Earthwork

By
Manideep B (13071A0164)
Kirankumar B (13071A0163)

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Contents
o Introduction
o Classification of soils
o Project site development
o Setting out
o Mechanized excavation
o Groundwater control
o Trenchless technology
o Grading
o Dredging
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Introduction

Earth moving, either in excavation or filling.

Top soil Is unsuitable for supporting
foundations and substructures.
Soil existing should be classified before
planning any earthwork
A project work should be started with site
development .
It is voluminous and deployment of
earthmoving equipment is mandatory these
days.

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Classification of soils

Soil disintegration and decomposition

of earths rocky crust due to ..
Soil particles differ in size and chemical
composition, depending on original rock
mass or nature of disintegration.
Broadly classified :
a) Coarse grained or non-cohesive
b) Fine grained or cohesive
c) organic
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 Coarse grained or non-cohesive :
i. Very-coarse grained
ii. coarse grained

Very-coarse grained: [Rock fragments]

. 2 mm to over 200 mm grain size
2 to 60 mm - gravel
60 to 200mm - cobbles

over 200mm - boulders

Coarse grained: [sands]
. 0.06 mm to 2 mm - grain size
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Fine grained or cohesive : [silts and
clay]
i. fine grained
ii. Very fine grained

Fine grained :
. Silt is intermediate soil between fine sand
and clay.
. .002 mm to .06 mm grain size
Very fined grained :
. Clays (possess plasticity)
. less than .002 mm
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Organic matter :
Soil at top is a mixture of mineral
matter, organic matter, air, and
water.
Peat accumulated decomposed plant
material and it is considered as coal
in its early stage of formation.
Peat is used as fuel and it is highly
compressible, so it is unsuitable for
civil works

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Soil Investigation :

It is done for obtaining data on the

properties and characteristics of soil
by collecting disturbed and
undisturbed samples at project sites
and testing in labs
Samples are obtained as
i. Trail pits
ii. Exploratory boreholes

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 Important factors that will be
governing soil investigation:
Moisture content
Bulk density
Compressibility and consolidation
Shearing resistance
Consistency limits

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 Project site development :
The project should be started with possible site development
work that includes..
i. Replacement of topsoil
ii. Removal of water and slush from water logged areas
iii. Uprooting and clearing of trees, bushes and vegetation
iv. Dismantling and removal of existing structures
v. Removal of loose rocky waste materials
vi. Leveling of uneven areas
vii. All spoils and unusable rubbish are to be disposed or
removed or burned.

. Manual labour is extensively required in land clearing.

. Construction machinery like bulldozers, scrapers, shovels
and backhoes are involved.

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 Setting out :
Setting out can only be
started on developed
sites.
So that survey grid
pillars can be
established without any
problem.
Buildings or structures
are laid out on basis of
grid pillars and
reference level.
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Mechanized excavation :
General excavation, manually or by deploying
construction equipment, should be done up to a
maximum depth of 150 mm above final level.
Earthwork in excavation involves :
---Loosening of existing earth
---Excavating earth to remove spoil
---Moving excavated spoil to dump yard from
actual location.
---Dumping spoil at its place of deposit
---Working on spoil to put it into specified
condition at its place of use
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Types of excavation can be done by :
i. Confined excavation
ii. Sloped excavation
iii. Open or bulk excavation
iv. Excavation in rock
v. Embankment formation

