Secant Piles

What are Secant Pile Walls?

Secant piles are constructed so that there is an intersection of one pile with another. The usual
practice is to construct alternative piles along the line of the wall leaving a clear space of a little
under the diameter of the required intermediate piles. The exact spacing is determined by the
construction tolerances which can be achieved. These initially placed piles do not have to be
constructed to the same depth as the intermediate piles which follow, depending on the way in
which the wall has been designed and reinforced.
Concrete is added and before it has fully set the intermediate holes are drilled along a parallel,
but slightly offset, line so that the holes cut into the first piles. The intermediate piles are placed
through a heavy casing whose cutting edge is toothed and enables the casing to cut into the
concrete of the initial piles on either side. Subsequent concreting results in a continuous wall.
The concrete chosen will often have a slow rate of setting in order to ease the problem of cutting
one pile into another.
What Are Applications For Secant Wall Constructions?
Secant walls are utilized to transfer lateral, vertical or a combination of both loads through weak
soil layers to a suitable bearing layer. They can be drilled in all types of configurations that can
form a interlocking watertight wall, or provide for a structural overlapping wall. Secant walls are
mainly used for foundation load transfer and earth retention systems. They are used in land-based
structures, top-down tunnel, cofferdams and subway structures where the surface soil layers
cannot provide the required load-bearing capacity. They are also used in marine-based structures
and dams.
Secant piles are one of the most economical methods of creating an effective water control
barriers for building structural walls, top-down tunnel and dams, when water tables and
dewatering are major problems. Various drilling techniques are used to construct overlapping
concrete cylinders through saturated soils, rock, extending well below the water seepage
elevation. Sequenced drilling and concreting of the individual cylinders that make up the finished
barrier allows the concrete to cure, ensuring a tight seal between the cylinders for complete water
cutoff. Secant piles can be constructed to depths that exceed 150 plus feet, depending on the
units Kelly bar/ auger length.
Typical applications for secant walls include:

Groundwater barriers

Retaining walls

Foundations

What Methods are used in Secant Wall Construction?

Secant piles can be constructed either with conventional drilling methods or through the use of
CFA techniques. Secant pile walls typically include both reinforced secondary and unreinforced
primary piles. The secondary piles overlap the primary piles, with the primary piles essentially
acting as concrete lagging. The reinforcement in the secondary piles generally consists of rebar
cages or steel beams. The normal diameter of the secant piles are 36in/1.0 m and center to
center distance between the piles are 30in/0.8 m. Therefore, each pile overlaps with the adjacent
piles.
Secant pile wall formed by the primary (female) and secondary (male) piles by drilling the piles
to the specified diameter and required depth. The secant pile wall is constructed in two stages.
The primary piles will be constructed at Stage 1 with the specified strength of mass concrete and
the secondary piles will be constructed at stages 2 with the required concrete strength after the
reinforcement cage is lowered into the bored holes. The secondary piles are positioned between
the primary piles and secant with the primary piles in order to form the interlocking joint.

A. Primary Pile (Female Pile)

The female pile will be constructed as the primary piles for the secant pile wall. The
primary pile will be filled with the specified strength of mass concrete without any steel
reinforcement.

B. Secondary Pile (Male Pile)

The secondary pile will be constructed in between the primary piles and overlap with the
primary piles with the specified strength of concrete after the reinforcement cages are
lowered into the bored hole. The secondary pile formed by cutting into the primary piles
to form the interlocking joint by using the specified coring tools. The boring process for
the secondary pile shall only commence upon initial set of the primary piles.

A secant wall is made up of several steps:

1. The initial step is to construct a guide wall to set up the positioning of the secant pile
wall.
2. Drill and Installation of the 1 meter temporary casing.
3. Drilling of the Primary Columns, 1,3,5,7, etc etc.
4. Concreting of Primary Columns.

5. Drilling of the Overlapping Secondary (Reinforced) Column, 2.4.6. etc, etc.

6. Install the Steel Cage or I-Beam.
7. Concreting of Secondary Column.
8. Repeating the above steps.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Secant Piles?
Secant pile walls are formed by construction intersecting reinforced concrete piles. The piles are
reinforced with either steel rebar cages or with steel beams. They are constructed by either casing
the columns, drilling under mud or auger drilling. Primary piles are installed first with secondary
piles constructed in between primary piles once the latter gain sufficient strength. Pile overlap is
typically in the order of 3 inches (8 cm).
The main advantages of secant pile walls are:
1. Increased construction alignment flexibility.
2. Increased wall stiffness compared o sheet piles.
3. Can be installed in difficult ground (cobbles/boulders).
4. Used in high water table conditions without excessive dewatering.
5. Properly placed columns can be as close as 3 to 5 from existing buildings.
6. Less noisy construction
The main disadvantages of secant pile walls are:
1. Verticality tolerances may be hard to achieve for deep piles.
2. Total waterproofing is very difficult to obtain in joints.
3. Increased cost compared to sheet pile walls if depth is less than 40 feet deep.
4. Noise and vibration are generated, if casing is driven in lieu of hydraulically pushed and
retrieved casings.
What are the costs associated with secant wall construction?

The secant pile wall costs vary considerably with configurations, rebar/I-beam requirements,
water tables, depths, and access. We suggest you using our FREE budgetary estimating service to
get an order of magnitude figure.
Secant Wall Conclusion
Secant walls are an economical, commercially available solution for many civil structural
shoring walls providing unequaled support of existing foundations and environmental
groundwater control problems. The method has many civil applications including using the walls
as a structural wall, shoring and dewatering solution.