excavation as shown in Figs 2.1(b). As the soil next to the piles is
removed horizontal boards known as lagging are introduced as shown in the figure and are wedged
against the soil outside the cut. The lagging timbers, which are slightly shorter than the spacing but on the
order of 50 to 100 mm thick, are installed behind the front flanges (or clipped to the front flanges using
proprietary clips) to retain the soil as excavation proceeds. If the lagging is behind the flange, some hand
excavation is usually required to get the lagging into place
As the general depth of excavation advances from one level to another, Wales and struts are inserted in
the same manner as for steel sheeting. The soldier beam and lagging system is popular for temporary
construction.
D. Tie Back Anchorage
If the width of a deep excavation is too great to permit economical use of struts across the entire
excavation, tiebacks are often used as an alternative to cross-bracings as shown in Figs 2.1 (c). Inclined
holes are drilled into the soil outside the sheeting or H piles. Tensile reinforcement is then inserted and
concreted into the hole. Each tieback is usually prestressed before the depth of excavation is increased.
The principal disadvantage is that the adjacent property owner may not allow encroachment (or request a
royalty payment deemed too high) to install the anchorage. Since anchorages are not removed they represent
permanent obstacles in the underground area around the perimeter of the construction site. It is usually more
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economical when using tieback slopes in the range of 15° to 20° to shop-drill the holes for the anchor rods at
approximately that slope (the hole must be slightly oversize anyway) in the plate to produce an anchor point that
costs less than cutting a channel to produce a slope.

Instructor: Addiszemen T,
 Figure 2.1 Cross sections, through typical bracing in deep excavation,
a. Sides retained by steel sheet piles,
b. Sides retained by H piles and lagging,
c. One of several tieback systems for supporting vertical sides of open cut.
Several sets of anchors may be used, at different elevations (Peck,
1969)

When the soil is rocky or the excavation is into rock, one only needs to drive the piling to the rock
interface. Sometimes, especially with sheet piling, it is impossible to drive the piling the full depth of the
excavation. When this situation occurs, it may be possible to step the construction as shown in Fig. 2.2.

An equation for the sheeting depth for each stage is given on the figure.
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Instructor: Addiszemen T,
 2 Critical deepth D (SF = 1) when soil conditions
Figure 2.2 c doo not allow shheet piling to be
b driven the full depth off
excavaation and it is possible to reeduce lower work
w areas.
E. Boreed-pile wallss
Pile wallss are used in following cirrcumstances:
- It isi too difficullt to drive solddier beams orr sheet piling..
- It is necessary to have a nearly watertight wall so as not to low wer the GWT T outside thee constructionn
perrimeter.
- Thhe retaining wall is to be used as a permanent part of the structural system (e.g., the basemennt
waalls).
- It is necessary to use the fuull site space, and adjacennt owners disaallow using their t undergroound space too
insstall tieback anchors
a (or there are alreaddy existing obbstructions such as tunnels or basement walls).
In generral
Duncan n and Benttler 1998 in ndicated th
hat there is a tendencyy to use str
ruts more frequently y
than tie back anch hors. This iss mainly du
ue to the problem assoociated withh the installlation of the
e
tie back
k anchors, i.e.,
i the insstallation of
o anchors might
m lead to settlem
ment or hea aving of the e
ground ini built up area. Someetimes it may also be difficult to install tied
d back anch hors in buillt
up areass due to land
d ownershiip problem.
Page 4 of 17

Instructorr: Addiszemeen T,
 Fiigure 2.3 pilee walls

The folloowing pointss are investiggated during design:

• Settlement of the groun nd surface addjacent to thee excavationn,
• Lateral mov vement of thhe vertical suupports, and
• Heave of th he base of thee excavationn.
Page 5 of 17

Figure 2.4 Exppected Groundd movements associated with

w deep excaavation

Instructorr: Addiszemeen T,
2.4 Soil Pressures on Braced Excavation Walls

In the following subsequent sections, the most important components of these temporary retaining
structures are analyzed and designed, namely
a) Earth pressure analysis, strut and anchor load, and bending moment of the wall,
b) Ground movements in and around an excavation,
The braced or tieback wall is subjected to earth-pressure forces, as are other retaining structures, but
with the bracing and/or tieback limiting lateral wall movement the soil behind the wall is not very likely
to be in the active state. The pressure is more likely to be something between the active and at-rest
state. With tiebacks (and bracing) the wall is pressed against the retained earth, meaning the lateral
pressure profile behind the wall is more trapezoidal than triangular.

