What Is Sheet Piling?

Sheet pile refers to a sheet pile driven (vibrated) into the foundation to resist horizontal pressure and water pressure. Sheet piles are mostly used for cofferdams or seepage prevention in water conservancy projects. Commonly used sheet piles are wood plank piles and steel sheet piles. ^[1-2]

Sheet piles are generally wooden boards with concave and convex grooves on both sides, or groove-shaped steel plates with locks on both sides, which sink into the soil in rows to serve as temporary fences for retaining water and soil. It is used for the construction of deeper pits and underground pipelines, and reinforced concrete sheet piles can also be used as permanent retaining structures.

Sheet pile is a special support structure for deep foundation pit excavation. Before the foundation pit is excavated, the sheet pile is driven into the soil. After the foundation pit is excavated, the sheet pile resists horizontal earth pressure and water pressure. To maintain its stability, support or tension anchors can be provided at the appropriate height of the sheet pile. Steel sheet piles are widely used as a support structure due to their high strength, easy installation and recycling. In order to reduce the impact of construction on neighboring buildings and reduce construction costs, more and more projects using cast-in-place pile retaining walls as supporting structures are also being used. ^[3]

Depending on the material of the sheet piles, there are generally wood-like, steel sheet piles and reinforced concrete sheet piles.

There are many construction tools for sheet piles, which can be divided into the following types according to the different driving methods:

1. Impact hits the machine. Have free fall,

(1) The recesses and tenons of the wood piles are smooth and smooth, and should be tested and numbered before driving.

(2) The initial pile length of reinforced concrete prefabricated sheet piles (including steel sheet piles) shall be 2 to 3 m longer than other piles. Corner piles shall be provided at the corners. The tip of the starting pile and the corner pile should be made symmetrical.

(3 Sheet pile construction shall be provided with guide fences along the two sides of the sheet piles. The fences shall have sufficient strength and rigidity. Sheet piles shall be entered in accordance with the surrounding drawings and shall be inspected and corrected at any time.

(4) For sheet pile driving, it is better to use a tenon and a tenon.

(5) Sheet piles or corner piles to be driven in shall be kept vertical, otherwise measures shall be taken.

(6) Before the steel sheet piles are driven in, the locks should be checked and greased or greased. The steel sheet piles used for permanent engineering should be implemented according to the design requirements. The driving of steel sheet piles should be carried out in sections and steps, and not in a single block. For semi-closed or fully-closed sheet piles, the number of blocks should be calculated according to the specifications of the sheet pile and the closed length, so as to facilitate the closing. ^[1]