EXCAVATION

Excavation is the process of moving earth, rock, or other materials with tools, equipment, or
explosives. Excavation has a number of important applications including exploration,
environmental restoration, mining, and construction. Among these, construction is one of the
most common applications for excavation.
Excavation is used in construction to create building foundations, reservoirs, and roads.
Some of the different processes used in excavation include trenching, digging, dredging, and
site development. Each of these processes requires unique techniques, tools, and machinery
to get the job done right. The processes used will depend upon the structure that will result
from the construction process.

TYPES AND METHODS OF EXCAVATION

The different types and methods of excavation depends on the size of the site, soil types and
conditions, the depth of excavation required and the project requirement.

Type of excavation based on depth

The length and depth of an excavation is entirely dependent upon the purpose for which the
excavation is being carried out.
There are 2 types of excavations based on depth
i. Shallow excavations
ii. Deep excavations

Shallow excavations – these are excavations that are up to 1.5m deep. This type of
excavation is often used when the project requires minor groundwork, such as utility
installations, landscaping, or foundational modifications. Shallow excavations are relatively
easier to manage and pose fewer risks.

Deep excavations, on the other hand, are defined as being any excavation which is more than
4.5 metres in depth. Deep excavations require support structures to prevent collapse and
cave-in during excavation.

There are number of excavation methods which are used for deep foundation construction

These structures might not be removed later but they may be structurally important apart
from offering temporary lateral support.

Bracing Excavation Method

In this method vertical members or soldier piles made from steel or timber that provide
support along the perimeter of the excavation are driven into the ground at regular intervals.
They act as primary load-bearing elements, resisting lateral forces exerted by surrounding
soil.

To further reinforce the system, horizontal wales or struts are installed between adjacent
soldier piles. These struts help distribute loads evenly across multiple piles, enhancing overall
stability. Additionally, walers may be used horizontally at different levels within the
excavation to provide additional support if needed.
To prevent water ingress and maintain ground stability during construction, sheeting is often
employed in braced excavations. Sheet materials such as steel panels or interlocking vinyl
sheets are inserted between soldier piles before backfilling occurs. This helps retain soil and
prevents collapse while allowing for efficient dewatering if necessary.

TIE BACK METHOD

The tieback method is one of the advanced types of sheeting and bracing technique used for braced
cuts in deep excavations. A tieback is a cable or rod connected to the lagging, sheeting, or sheet pile
on one side and is anchored to the soil or rock on the other side outside the excavation area. For this
purpose, inclined holes are drilled into the soil, and tendons are inserted through the holes. The
holes are then concreted. Every time before advancing the excavation to greater depths, the tendons
are prestressed to sustain the increased tension. The advantage of providing the tiebacks is that it
cancels out the need of using inclined bracings. As inclined bracings create difficulties in
construction, tiebacks can be used instead.

EXCAVATION USING SOIL NAILING

Soil nailing is another technique of protecting excavated ground. In this case, soil is
reinforced in situ to make it stable. For soil nailing, firstly shallow cut is excavated and then
the cut is coated with shotcrete. Shotcrete concrete which is sprayed through pipes with some
force. On the shotcrete area, soil nails are drilled and grouted. The Group of nails installed on
a grid holds the soil in a stable manner. The same process is repeated until the required depth
is reached. Soil nailing is more effective and easier if it is done with subsequent layers of
installation. Soil nailing should be more effective above the ground water table level.
They are also used for reinforcing new soil cut slopes, existing fill slopes, disturbed terrain
and natural hillsides.

Excavation type based on material

Some excavation techniques will be much more efficient than others. Because of this, we
have listed the main types of materials and how you should approach your project.

