COFFERDAM

OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
OBJECTIVE
TYPES OF COFFERDAM
METHADOLOGY
FACTOR AFFECTING DESIGN OF COFFERDAM
ADVANTAGES
CONCLUSION
FUTURE ASPECTS

INTRODUCTION

The word "cofferdam" comes from "coffer"

meaning
box, in other words a dam in the
shape of a box.

A cofferdam is a temporary structure designed

to keep water and/or soil out of the excavation
in which a bridge pier or other structure is
built.

cofferdam involves the interaction of the

structure, soil, and water and the loads
imposed include the hydrostatic forces of the

INTRODUCTION CONT.

The loads imposed on the cofferdam structure

by construction equipment and operations

must be considered, both during installation of
the cofferdam and during construction of the
structure itself.

OBJECTIVE
The main objectives of temporary structure
COFFERDAM are :-

Pile driving operation.

Place grillage & raft foundation.
Construct new structures.
Enclose space for removal.
Constructing without disturbances

TYPES OF COFFERDAM
1. Braced: It is formed from a single
wall of sheet piling which
is driven into the ground to form a
box around the excavation site.

2. Earth-Type:

It is the simplest type of cofferdam. It

consists of an earth bank with a lay core or vertical sheet
piling enclosing the excavation.

3. Timber Crib: Constructed on land and floated

into place. Lower portion of each cell is
matched with contour of river.
4. Double-Walled Sheet Pile: They are double wall
cofferdams comprising two parallel rows of
sheet piles driven into the ground and
connected together by a system of tie rod sat
one or more levels.

TYPES OF COFFERDAM CONT

5. Cellular: Cellular cofferdams are used only in
those
circumstances where the excavation
size precludes the use of cross-excavation
bracing. In this case, the cofferdam must be
stable by virtue of its own resistance to lateral
forces.

METHADOLOGY
1 Fixing of alignment for cofferdam : Alignment of
cofferdam shall be fixed on the ground with the
help of total station as per the relevant drawing.
2 Construction of rock bund : Construction of
rock bund with 4m top width and 1:1 side slopes.
Rock bund will start by filling of boulders from the
one end of diaphragm wall.
3 Temporary earth fill : Filling of temporary earth
fillfor cofferdam and entrance gate will start
parallel to the rock bund.

METHADOLOGY CONT
.4 Interlocking sheet piles :
Driving of
interlocking sheet piles will start from the east
side the south dock with the help of crane with
vibro hammer on completed portion of temporary
bund.
5 Capping beam : On completion of top plugging
excavation along the interlocking piles will be
carried out for construction of capping beam.
6 Anchoring works : The main application of
geotechnical ground anchors is to prevent
horizontal movement and ensure stability of
retaining structures including sheet pile, bored
concrete pile and steel tubular pile walls.

Working inside a cofferdam

FACTORS AFFECTING
DESIGN OF A
COFFERDAM
Hydrostatic head of water
Dimensions of area.
Sub-soil condition.
Fluctuations of outside water level.
Possibility of erosion.
Floating logs.
Presence of ice.

ADVANTAGES
Poor environment.
Safe environment.
Design responsibility
Easy work.
Re-usability of materials.

CONCLUSION
Cofferdams are temporary structures and used in
cases where the plan area of foundation is very
large, depth of water is less and for the soft soils,
where soils allow easy driving of sheet piles.

FUTURE ASPECTS
While significant progress and achievements
have been made in the field of geotechnical
finite element mechanics, further
advancements are necessary. On the practical
side, as computational power increases it is
expected that three dimensional software
programs will be come increasingly popular
and more affordable. Hence, human judgment
is by far the most important aspect of finite
element analyses of cofferdam excavations.

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