Timbering in Trenches

Chapter - 4

Building Construction – I
Year I Part II

Lecturer : Bijay Tuladhar

Thapathali Campus
1
 Temporary Construction:
 Formwork for excavation- Timbering of trenches
◦ This is the arrangement of timber planks in the trenches
to prevent collapsing of sides.

Methods (types)
Stay bracing: Only vertical board and strut are used. It
may be of single or double layer.
Box sheeting: Poling board (Wales) placed on sides of
trenches.
Vertical sheeting: Combination of above two methods.

Runners: Runners used in place of vertical sheeting.

Sheet piling: It is used to prevent soil to slip.
2
Sheeting, waling and
Struts
Materials available
Sheeting : timber boards, steel trench sheets 

Waling : timber, steel sections,

aluminum sections 

Struts : timber, steel struts(screw

type), hydraulic struts

3
Advantages of Sheeting, Waling, Strut Support
System

 convenient and versatile support system

 components cheap and easily obtained
 light and easily dismantled by operatives
 flexible to accommodate changes in trench
profile, local obstruction, crossing services and
construction features e.g. wider excavation for
manholes
 ensure safe working in all stages during hand
excavation
4
Disadvantages of Sheeting, Waling, Strut
Support System

The arrangement and spacing of struts and

waling which may require attention of more
competent site supervisors

Longer pipe lengths and/or plants installation

may be obstructed by the closely spaced struts
inside the trench of deeper depth in particular

5
Methods of timbering
Wale

Polling Vertical
board sheeting

Strut

Box sheeting
Stay bracing

6
Methods of timbering

Wale

Runne
r

Strut

Soil to
be
excavate
d

Vertical sheeting Runner system Sheet piling

7
Precautions in timbering of trenches

◦ Possibility of slip of earth

◦ Testing of timbering elements
◦ Safety of adjacent structure
◦ Traffic in the surrounding
◦ Provision of ladders
◦ Safety helmet
◦ Supervision
◦ First aid box
◦ Fencing and light

8
Protective Systems
Shoring
Shielding
Sloping
Slope and Shield
 Shoring
 Shoring is the provision of a support system for
trench faces used to prevent movement of soil,
underground utilities, roadways, and
foundations.

 Shoring systems consist of posts, wales,

struts, and sheeting. Three basic types of
shoring are:
◦ Timber
◦ Hydraulic
◦ Pneumatic
Timber Shoring
Hydraulic Shoring
The trend today is toward the use of hydraulic shoring, a
prefabricated strut and/or wale system manufactured of
aluminum or steel.

Hydraulic shoring provides a critical safety advantage over

timber shoring because workers do not have to enter the
trench to install or remove hydraulic shoring.
 Hydraulic Shoring
 Advantages of Hydraulic Shoring systems :

◦ light enough to be installed by one worker;

◦ gauge-regulated to ensure even distribution of pressure
along the trench line;
◦ can be adapted easily to various trench depths and
widths.
 Pneumatic Shoring

 Pneumatic Shoring is similar to hydraulic shoring.

 The primary difference is that pneumatic shoring uses air
pressure in place of hydraulic pressure.
 A disadvantage to the use of pneumatic shoring is that an

air compressor must be on site.

 Screw Jacks
 Screw Jack Systems differ from hydraulic and pneumatic
systems in that the struts of a screw jack system must be
adjusted manually.
 This creates a hazard because the worker is required to be
in the trench in order to adjust the strut.
 In addition, uniform "preloading" cannot be achieved with
screw jacks, and their weight creates handling difficulties.
 Shielding
 Trench Boxes are different from shoring.

 Instead of shoring up or otherwise supporting the trench

face, they are intended primarily to shield workers from
cave-ins and similar incidents.
Sloping

Slope and
Shield