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 GROUND WATER CONTROL

Temporary Exclusion
Permanent Exclusion
Temporary exclusion of water to facilitate
construction work.
Permanent exclusion of groundwater by
lowering water table.
 Temporary Exclusion: Permanent
Sump pumping Exclusion:
Sheet piling Drainage/Sand
Cofferdams drains
Well Point System Sheet piling
Deep Bored Wells Diaphragm walls
Horizontal Drains Contiguous piling
Electro-osmosis Secant piled walls
Ground freezing Slurry trench cut-off
Thin grouted
membrane
Pressure grouting
Caissons
 Sump pumping:
Sump pumping is a temporary solution where excavation
is carried out to a level below the water table or where
water gets into the excavated pit.
The sump is excavated at one or more corners of the
excavated pit below the required formation level so that
the excavated pit remains free of water.
Small ditches filled with gravels may be dug along the
perimeter of the excavation pit leading to stumps.
The disadvantage of sump pumping is related to the
stability of side slopes and is only suitable in soils whose
stability is not affected by the action of seepage.
Unstable side slopes because of the seepage force
imparted to the soil grains by the water seeping into the
excavation pit . This may result in collapse of the sides.
The sides can be protected against collapse by sheet
piling.
Sump pumping
 Sheet piling:
Sheet piling is very common water exclusion as well
as earth-retaining process during after excavation
for both temporary and permanent solution.
The soil properties , which are relevant for design of
earth-retaining structures , are:
Units weights of soils in both natural as well as in
submerged conditions
Angle of internal friction in case of non-cohesive
soils
Shear strength or cohesion in case of cohesive
soil
Steel sheet piles are commonly used for sheet
piling.
Timber is rarely used.
 The advantages of using steel sheet piles are:
High strength-resistant to the high driving
stresses developed in hard soil and rocky
strata because the steel sheet pile is strong
along its length in bending.
Relatively light weight
A pile can be used and reused several times
Less driving time
Pile details are available in tabulated forms
Steel sheet piles may be used for both
temporary and permanent work
 The advantages of using steel sheet piles
are:
Steel sheet piles can be extended by
welding or bolting
Extra lengths can be cut off using flame
Long piles can be driven with heavy pile
hammers
Special piles are available for interlocking
corners , junctions , etc.
It has long service life , either above or
below water , if it is provided with
protective coating.
Sheet piling
 Cofferdams:
A cofferdam is a water-tight dam that is built
for temporary exclusion of soil and/or water
so that construction, both off-shore, can be
carried out in the dry below the water table
or water level.
Although interlocking steel sheet piling is the
most common method of constructing
cofferdams , there are other types of
cofferdams also as follows:
Earth embankments
Rock-fill embankments
Sandbag embankments
Timber sheet piling
Bored cast- in- situ piling
 Design of a coffer dam would depend on:
Water table/water level-hydrostatic pressure
inside/outside due to the weight of water
Variable water pressure
Types of soil-both active and passive earth pressure
Subsoil conditions
Size of the area to be dewatered
Excavation level
Arrangement of waling and strutting and/or propping
Possibility of erosion outside the cofferdam
Surcharge
Seepage
Effect of wing/wave
Effect of earthquake
Cofferdam-temporary or permanent
 Well Point System:
Well point system is the most effective method of
lowering groundwater table to a point below the
required level of excavation by pumping out water
through a group of well points(riser pipes) which are
connected to an interconnecting header pipe which in
turn in connected to a self-priming centrifugal pump.
The purpose of the well point system is to produce a
cone of depression in the water table so that the
excavation can be executed in relatively dry condition.
There should be one or more standby suction pumps
to take care of possible outage of the main suction
pump due to breakdown/failure , and there should also
be arrangement for standby power supply
arrangement . This is necessary to avoid collapse of
the excavation pit due to well point not functioning.
Well point system
 Deep bored wells:
An alternative to multi-stage well point system is resorting to
deep bored wells.
Deep bored wells are effective in excavation depths in excess
of 6 m right up to 100 m or more.
Outer steel lining tube
Inner steel lining tube
Bottom is sealed by plugging to have a stable base.
The annular space between the liners is filled with permeable
materials like sand and gravels.
The water under pressure is force through the perforations
and granular filler materials . A submersible pump is then
installed.
When pumping of water is continued , water table is
lowered.The drawdown curve forms conical depression.
