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Installation and Performance of a Steel Sheet Pile Wall for Supporting an

Excavation in Urban Environment
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G.A. Athanasopoulos1, M. ASCE, V.S. Vlachakis1, [Link]., and P.C. Pelekis2, PhD.
1
University of Patras, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Laboratory of Geotechnical
Engineering, Rion (Patras), Greece, GR-26500; FAX +302610996576; e-mail:
gaa@[Link].
2
School of Pedagogical & Technological Education (ASPETE), Dept. of Civil and
Structural Engineering, Ν.Ηeraklion, Αthens, Greece, GR-14121, e-mail:
pelekis@[Link].

ABSTRACT

A case history is presented of a deep supported excavation in urban

environment under difficult soil conditions (soft clay, high water table). An internally
braced sheet pile wall (installed with a vibratory driver) was used for temporary
retention of the walls of a 5.80m deep excavation having plan dimensions 29mx24m.
The intensity of ground vibrations was monitored during sheet pile driving and
extraction. The excavation was successfully completed and the measured behavior of
the retaining system, and of adjacent structures, was found to be in agreement with
the predictions of numerical analyses using the commercially available finite element
code PLAXIS.

INTRODUCTION

A significant increase of research effort has been observed during the last
decade, on the subject of deep supported excavations in the urban environment. The
commonly used systems for the support of such deep excavations include reinforced
concrete systems, e.g. diaphragm walls or pile walls (secant, tangent), “Berlin” walls,
steel sheet pile walls and soil mix pile walls. The above soil retention systems are
used in combination with a variety of lateral support elements, including horizontal
struts (made from steel sections), rakers, corner struts and soil anchors (Ou, 2006).
The behavior of a deep excavation support system is described and analyzed
by using a number of quantities, namely: (a)the displacements of the wall elements
and earth pressure distribution, (b)the movement of soil masses surrounding the
excavation, (c)the movement of existing adjacent structures, and (d)the forces acting
on the lateral support elements (Ng et al., 2004). The research effort towards the
evaluation of the above quantities follows, in general, three main directions:
(1)performance of numerical (and theoretical) analyses (e.g. Zdravcovic et al., 2005),
(2)testing physical models of small and medium scale (Son and Cording, 2005;
Laefer et al., 2009) and (3)collecting performance data from instrumented large (i.e.
natural) scale deep excavation projects (Long, 2001; Leonidou et al., 2001; Moorman,
2004; Zekkos et al., 2004).

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The subject of the present paper is the presentation of data pertaining to a

temporary deep supported excavation, constructed recently in the urban environment
of Patras, Greece. The data include information on: the soil conditions at the project
site, the type of soil retention system, the results of numerical analyses and the results
of performance measurements using appropriate instrumentation.
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PROJECT DATA

The construction of the supported soil excavation presented herein was part of
a project funded by the Patras Municipality. The project involved the preservation-
restoration-renovation and partial reconstruction of a century-old building complex
(“Argyris Market”) in the central part of the city, at a distance of approximately 100m
from the sea front. The reconstructed part of the complex included the construction of
a new steel frame building, functionally intergraded with the preservable buildings.
The new building consists of two above ground and one underground floor with an
area of 674m2. The construction of the underground floor of the new building made
necessary the ground excavation studied herein. A photographic view of the complex
and of the excavation area having plan dimensions 29m by 24m and a maximum
depth equal to 5.80m, is shown in Fig. 1. It may be seen that the three sides of the
excavation area are next to city streets, whereas the fourth side is adjacent to the
existing (under renovation) preservable buildings of the complex.
The vertical sides of the excavation were supported by a steel sheet pile wall
installed by vibratory driver; during vibratory driving, the intensity of the generated
ground vibrations was continuously monitored. The steel sheet pile wall (with
interlocking sheet piles) was braced by horizontal struts, supporting the opposite
parallel sides as well as the corners of the excavation, Fig. 2.

GEOTECHNICAL DATA

A geotechnical investigation was performed at the project site, that included

three exploratory boreholes (BH-1, BH-2, BH-3) that reached depths of 23.5m,

Figure 1. View of excavation area with the positions of borings, trial pits and
sections T1, T2-1 and T2-2.

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Figure 2. Lateral support system.

25.5m and 25.5m, respectively. The locations of the boreholes are shown in Fig. 1
together with the locations of two test pits (TP-1, TP-2) with depth equal to 5.5m.
Based on the results of the in-situ investigation and laboratory investigation
the ground profile at the project site consists of the following soil layers: a surficial
layer of dense to very dense sand-gravel (SM, SC) with a thickness of 3m, which is
underlain by a loose to medium dense saturated silty sand (SM, SC, ML) with a
thickness of 5m. The next layer consists of very soft clay (CL) with a thickness of
approximately 11m, which is underlain by a formation of stiff to hard marl (CL). The
soil stratigraphy at the project site is summarized in Table 1, including the
characteristic values of soil parameters. The water table (W.T.) at the time of
investigation was found 3.0m below the ground surface.

