General Sheet Piling Construction Practice

1) Usually from 2 ends moving towards the middle to avoid pile tilting (creeping);
2) Set a stretch of pile panel, say 10m long; or within natural 2 corner piles;
3-1) On land: within the working stretch, lay guide beam ('I" beam);
3-2) On sea: install king post, "I" cross beam and guide beams ("I" beam). Also install access using "I" beam by the side of guide beam;
4) Drive the 1st layer of sheet piles to the ground level (welding seams shall be staggered during fabrication);
5) Alternate pitching the 2nd tier sheet piles and join them to the 1st tier by welding;
6) Alternate drive the 2nd tier sheet piles;
7) Repeat the procedure 4-6.

NOTE:
1) Purpose of alternate driving:
- Staggering welding point of neighbouring piles;
- Avoid pile tilting (creeping).
2) Corner piles are special made for turning and joint.
3) 12 ton for a pair, 8 ton for single sheet piles.
4) There is relationship among sheet pile depth, soil condition, type of sheet pile used (III, IV, or VI) and type of hammer to be used (hydraulic or vibro, and the weight). Generally, the harder of the soil, the deeper of the penetration, the bigger and thicker size of sheet pile, the more heavy-duty hammer is required.
5) When the depth goes deeper, the resistance from the friction of the sheet pile is getting bigger and this friction prevails the soil resistance.
6) Generally, the bigger size of sheet pile can go deeper. Also, the pipe (eg. dia=600mm) can go deeper than sheet pile.
7) Sheet piles tend to be easy to be extracted later when the vibro is used instead of hydraulic hammer.

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