The spacing of the drawdown curve as well as spacing of deep
bored wells would depend on the permeability of the soil.
Deep bored wells
 Horizontal drains:
As an alternative to the vertical well points and
borewells, horizontal system of dewatering may be
used.
A PVC pipe is horizontally installed underground using
A special machine that
Excavates a narrow trench , lays the pipe and backfills
the excavation in one operation.
The trench could be as deep as 5 m.
The perforated PVC suction pipe is covered with a nylon
filter sleeve to stop infiltration of fine particles,
A single pump of the special machine under average
conditions can pump up to a length of about 230 m of
pipeline.
Two consecutive pipe lengths must have an overlap of
about 4 m.
Horizontal drains
 Electro-osmosis:
In electro-osmosis method , a pair of
electrodes is driven into water bearing
ground and connected to a source of direct
current.
The positive electrode(anode) can be steel
rods or sheet piles or steel pipes , and a well
point is installed to act as negative
electrode(cathode).
This method of ground water control is
expensive.
Electro-osmosis
Ground freezing
Sand drains
Sheet piling
Diaphragm walls
Contiguous piling
Secant piled walls
Slurry trench cut-off
Thin grouted membrane
Pressure grouting
Open caisson
Box caisson
Pneumatic caisson
 TRENCHES(NO-DIG)TECHNOLOGY:
Adopted for underground utility
This technology allows underground work to
be executed without disrupting the existing
utilities/facilities and/or causing
inconvenience to the concerned people.
The method to be selected would depend on:
Sizes/dimensions of cables/pipes/ducts
Length involved
Soil conditions
Existing underground hindrances
 Pipe Jacking
Thrust Boring
Horizontal Direction Drilling
Pipe Bursting
Percussive Boring
Pipe jacking
Thrust Boring
Horizontal direction drilling
Pipe Bursting
Percussive Boring
 GRADING:
Construction project sites need to be properly
graded and accurately finished by
eliminating natural terrain roughness and
providing slopes as shown in design
drawings.
The site surfaces should be smooth and level
without undulations and ridges.
In any project , both cutting and filling is
involved.
Grading , therefore , could involved
balanced , excessive or deficient amounts of
earthwork in excavation and filling.
 In the first case , the volumes of cutting and
filling are balanced.
In the second case , the volume of cutting
would be in excess of filling , thereby disposal
of the soil mass that is inn excess.
In the third case , the volume of cutting would
be less than the volume of earthwork involved
in filling , thereby necessitating hauling of the
deficit volume from outside the project site.
Grading of a project site is to be planned on the
basis of contour maps and design drawings.
 DREDGING:
Dredging is the process of moving/excavating soil/rock
under water.
The object of dredging is generally to remove material
from a particular location to place it at another
location or let it be moved to a new location by natural
forces.
It is highly specialised method carried out for many
purposes , as follows:
Moving /excavating soil or rock under water to
deepen lake , reservoir , river , or sea for offshore
construction , restoration of water reserve capacity ,
navigation , and submersible pipe/cable laying.
Replacing poor quality of soil with good quality soil
under water for foundation construction or on land
for land reclamation.
 Filling up to raise level under water or on land
with spoil excavated under water
To ensure safety of under water
foundations/structures and pipelines beds
To form beaches and dykes
To raise embankments for roads
To improve areas around ports
Mobilizing soil materials for construction
purposes like obtaining coarse/fine aggregates
for concrete mixing or land reclamation
Improving environment by dredging and
disposing off contaminated materials with good
materials and filling up wetlands with good
dredged materials.
A dredger is a vessel or a floating plant fitted
with equipment/devices to excavate or move
soil or rock under water.
The basic design of a dredger comprises
equipment mounted on barge/pontoon for
floating and moving on the water surface over
the soil to be excavated in a bay , harbour ,
river , or reservoir.
On the pontoon or barge , the projecting frame
at the forward end supports the excavating part
of the dredger.
The arrangement or layout may vary , but
frame or boom would be an essential item.
Power may be diesel or electric.
 Trailing suction hopper dredger
Bed leveller
Water injection dredger
Suction dredger
Cutting suction dredger
Dustpan dredger
Clamshell dredger
Grab hopper dredger
Hydraulic backhoe dredger
Dipper dredger
Bucket dredger
Special dredgers
Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger
Bed Leveller
Water Injection Dredger
Suction Dredger
Cutting Suction Dredger
Dustpan Dredger
Clamshell Dredger
Grab Hopper Dredger
Hydraulic Backhoe Dredger
Dipper Dredger
Bucket Dredger
Thank you