Fig. 2.4 Qualitative staged development of earth pressure behind an excavation. The strut force produces lateral
pressures that generally are larger than the active values. The strut force generally changes with time and
installation method.

To design braced excavations (i.e. to select Wales, struts, sheet piles and solider beams.) An
engineer must determine the lateral earth pressure to which the braced cut is subjected.
The theoretical total active earth pressure on braced cut per unit length was calculated using the general
wedge theory. However the analysis does not provide the relationship required for estimating the
variation of lateral pressure with depth, in addition, the movement of the wall doesn’t satisfy the
assumption of the theories. This is a function of several factors:
The type of construction equipments used
The type of soils etc.
For this reasons empirical apparent pressure envelopes are developed based on field observations and
are used for the design of braced cuts. Peck (1969) presented pressure distribution diagrams on braced
cuts. These diagrams are based on a wealth of information collected by actual measurements in the field.
Peck called these pressure diagrams Apparent Pressure Envelopes which represent fictitious pressure
distributions for estimating strut loads in a system of loading.
2.5 Conventional Design of Braced Excavation Walls
The conventional method of designing walls for excavations consists in the following steps:
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Sketch given conditions and indicate all known soil data, stratification, water level, etc.
Compute the lateral pressure diagram using any convenient method, or the procedure outlined in the
following section, depending on the quality (and quantity) of soil data and what is to be retained.
Design the various components such as sheeting, Wales, and struts or tiebacks;
Investigate the stability of the walls against bottom heave or piping.
Instructor: Addiszemen T,
2.6 Pressure Envelop for Braced - Cut Design.
2.6.1 Lateral Earth Pressure in Sand

A. For Deep Cuts Dense Sand

The pressure diagram given in Fig. 2.5 is applicable to dense sands. The struts are to be designed based
on this apparent pressure distribution. The most probable value of any individual strut load is about 25
percent lower than the maximum (Peck, 1969). It may be noted here that this apparent pressure
distribution diagram is based on the assumption that the water table is below the bottom of the cut.

0.2H
γ
φ
c
H
Excavation 0.6H
Depth

0.2H

Pb

Fig 2.5 Lateral earth pressure in Dense Sand

Lateral earth pressure in dense sand will be computed:

Pb = 0.8.Pa.cos δ
Where:
- Pa = Active earth pressure =
- 45
- δ = Angle of wall friction ranges from 0 to 20 degree
- H = depth of excavation

B. For Loose Sand

0.2H
γ
φ
c
H
Excavation 0.8H
Depth
Page 7 of 17

Pb

Fig 2.6 Lateral earth pressure in loose Sand

Instructor: Addiszemen T,
Lateral earth pressure in loose sand will be computed
Pb = 0.8.Pa.cos δ
Where:
• Pa = Active earth pressure =
• 45
• δ = Angle of wall friction ranges from 0 to 20 degree
• H = depth of excavation
C. Lateral Earth Pressure In Soft And Medium Clay
The lateral earth pressure envelop look like the following and is applicable to the conditions that:
γH
> 4,
c
Where c is undrained cohesion for φu =  0

0.3H
γ
φ
c
H
Excavation 0.55H
Depth

0.15H

Pb

Fig 2.7 Lateral earth pressure in soft and medium clay

Lateral earth pressure in soft and medium clay will be computed:

P γH 2q - [maximum Design Value]
2 - [Most Probable Value]
.
Where:
- q = Unconfined compressive strength
- γ =Unit weight of soils
- H = depth of excavation
D. Lateral Earth Pressure In Firm Clay
γH
<4
Lateral earth pressure in Firm clay will be computed: applicable for
c
P 0.2γH to 0.4H. Use average as P 0.2γH
Page 8 of 17

Instructor: Addiszemen T,
 The lateral earth pressure envelop looks like the following

