Response of Pile wall supporting excavation adjacent to existing building in soft Clay

Abstract

Excavation work in soft clay is one of the critical problems in geotechnical engineering. The excavation work could be due to the construction of basement of a new building or pipe lines installation. Such excavation in soft clay will cause large soil movement and may cause damage to the structures close to the area of excavation. In this paper, the efficiency of using pile wall as an excavation supporting system in soft clay was studied. Three dimensional numerical method was used to model pile wall supporting excavation in soft clay adjacent to an existing structure. Pile wall and the foundation of the adjacent structure were modeled using linear elastic behavior. Parametric study was performed considering excavation height, pile embedded depth, and pile spacing. Some design recommendations were given to provide a safe supporting system in soft clay.