1. Sand and Fine Soils Excavation

Sand and fine soil excavation is one of the most basic excavation methods. This involves the
removal of fine materials, such as sand, from an area. Sometimes, this excavation method is
used to package and move the material. Other times it is just used to remove the material
from the area.Almost every method for excavation works with sand and fine soil except
drilling. It is important you take into account the size of the operation and whether or not you
plan on reusing the material you are excavating when considering your different options

2. Topsoil Excavation

Topsoil excavation is the method of excavating that is defined by the material: the top level
of soil including vegetation and its rootzone. This method is used to remove anything that
would be unsuitable to bear structural loads. This includes vegetation, soil, and any other
decaying material.Topsoil excavation is one of the most common excavation methods.
 3. Rock Excavation

Rock excavation, one of the more difficult excavation types, is the method of clearing rocky
terrain and surfaces to prepare for a construction project. Due to the scale and hardness of the
rocks, more conventional equipment such as diggers, excavators and picks aren’t efficient in
breaking up and removing this material.

Depending on the size of the rocks, you will have to use drills or even explosives to penetrate
and break up the rock making it small enough to excavate.

4. Muck Excavation

Muck excavation is the combination of liquid (usually water) with dirt, creating a sloppy
unpleasant material. This can be undesirable, and often have a negative impact on nearby
rivers, lakes or ponds.
Using large excavation vehicles such as diggers, excavators or vacuum excavators you can
collect the material and spread it out allowing it to dry up or you can relocate it.

5. Earth Excavation

Earth excavation is the method of removing the soil located underneath the topsoil. Usually, a
method used to lay out a structural foundation, it can also be utilised for creating drainage
ditches and other projects.

With most earth excavation projects being fairly large, they will normally be performed by
excavation vehicles such as suction excavators, diggers and dump trucks.

Excavation based on project requirements

Depending on the job at hand, the method of excavation will change. A form of excavation
which may be perfect for one environment could be completely ineffective in another.

1) Cut and Fill

Cut and fill excavation is sometimes known as stripping excavation and is the method
construction companies use to clear and prepare large areas. This method involves removing
all of the material such as rock, sand, and topsoil that would be unstable to work on.Due to
the scale of these operations, this method usually requires large excavation vehicles such as
excavators and back-hoes

2) Trench

A trench is an excavation where the length exceeds the depth. Typically this method is used
to prepare for or replace underground utilities, foundations, and sewer systems.

The method of conducting trench excavation is dependent upon many different factors
including its size, the likelihood of underground utilities and materials. This means that the
most effective method of excavation changes from project to project, and should always be
treated with caution.

If there is a likelihood of encountering underground utilities, we would recommend first

conducting an underground utility survey to help locate these utilities. If utilities are found
lower risk techniques such as vacuum excavation and manual digging are recommended
depending on the size of the project.

If there is nothing to watch out for, and the project is a larger one, then we would recommend
a large excavation vehicle.

3) Dredging

Dredging is the removal of built-up underwater sediment which can make it difficult for boats
to navigate or construction to get underway. Over time, debris and other sediments can build
up in an area which can make it dangerous for vehicles and can impede construction.

Depending on the scale of dredging, it can either be performed from land by vehicles such as
vacuum excavators and grab dredgers, or by water using naval excavators.

4) Basement

Basement excavation is the excavation of the area beneath a property. This can be a very
complicated procedure. It is important the equipment used for this is both accurate and well
equipped for the situation.

The best equipment for this excavation changes from project to project, and depends on the
opening size, property size and basement size.

5) Channel

Channels and bodies of flowing water can quickly get a buildup of sediments and other
materials. The goal of channel excavation is to remove the built-up sediment and other
materials to help control the flow of water and decrease the likelihood of flooding. The size
of the channel can vary between jobs meaning the volume of sediment to remove, and the
most cost-effective method of removing it, can also vary.

Types of Soil Excavation Tools and Machines:

Now a days, for the soil excavation there are so many equipment’s are there and these are
classified into two types. 1. Hand tools 2. Machineries

Hand tools for Soil Excavation:

These are generally used for smaller depths of excavations in small areas. Man power is
required to operate these tools. The tools come under this category are explained below.

Spade

Spade is a tool which consists metal plate having sharp edges, the plate is attached to long
handle which is generally made up of wood. Because of its sharp edges the soil can be dig
easily. The metal plate having less curvature in the spade so, we cannot lift the soil by spade.