Table 1. Soil stratigraphy at the excavation site.

Depth (m) Soil Description Soil Properties
Man made deposits γ=18.0kN/m3
0.00-3.00 Very dense silty/clayey SAND (SM, SC) and c=30kPa, φ=45°
dense cemented SAND GRAVEL E=60000kN/m2
Loose to medium dense silty SAND (SM, SC, γ=19.0kN/m3
3.00-8.00 ML) c=5kPa, φ=22°
with varying amount of fines and organics E=5000kN/m2
γ=19.5kN/m3
Very soft CLAY (CL)
8.00-19.00 c=25kPa, φ=0°
with small amount of organics
E=3000kN/m2
γ=20.0kN/m3
19.00-25.50* Very stiff to hard MARL (CL) c=60kPa, φ=0°
E=50000kN/m2
* Maximum depth of exploration.

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STABILITY ANALYSES

The design of the temporary supported excavation presented in the paper was
based on the results of preliminary finite element analyses using the code PLAXIS v.
8.6. The numerical analyses were conducted by modeling the non-linear behavior of
soil materials using the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion. Due to the small relative
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depth of excavation, compared to its plan dimensions, the corner or 3D effects are
expected to be negligible (Finno et al., 2007). Thus, the numerical analyses were
performed by assuming plain strain conditions along the sections T1, T2-1 and T2-2,
Fig. 1.
The finite element mesh which was formed to model the most geometrically
critical sections T1, including the simplified simulation of the adjacent building, is
shown in Fig. 3. It should be noted that the interface between sheet piles and soil, was
modeled by the appropriate interface elements available in the code. Furthermore, the
simulation of the excavation phase took into consideration the existence of the
bracing system which was simulated by strut elements at the top of the retaining wall.
On the other hand the reinforced concrete plate at the bottom of excavation (with a
thickness of 0.40m) was modeled by taking into consideration only its weight and
neglecting its horizontal stiffness, due to the existence of construction joint between
the bottom plate and the sheet pile wall.
The selection of sheet pile type (VL-605: EA=4.72E+6kN/m,
EI=8.7E+4kNm2/m, v=0.15, w=2kN/m/m) and required length (embedment
length=10m, free length=4m) was based on the results of parametric numerical
analyses. The lateral support of the sheet pile wall was materialized by the installation
of a steel truss, consisting of a horizontal H-beam wale, corner struts and a space
frame (Fig. 2) providing the necessary underneath space for the operation of the
excavators.
In the finite element modeling of the excavation the water table in the
excavation area was set to a level about 1m below the bottom of the excavation. This
condition was also realized during construction by using pumping wells at the
excavation corners. It should be noted that the sheet pile wall performed generally
well as a diaphragm and allowed the construction to proceed under dry conditions.

Figure 3. Numerical model of section T1.

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The results of the numerical analysis along the section T1 are shown in Fig. 4
in terms of the deformed finite element mesh. It may be seen that the deformed shape
of the sheet pile wall, following the completion of excavation, deviates from the
typical shape observed for rigid retaining systems, in which the maximum lateral
displacement appears at about the level of excavation bottom. The flexible retaining
wall of the present case history developed the maximum lateral displacement (ranging
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from 6.5cm, section T2 to 9.5cm, section T1) at the lower end of the sheet piles.
It is of interest to examine the calculated behavior of buildings adjacent to
excavation in terms of settlement and rigid body rotation. Pertinent results are
presented in Fig. 5 for typical RC buildings sitting across the St. Andrew and Zaimi
Streets (at distances ranging from 10m to 15m from the excavation), as well as for the
preservable buildings of the complex, sitting at a distance of 1m from the excavation.
The different behavior of the two groups of buildings becomes obvious from Fig. 5:
the more distant buildings developed a rotation towards the excavation area, whereas
the immediately adjacent to the excavation buildings rotated in the direction away
from the excavation. It should be noted that the predicted rotation of buildings is
consistent with numerically obtained surface settlement profiles behind deep
supported excavations (Yoo and Lee, 2008).

Figure 4. Deformed finite element mesh (T1).

Figure 5. Calculated vs. measured rotation of adjacent buildings.