0.25H
γ
φ
c
H
Excavation 0.5H
Depth

0.25H

Pb

Fig 2.8 Lateral earth pressure in soft and medium clay

E. Lateral Earth Pressure In Stratified Soils[Non-Uniform Soils]

0.3H

Hs
Sand
γs
φs 0.55H

Clay
Hc γc
φc
0.15H

Pb

Fig 2.9 Lateral earth pressure in stratified soils[non-uniform soils]

Lateral earth pressure in stratified soils will be computed:

P γ H 2q [Maximum Design Value]

P γ H 2q [Most Probable Value]

.
Use the following average unit weight and equivalent unconfined compressive strength valves:
q eqv =
1
H
[γ S K S H 2 S tanφS + (H − Hs)n qu ]
Page 9 of 17

1
γ avg = [γ S H S + ( H − Hs)γ C ]
H

Instructor: Addiszemen T,
Where:
- γ S = Unit weight of saturated sand
- Ks= Pressure coefficient for sand is equal to 1
- Hs= Total thickness of sand layer
- Hc= Total thickness of sand layer
- q = Unconfined compressive strength of clay
- γc = Saturated unit weight of clay
- N= a coefficient of progressive failure = 0.75

F. Lateral Earth Pressure In Mixed Soils

In order to determine the pressure for mixed soils one has to decide which property is dominant
during the time of excavation.

H1
γ1, φ1,C1

H2
γ2, φ2,C2

H3 γ3, φ3,C3

γ4, φ4,C4
H4

Fig 2.9 Lateral earth pressure in stratified soils [non-uniform soils]

Use equivalent unit weight and cohesion.

1

When using pressure envelopes described above keep the following points in mind:
- They apply for depth greater than 6m.
- They are based on the assumption that water table are below the bottom of excavation
- Sand is drained one with zero pore water pressure
- Clay is undrained and pour water pressure is not considered.
Page 10 of 17

Instructor: Addiszemen T,
2.7 Design of Various Components of Bracings
The components to be designed are the wall the wale and the struts.
 

Plan of excavation

H1

A Where:
H2 Struts • B = width of Excavation
• Hi = vertical spacing
Wall: • L = horizontal spacing
B
sheet pile
H3
C H4
Wale

Fig 2.10 components of a bracing system

A. Wall: sheet pile wall
The design the wall is typically calculated using the assumption that the wall and wale are simply supported
between adjacent Wales and struts, respectively. If the wall or wale is continuous over at least three supports, then
the moment formula for a fixed continuous beam can be used to calculate moments. Hence, the maximum wall or
wale moment, Mmax, can be calculated by the following formula:
.
10
Where:
• = most probable pressure,
• = maximum vertical spacing
The required section module is:

Then select sheet pile sections from manufacturers manual.

Page 11 of 17

Instructor: Addiszemen T,
B. Wale
The Walees can be desiigned similarlly to those foor anchored shheet pile wallls. They may be conservattively taken as
the fixed- end beam.

R R R R

Therefore, conservativvely, the maxximum bendding momentt will be:

.
1
10
Where:
• = most proobable pressuure,
• = maximmum horizonntal spacingg of the strutss
The requuired section module is:

C. Strutts
The strutss are actually
y beam-colum
mns subjected to resist an axial
a compression forces anda bending from membeer
self-weighht. They are designed as a column. Since
S the strrut is a colum mn, the carryying capacityy is inverselyy
proportionnal to the ratio . Thee only means to reduce thee ratio is to
t use intermeediate bracingg.

L=B
Page 12 of 17

Once the largest strut force determined, R, checck the adequaacy of the struut by consideering the bending from thee
self weighht, w.

Instructorr: Addiszemeen T,
The resultting maximum
m bending mooment is:

Try differrent steel secttions from coolumn load taables provided by AISC (1989) or elseewhere. Checkk whether thee
section is adequate or not.
n

2.8 I
Instability
y Due To Heave of
f Bottom of Excav
vation
A braced--cut may fail as a unit duee to unbalancced external forces
f or heavving of the boottom of the excavation. IIf
the externnal forces actiing on opposiite sides of thhe braced cut are unequal, the stability of the entire system has too
be analyzed. If soil on one side of a braced cut iss removed due to some unnnatural forcess the stability of the systemm
will be im
mpaired. How wever, we aree concerned hereh about thee stability off the bottom of
o the cut. Twwo cases mayy
arise. Theey are
1.. Heaving in clay
c soil
2.. Heaving in cohesion
c less soil

2.8.1 For coh

hesive soi
ils
When a braced excavattion (sometim mes called a cofferdam)
c is located eitherr over or in a soft clay straatum as in Figg.
2.11, the clay may flow beneath thhe wall and innto the excavvation, produccing heave iff sufficient sooil is removedd
that the reesisting overb
burden pressurre is too smalll.