Shovel

Shovel is tool which is used for the purpose of lifting of excavated soil. It is also similar to
spade the difference between spade and shovel is the difference in leading edge. The
curvature of metal plate of shovel is generally higher when compared to spade so we can hold
the soil easily and lifted it. Shovel can also be used for digging purpose in case of soft soils,
sand etc.

Hoe

Hoe is an excavating tool which consists a metal plate attached to a long handle with acute
angle. The plate having sharp edge is used to excavate the soil. For small work of excavation
it is widely preferred tool. Sometimes metal plate is replaced by fork type plate.

Trowel

Trowel is hand sized tool which is generally used to dig the small trenches in soil or to
remove the shallow roots in soil.

Rake

Rake is a tools which is having a horizontal rod having metal teeth and is used to remove the
small layers of soil.

Pick axe

Pick axe consists hard spike attached perpendicular to handle. They are used for excavating
small trenches in soil. Pick axe can cut the soil even if the soil is of hard type. The metal
spike is pointed on one side and wide blade is provided on the other side.

Mattock

This looks like pickaxe. But serious digging is not possible with mattock. Generally it is used
as lifting tool because of its curve shapes metal at its bottom.

Machinery Tools for Soil Excavation:

These are the tools which are operated by mechanical force and are used for the larger depths
of excavations. There are so many types of machine tools with ease of operation are designed
in this modern day period.
Tracked Excavator

This is also called as track hoe. It consists of cabinet and long arm. Long arm again consists
of 2 parts. The first part which is closure to cabinet is called as Boom and the other part is
called as Dipper-stick. Digging bucket is attached to the end of dipper. This entire system can
rotate 360 degrees. In this case Vehicle is moved by traction, so we can use this equipment in
mines, forestry, pipeline industries etc. the function of excavator is done by hydraulic fluid
so, it is also called as hydraulic excavators.

Wheeled Excavator

This whole arrangement is similar to the tracked excavator except that the movement of
vehicle is done by wheels. It can move quickly when compared to tracked excavator but it is
not suitable for uneven grounds or hilly areas because of slippery nature. So these are
generally used for road constructions etc.

Back Hoe Excavator

In case of back hoe excavator, the hoe arrangement is on back side and loader bucket is
arranged in front of the vehicle. So two operations digging and loading or lifting is done by
hoe and loader. This is widely used equipment nowadays because of its small size and
versatility. This is moved with the help of wheels. so, moving from one workstation to
another is quickly done

Bulldozer

Bulldozer consists of hard steel plate with sharp edge at its front. This sharp edge is helps the
plate to cut the soil and for excavation. The metal plate can be raised and lowered with the
help of hydraulic arms. The bulldozers are available in both tracked and wheeled form. These
are widely used for the works of soil excavations, weak rock strata removal, lifting of soil etc.

Dragline Excavators

Dragline excavators consists large length boom. A cable is hanged from the top of the boom
and digging bucket is suspended to the cable. Generally dragline excavators are used for
larger depth excavations like port construction, under water sediment removal etc. These
are heavy equipment with greater economy.

Trenchers

Trenchers are the equipment’s used to dig trenches in the ground. These are also available in
many sizes based on our requirement. The trenches dug are generally used for drainage
purpose, pipeline laying, cable laying. The trenchers are generally available in two types.

 Chain trenchers
 Wheeled trenchers

Chain trenchers Chain trencher consists of a fixed arm called boom around which digging
chain is arranged. The chain is very hard and consists sharp tooth. Whenever it is driven into
ground the chain rotates around boom with rapid force and cuts the ground. By adjusting the
angle of the boom we can manage the depth to be excavated. It cuts the soil with hard strata
which cannot excavate by bucket type excavator. In case of smaller chain trenchers wheeled
vehicles are available and for larger chain trenchers are available in tracked form.

Wheeled trenchers In case of wheeled trencher, toothed metal wheel is used as trenching
tool. This equipment is available in both tracked and wheeled form of vehicles. When
compared to chain trencher the wheeled trencher can cut harder soil strata. It is also used to
cut pavement surface while road repair works. Economically also wheeled trencher is better
than the chain trencher