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INSTALLATION AND REMOVAL OF THE SHEET PILE WALL

The installation of the sheet pile wall was performed by using an ICE-815
Vibratory driver, Fig. 6, and taking care to: (a)avoid deviations from verticality (for
both in-plane and out of plane of the wall direction) and (b)lubricate the interlocking
channels of the sheet piles. It should be noted that in order to facilitate the penetration
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of the sheet piles into the surficial dense sand-gravel layer (see Table 1) a partial
excavation of this material was performed in advance of vibratory driving.
The intensity of ground vibrations generated by sheet pile driving was
measured systematically during the installation of sheet pile wall. The measurements
were conducted along three orthogonal directions: vertical, radial (in the source
direction) and tangential (normal to the radial direction), by using 2Hz Mark Products
seismometers placed at the ground surface as shown in Fig. 7. The results of
measurements at different distances from the driving point and for piles driven along
all four sides of the excavation are summarized in the graphs of Fig. 8. It may be seen
that the intensity of vibrations at the locations of adjacent structures remained lower
than the allowable values that have been summarized by Athanasopoulos and Pelekis
(2000). The phase of sheet pile wall installation was completed successfully without
any sign of even cosmetic damages to the adjacent structures. It has to be noted,
however, that during the start-up and the shut-down of vibratory driving, the intensity
of ground vibrations was momentarily increased by about 20% (Fig. 8b) compared to
steady state operation (Fig. 8a). Due to the very short duration of the above two
phases of transient vibrations, no damage was induced to the structures; however, the
vibrations became annoying for the occupants of the buildings.
The temporary sheet pile wall was removed following the completion of the
bottom concrete plate and the construction of the reinforced concrete foundation and
basement walls and the roof slab of basement. The extraction of the individual sheet
piles was achieved by using the same vibratory driver, whereas the ground vibrations
were systematically monitored. The intensity of ground vibrations generated during
the extraction of sheet piles was found to be significantly lower, compared to the
vibrations level recorded during the driving phase. It should be noted, however, that
the extraction of a significant number of sheet piles was found to be very difficult or
even impossible. It is believed that the main reason for the difficulty to extract the
sheet piles was deviation from verticality of groups of sheet piles.

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Figure 7. Seismometers for

Figure 6. Vibratory sheet pile driver
monitoring ground vibrations.
(ICE 815).
10 10
Steady state vibrations Start-up, shut-down
vibrations
Vz,max (mm/sec)

1 1

Mean Mean
Upper bound (a) Upper bound (b)
0.1 0.1
1 10 100 1 10 100
Distance, m Distance, m

Figure 8. Attenuation of vertical ground vibration with distance from source.

MONITORING THE BEHAVIOR OF THE SOIL SUPPORT SYSTEM

The behavior of the soil support system was monitored during excavation by taking
inclinometer measurements at two selected points (I-1 and I-2) of the sheet pile wall,
as shown in Fig. 9. The method of attaching the inclinometer casing to the sheet piles
is shown in the photos of Fig. 10. The reference measurement was taken on March 3,
2009, whereas the last inclinometer measurement was taken on March 30, [Link]
final deformed shape of the sheet pile wall at the two locations of inclinometers is
shown in the diagrams of Fig. 11 and is compared to the results of numerical

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analyses, presented in the previous section. It may be observed that, regarding the
lower part of the wall, there is good agreement between measured and computed
behavior in contrast to the upper part of the wall, where the measured displacements
are larger than the predicted ones. This deviation is believed to be the result of
temporary removal of corner struts by the contractor during excavation, in order to
facilitate the operation of the excavation machinery.
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MONITORING THE BEHAVIOR OF ADJACENT STRUCTURES

The behavior of structures adjacent to excavation was monitored by using

SISGEO S522PV10 electric tiltmeters, attached to the exterior vertical face of
buildings. Measurements were taken with varying frequencies: about every 10 days
during pile driving, every 5 days during excavation and monthly following the
completion of the excavation. The locations of the four tiltmeters used in the present
investigation are shown in Fig. 9. The results of measurements, in the form of rotation
angle of wall vs. time, are shown in the diagrams of Fig. 12. In these diagrams, a
positive sign of rotation angle indicates wall rotation towards the excavation area. An
examination of the graphs of Fig. 12 shows that during the excavation period the
structures located across the St. Andrew and Zaimi streets, T-2 and T-3, experienced

Figure 9. View of the excavation area with adjacent buildings and positions of
monitoring instrumentation.

I-1 I-2
Figure 10. Installation of inclinometer casing.

