Civil Engineering: Sheet Pile

A sheet piling wall consist of a series of sheet piles driven side by side into the ground thus forming a continuous vertical wall for the purpose of retaining an earth bank.
Advantages: Sheet piling walls are commonly used for :

1. •  Water front construction where other type types of retaining walls would require dewatering the site.
2. •  Temporary construction because of high salvage value of sheet piles.
3. •  Lightweight construction at location where the upper layer or layers of subsoil are inadequate for supporting retaining walls.

Use: Because of the above mentioned advantages sheet piling walls are employed as bulkheads in piers, docks, and wharved and in sea walls, breakwaters, and other shore protection construction. They are also used for constructing jetties, groins and boat basin as well as for retaining earth on land areas.

Disadvantages: However, sheet piling walls are not suitable for the following cases: 

1. •  Very high walls which require disproportionately high flexural strength of the pile section.
2. •  Inadequate depth of penetration due to boulders in the subsoil or high bedrock , which prevents pile penetration.

This article comes from Civil Engineering edit released