Soil Types

Sub-soil characteristics
Type
Bearing strength
Condition
Moisture content
Plasticity index
Particle size / distribution
Main types of soil in UK

Clay
Sand
Loam
Chalk
Peat
Gravel
Shoring
Structure that supports the sides of an excavation and protects against cave-ins.
Sloping
Technique that employs a specific angle of incline on the sides of the excavation.
Excavation hazards
Surface Encumbrances
Underground Installations
Cave in
Asphyxiation due to lack of oxygen
Inhalation of toxic materials/fumes
Machinery moving near edge of excavation causing a collapse
Falls
Soil mechanics
A number of stresses and deformations can occur in an open cut or trench
For example, increases or decreases in moisture content can adversely affect the stability of a
trench or excavation
The following diagrams show some of the more frequently identified causes of trench failure.
BOILING is evidenced by an upward water flow into the bottom of the cut. A high water table is
one of the causes of boiling.
Boiling produces a "quick" condition in the bottom of the cut, and can occur even when shoring
or trench boxes are used.
heaving or squeezing
Bottom heaving or squeezing is caused by the downward pressure created by the weight of
adjoining soil.
This pressure causes a bulge in the bottom of the cut, as illustrated in the drawing above.
Heaving and squeezing can occur even when shoring or shielding has been properly installed.
Subsidence and bulging
An unsupported excavation can create an unbalanced stress in the soil, which, in turn, causes
subsidence at the surface and bulging of the vertical face of the trench
If uncorrected, this condition can cause face failure and entrapment of workers in the trench.
Tension cracks
Tension cracks usually form at a horizontal distance of 0.5 to 0.75 times the depth of the
trench, measured from the top of the vertical face of the trench.
Toppling
In addition to sliding, tension cracks can cause toppling.
Toppling occurs when the trench's vertical face shears along the tension crack line and topples
into the excavation.
Sloughing
SLIDING or sloughing may occur as a result of tension cracks, as illustrated below.
Shoring
Shoring is the provision of a support system for trench faces used to prevent movement of soil,
underground utilities, roadways, and foundations.
Shoring (or shielding) is used when the location or depth of the cut makes sloping back to the
maximum allowable slope impractical
Types of shoring:
-Timber
-Hydraulic
-Pneumatic
Sloping
Both embankments and cuttings have slopes
The stability of slopes are affected by the type of soil ground water conditions. A natural slope
will usually have eroded to a condition where it is just stable. ( i.e. the Factor of Safety = 1.0 ) .
Constructed slopes will usually have a FS between 1.25 and 1.50 at the time of construction.
However, changes in both internal and external conditions to the slope can reduce this FS until
failure occurs. :
GROUNDWATER
Ground water - held in the subsoil, which usually percolates down to the water table
What would be the potential for flooding in each of the following types of soil:
Permeable
Semi permeable
Impermeable
Problems of water in
the subsoil
High water table could cause flooding during wet periods
Subsoil water can cause problems during excavation works by its natural tendency to flow into
the voids created by the excavation activities
It can cause an unacceptable humidity level around finished buildings and structures
Erosion or collapse of the sides of the excavation

Instability of base of excavation
Reduction in the angle of repose of the embankment
Settlement of adjacent structures due to erosion of ground
Collapse of temporary support to excavation
Water-logging of ground
Need for special concreting procedures
Temporary removal
Sump pumping
Well point systems
Permanent removal
Grouted membranes
Contiguous piling
Diaphragm walls
Grouting
Thin grouted
membranes
Permanent wall
Non-structural
Suitable for silts and sands
Supported by earth both sides
Installed rapidly
Limited depth
Jet Grouting can be used to infill around subsurface obstructions to ensure continuity of
conventional barriers walls
Permeation Grouting may be used for site perimeter cut-off for construction purposes;
exclusion of contaminants on environmental projects; in situ containment of contamination
Structural Seepage Grouting, as the name implies, is the introduction of a penetrable grout into
the cracks and gaps of subterranean structures to seal off groundwater flow-paths.
Contiguous piling
Permanent
Structural
Cast piles
Suitable for all sub-soils
Economical
Suitable for basement,
underground car parks
underpasses and
Diaphragm walls
In situ concrete
Low vibration
installing
Can be used close to other structures
Expensive
when

Soil Types

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Soil Types

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Sub-soil characteristics

Main types of soil in UK

Erosion or collapse of the sides of the excavation

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