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I
n
c
l
i
n
o
m
e
t
e
r
Ι
-
1

I
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c
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30mm 29mm
///\///\///\ 0 ///\///\///\ 0
1 1
2 2
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3 3
4 4
Bottom of excavation
5 Bottom of excavation 5 ///\///\///\
Depth (m)

///\///\///\
6 6
7 7
8 8
9 9
10 10
11 11
12 Inclinometer measurements 12 Inclinometer measurements
Numerical analysis Numerical analysis
13 13
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
Horizontal displacement (mm) Horizontal displacement (mm)
Figure 11. Measured vs. calculated sheet pile wall deformation.
08
08

09

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3-

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3-
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15

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15

1-
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1-

1-

T-1 + Δα -Δα T-3

Rotation, α ( )
ο

0.2 Excavations
Rotation, α ( )

0.2 Excavation
ο

ο
Δα= -0.12
ο
Δα= +0.06
0.0 0.0

-0.2 -0.2
Sheet pile driving Sheet pile driving
-0.4 -0.4
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
0.4 0.4
T-2 T-4
Rotation, α ( )

Excavation
0.2
ο

Excavation
Rotation, α ( )

0.2
ο

o
Δα= +0.12 Δα= -0.14
ο

0.0 0.0
-0.2 -0.2
Sheet pile driving Sheet pile driving
-0.4 -0.4
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Time (days) Time (days)
Figure 12. Tiltmeters measurements.

a rotation towards the excavation area, whereas the adjacent preservable buildings of
the complex, T1 and T-4, rotated in the direction away from the excavation. A
comparison of measured vs. predicted behavior of the buildings surrounding the
excavation is presented in Fig. 5 indicating a satisfactory agreement, at least in terms
of the direction of rotation.

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CONCLUSIONS

Based on the results of the present investigation the following conclusions can
be drawn:
(a) Laterally supported steel sheet pile walls installed by vibratory drivers, can be
used safely for earth retention in the sensitive urban environment, provided
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that (a)the site stratigraphy does not include thick sand-gravel layers and (b)a
systematic monitoring of generated ground vibrations is performed during
driving.
(b) Even small deviations from verticality of the steel sheet piles, comprising the
sheet pile wall, makes very difficult and in some cases impossible the
extraction of the individual sheet piles from the ground.
(c) When site specific soil conditions data and detailed construction stages are
available it is possible to obtain realistic predictions of the behavior of deep
supported excavations, using commercially available codes for geotechnical
numerical analysis.
(d) In the case of the investigated supported excavation, a satisfactory agreement
was found to exist between predicted and measured behavior, recording the
displacements of the soil retaining system as well as the adjacent structures.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors wish to thank TRIAINA S.A. and especially the site engineer,
Yiannis Reppas, Structural Engineer for helping and providing support in the
materialization of the program of instrumentation and behavior monitoring of the
present project.
REFERENCES

Athanasopoulos, G.A., and Pelekis, P.C., (2000). ”Ground vibrations from sheetpile
driving in urban environment: measurements, analysis and effects on
buildings and occupants”, Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, Vol.
19, No. 5, pp. 371-387, Elsevier.
Finno, R.J., Blackburn, J.T. and Roboski, J.F. (2007). “Three-dimensional effects for
supported excavation in clay”, Journal of Geotechnical and
Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 133, No.1, pp. 30-36.
Laefer, D.F., Ceribasi, S., Long, J.H. and Cording, E.J. (2009). “Predicting RC frame
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Leonidou, E.A., Athanasopoulos, G.A. and Pelekis, P.C. (2001). “Deep supported
excavation for the underground parking of the Hellenic Parliament: measured
vs. predicted behavior”, Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on
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Long, M. (2001). “Database for retaining wall and ground movements due to deep
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Engineering, Vol. 127, No. 3, March, pp. 203-224.

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Moorman, C. (2004). “Analysis of wall and ground movements due to deep

excavations in soft soil based on a new worldwide database”, Soils and
Foundations, Vol. 44, No. 1, pp. 87-98.
Ng, C.W.W., Simons, N. and Menzies, B. (2004). “Soil-structure engineering of deep
foundations, excavations and tunnels”, Thomas Telford Limited, London,
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Ou, C. Y. (2006). “Deep excavation, theory and practice”, Taylor & Francis, London,
532p.
Son, M. and Cording, E.J. (2005). “Estimation of building damage due to excavation-
induced ground movements”, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental
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Yoo, C. and Lee, D. (2008). “Deep excavation-induced ground surface movement
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Zdravkovic, L., Potts, D.M. and St John, H.D. (2005). “Modelling of a 3D excavation
in finite element analysis”, Geotechnique, Vol.55, No.7, pp.497-513.
Zekkos, D.P., Athanasopoulos, A.G. and Athanasopoulos, G.A. (2004). “Deep
supported excavation in difficult ground conditions for the construction of a
two-story underground parking garage in the city of Patras, Greece”,
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