Sheet Piling Works

GATES shall provide engineered solutions with the expertise in sheet piling with correct design, and can almost completely eliminate the risk of landslide, erosion, collapse or water breech. Construction sites are teeming with people and expensive equipment, so there really is no excuse for taking risks. With a simple survey, an optimal retention plan can be designed, minimizing construction costs just as much as safety risks. Properly designed and driven sheet piling can provide outstanding protection to construction sites and permanent retention walls.

Sheet piling is commonly used for excavating or to provide protection from bodies of water. Sheet piling is also the most reliable and cost effective method to prevent shifts of soil or breeches of water from damaging the foundation or facility.

Usually, the material used to make piling sheets is steel, but wood and vinyl sheets are also used at times. The concept is to design narrow, interlocking / over lapping sheets that can be connected and driven into the ground to form a wall. Stability and strength are defined by the shape and material of the sheets. Steel is considered to be the most appropriate material if the requirement is to withstand large bending forces and pressure.

Driving steel sheets into solid ground is not a low intensity process. Using the right impact drivers is critical to make sure the strength of the sheets is not compromised during the process. Each material has its own recommended driving methods and hammers to avoid costly mistakes. It is important to ensure that any steel sheets are professionally driven according to manufacturer recommendations.

The selection of sheet piling is dependent on factors, such as:

  • The type of work, for example. whether it is permanent or temporary.
  • Site conditions.
  • The required depth of piles.
  • The bending moments involved.
  • The nature of the structure.
  • The type of protection required.

Uses of Sheet Piles

  • When construction is taking place in a confined space, then temporary walls are used to prevent cave-ins; offering protection to the workers working in the vicinity of the area.
  • To support excavations for parking structures, basements, foundations, pump houses, and to construct cofferdams, seawalls and bulkheads.
  • Pilling is also used to prevent floods to structures close to shorelines.
  • To protect foundations from water damage.

Types of Sheet Piling Anchored Sheet Piles

Anchoring the sheet piles causes less penetration, which is economical when the height is less than 6m. This is because the anchor walls are pre-stressed to remove the slack from the system. It remains as it is until creep occurs. Anchor walls provide better back-slope subsidence because they undergo less lateral deflection. The anchors create a large gravity wall by holding the soil mass between the anchors and the wall in compression.

Cantilever Sheet Piles

These are usually used for heights of 6m or less. In geotechnical practices, cantilever embedded retaining structures are used as sheet walls for temporary retaining structures and diaphragms & pile walls as permanent retaining structures.

Cofferdams

When a bridge is being built, cofferdams can be used as a temporary structure designed to keep soil and water out of the excavation. It provides a dry work environment underwater by sealing the structure with concrete to prevent water from seeping in. As a specialist sheet piling contractor, GATES is experienced in all aspects of driven sheet piling throughout different environment’s using the latest technology