Sheet Piles

Sheet pile is a hot or cold rolled structural shape with interlocks on the flange tips. The interlocks permit individual sections to be connected in order to form a continuous steel wall which is earth tight and virtually water resistant.

The advantages of sheet piling

Ø Steel sheet piling is a top choice in water retention systems, particularly with cofferdams, port &harbors, locks & dams and flood protection. It is also excellent for retaining soils that are below the water table.
Ø Sheet piling will maintain it's shape during installation.
Ø Driven sheet piles displace soil rather than remove it. Therefore: the support of adjacent structures is not compromised due to soil movement.
Ø Steel sheet piling is environmentally friendly. In addition to being produced with recycled steel the sheet piles are installed in manner that produces no spoils. Therefore there is no risk of exposure and disposal of potentially hazardous or contaminated materials.
Ø Retention walls using steel sheet piling have excellent stability, especially in areas with earthquakes. Sheet piling is also useful in very soft clay soils that have little or no strength.
Ø Steel sheet piling has a long, successful history and awareness in the industry is relatively high.

There are numerous reasons to use sheet piling. Because it is readily available and transportable it is in many cases a fast and economical solution to an owner's need for a durable, long lasting wall system. For permanent construction, some uses include retaining walls, bulkheads, bridge abutments, graving docks, cut-off walls, mooring dolphins and pier protection cells. Temporary structures would include cofferdams used to construct building excavations, trenches, piers for bridges, and lock & dams on our inland river system.

A cofferdam is a temporary structure (could be several weeks or several years) built to keep earth and/or water out of an area in order that a permanent structure may be constructed within its boundaries.

Sheet Piling Sections

Different producers have different profiles and different interlock systems. All of the available sections, however, can be broken into two types based on end use.
The most common end use requires sections which resist bending moment. This requirement for beam strength, or section modulus, is provided by "Z-profiles" and "U-profiles". The second end use is for sections which require interlock strength. This need for interlock strength is created when sheeting is installed as a circular cell and backfilled with granular material. The confined fill pushes outward and thereby creates hoop tension in the cell wall. The "flat sheet piling" sections transmit the hoop tension through their interlocks.

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