The presssure loss from m excavation results in a base instabillity, with the soil flow producing a risse in the basee
elevation commonly teermed heave, which can raange from a few fe millimeters to perhaps 300 mm. Thhis case can bee
analyzed from equation ns developed from Mohr’ss circle in lateeral earth presssure theories.
The danger of heaving g is greater iff the bottom of the cut is soft clay. Evven in a soft clay bottom,, two types oof
failure aree possible. Th
hey are
Case 1: When
W the clay below the cuut is homogenneous at least up to a depthh equal 0.7 B where
w B is thhe width of thee
cut.
Case 2: When
W a hard sttratum is met within a depth equal to 0.7 B.
Case 1.
In this insstance the goaal is to providde sufficient depth of the piling of Fig.. 2.11 (a) to prevent
p the sooft underlyingg
clay fromm squeezing in nto the excavaation. For thiss case, using the
t following fig and nothiing at point A,A

Fig 2.11 (a) Cofferdaam on soft claay; (b) theorettical solution

Page 13 of 17

For elemeent A,

For elemeent B,

Instructorr: Addiszemeen T,
Case 2.
This is a general analysis for excavation depth where the depth of excavation is limited such that the
effective bearing capacity of the base soil can be utilized. This more general analysis is as follows (refer
the following Fig.).

Fig. 2.12 Stability of excavation against bottom heave using bearing capacity fundamentals.
Consider block OCBA produces a net vertical pressure on OA of:

Where:

Substituting Ff , and equating:

Page 14 of 17

At the same depth on either side the wall, we obtain:

Instructor: Addiszemen T,
 Critical depth is found by trial and error from the above first eq.

Note
If there is a hard stratum at a depth below point A which is 0.707 , in calculating SF use x
instead of r.
Page 15 of 17

Instructor: Addiszemen T,
2.8.2 In granular soils

A bottom failure in cohesion less soils may occur because of a piping, or quick, condition if the
hydraulic gradient h/L is too large. A flow net analysis may be used as illustrated in the following Fig.
(it does not have to be highly accurate) to estimate when a quick condition may occur.
Possible remedies are to drive the piling deeper to increase the length of the flow path L of Fig. a below
or to reduce the hydraulic head h by less pumping from inside the cell. In a few cases it may be possible
to use a surcharge inside the cell.

Fig 2.13 (a) Conditions for piping, or quick, conditions; (b) conditions for a blow-in

In the above figure, the bottom of the excavation may blow in (boiling) if the pressure head hw indicated
by the piezometer is too great, as follows (SF = 1.0):

Applying SF:

For piping not to occur the critical hydraulic gradient where effective stress will be zero is given
by:

But the exit hydraulic gradient is given by:

∆

Applying SF:
Page 16 of 17

Instructor: Addiszemen T,
Worksheet I
Analysis and Design of Deep Braced Cuts
Solve the following problems.
1. A long trench is excavated in medium dense sand for the foundation of a multistory
building. The sides of the trench are supported with sheet pile walls fixed in place
by struts and Wales as shown in Fig. Ex.2.1. The soil properties are:
γ = 18.5 kN/m3, c = 0 and φ = 38°
Determine:
(a) The pressure distribution on the walls with respect to depth.
(b) Strut loads. The struts are placed horizontally at distances L = 4 m center to
center.
(c) The maximum bending moment for determining the pile wall section.
(d) The maximum bending moments for determining the section of the Wales.

Fig. Ex.2.1.
2. Fig Ex.2.2 Shows a braced cut in medium dense sand. Given γ = 18.5 kN/m3, c = 0
and φ = 38°.
a) Draw the pressure envelope, b. Determine the strut loads, and c. Determine the
maximum moment of the sheet pile section.
The struts are placed laterally at 4 m center to center.

Page 17 of 17

Instructor: Addiszemen T,