Method for Estimating System Stiffness for Excavation Support Walls
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 138, Issue 9
Abstract
Excessive excavation-induced movements are major concerns for most underground construction projects in urban areas. These movements can lead to significant damage in adjacent structures. When average to good workmanship is employed during the installation process of the excavation support systems, the consequent ground movements are most influenced by the support system stiffness. Therefore, choosing the most appropriate stiffness for an excavation support system is crucial to minimizing excavation-related damage to adjacent buildings and utilities. This paper presents a semiempirical design methodology that facilitates the selecting of the excavation support system stiffness in such a way that limits excavation-related ground movement. As part of the proposed design methodology, a new parameter was developed called the relative stiffness ratio. This new parameter relates the strength and stiffness of the soil with the stiffness of the excavation support system and was developed from a comprehensive parametric analysis that incorporated a fully three-dimensional finite-element analysis of a generalized excavation that realistically modeled the excavation geometry, excavation support system configuration, and excavation activities. The performance of the proposed methodology was evaluated using several excavation case histories reported worldwide. The results of the evaluation show that the new relative stiffness ratio performed well in predicting the support system bending stiffness and the actual excavation-induced lateral deformations of the case history support systems.
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Acknowledgments
The material presented in this paper is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. CMS 06-50911 under program director Dr. R. Fragaszy. This support is gratefully appreciated.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 138 • Issue 9 • September 2012
Pages: 1104 - 1115
Copyright
© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 14, 2011
Accepted: Dec 7, 2011
Published online: Dec 8, 2011
Published in print: Sep 1, 2012
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