Sheet Piling Construction

Sheet piling construction is a common practiced used when needing to construct a vertical wall. This vertical wall is often required to hold back something: often dirt, earth or water. There are several different type of sheet piling that can be used in the construction of these walls. A very common type of sheet piling is of a steel variety. In using steel for sheet piling construction, often times a large vibratory hammer is used to drive the piles into the earth. In other situations a drop hammer or diesel impact hammer may be used to drive the sheet into the ground.

The objective when considering a sheet piling construction job is what will this vertical wall do to benefit me and my job. In many situations the end goal is to shore up a piece of property so that an excavation of work site can take place within the walls of the excavation. In this situation the sheets are driven in a square shaped box and fill is removed and workers are free to complete their job. After the job is complete often times the sheets are removed and can be reused at a later date. In another application of sheet piling construction, a seawall or bulkhead can be constructed to separate the land from the water. In this particular case, there is soil on the backside and often times water on the front side to help equal out the forces on each side of the wall. These walls can be constructed in two different ways - a cantilever design or a tied back design. In a cantilever, the sheets are driven to a depth often times twice the distance of the exposed height. The wall depends on embedment in the ground for its strength and rigidity. Other sheet piling construction walls consist of a tied back system where the wall is supported by tied rods securing the wall through a waler to a dead man back and buried behind the wall.

In a world of evolving products, there are now synthetic choices when choosing a material for sheet piling construction. Products such as composite sheet piling and vinyl sheet piling are taking the place of traditional materials on a consistent basis. These materials are designed to last and have performance guarantees of up to 50 years. There are no warranties of any sort when considering a steel sheet piling material. Also, with synthetic materials getting stronger each decade thanks to engineering achievements, composite sheet piling can take the place of steel for sheet piling construction in many different scenarios. In some instances where sheet piling is driven to grade to act as an underground cut-off wall or seepage barrier, composite and vinyl sheet piling are the products of choice. These products will not rot, rust, or corrode so are ideal in a situation where harsh chemicals or other liquids are trying to be separated from entering another area. These sheet piling construction sites have typically been at land fills, superfund sites, and chemical plants where rules and regulations dictate what liquids have to be cut-off from penetrating certain areas.

There are other instances where both steel and synthetic materials are used in sheet piling construction. In another case these sheets are driven to serve as a coffer dam. In a coffer dam sheet piling is driven in a body of water and then the “cell” created is dewatered so that a foundation, footer, or excavation site can take place. In this particular case the sheet pilings are then removed and can be reused at a later time. There are several different ways to utilize sheet piling for many civil and geotechnical applications.