CGE-4012 Geotechnical Engineering II

Lecture 22

Sheet-piling Walls
Types of sheet-piles
Types of steel sheet-piles
Design methods

L. Prieto-Portar, January 2007

Roman engineers developed timber sheet-piles with tongue-and-groove ties, similar to

modern sheets, in order to build bridge piers in deep water.

Sheet piles are widely used in the design of retaining walls for waterfront structures
such as platforms, dolphins, coffer-dams, cells, quays, bulkheads, wharves, piers and
seawalls, such as the one shown above.

Sheet-pile Types.
1) Timber sheeting;
2) Pre-cast concrete sheets;
3) Aluminum sheets;
4) Steel sheets;
5) Plastic sheets; and
6) Combinations (for example, steel sheeting with steel pipes in-filled with concrete).

Why use steel sheet piling?

Steel sheet piling is widely used
because:
sheet-piles are resistant to
high driving stresses;
Low cost;
High elasticity;
sheet-piles are relatively
light in weight (strength/weight
ratio - 490 lb/ft3);
sheet-piles may be reused;
sheet-piles can easily be
increased in length by splices,
welding or bolting;
 sheet-piles easily corrode,
but can be protected with
galvanizing paints.

Shapes of Steel Sheet-piles.

- AZ Series:
These are used widely because of their Larssen interlock to walls and piers. The
interlock is the best in the U-sheet piles series.
The AZ series have the advantages of:
(i) The ratio of the section modulus S to the mass is very high;
(ii) The high section modulus S means a higher moment of inertia;
(iii) Wall deflections are greatly reduced, because the moment of inertia is very high.
- BZ series:
This series is no longer in use. The AZ series has replaced the BZ series simply because
of its much larger moment of inertia. The BZ series had been in use for the past 40
years.
- HZ series:
These are best suited to very hard and compact ground conditions, where classic sheet
piling would fail during driving.
The HZ piles are ideally suited to heavy driving.

Max. Recommended Length (ft).

U section

26
29
32
39
42
45
52
65
72
75
82
91

PU6
JSP 2
PU 8
PU 12

Z section

AZ 13
JSP 3
PU 16 - L 2 S
PU 20 - L 3 S

AZ 18
AZ 26

PU 25 - L 4 S
PU 32

AZ 36
BS 42

Common steel sheet-pile shapes,

A-Z-piles

H-Z king piles

AZ sheet-piles, also
known as U sheetpiles, are used in
this bridge as a
retainage wall for
the wing-walls.

- The combined HZ-AZ series:

When driving very long lengths (up to 100 feet), the use of HZ-AZ walls are advisable.
Such a combination provides greater driving rigidity and allows a smaller section to be
adopted which maintains a reasonably low pile weight.
The HZ king pile are driven first and the intermediate AZ sheet piles are then
threaded and driven between two adjacent HZ king piles. Spacing of HZ king piles are
distributed evenly. HZ piles are driven by the use of vibratory hammers.

Forging an HZ
king pile.

HZ-AZ steel sheet-piles.

A combination wall.

Aluminum sheet-piles.
Aluminum sheet-piles do not corrode;
 Aluminum sheet-piles are not commonly used because of their lower strength;
 Aluminum sheet-piles are expensive;
Aluminum sheet-piles are brittle;
When corrosion is a major design issue, the use of stainless steel sheet-piling is a
better alternative to aluminum sheet-piles.

Reinforced-concrete sheet-piles.

These photos show two examples of concrete bulkheads. Bulkheads are simply
waterfront structures that permit an abrupt change in ground elevation so that the
ground level on one side is substantially higher than the seabed level on the other side.

Vinyl sheet-piles are one of the lowest cost sheet piling. The product is manufactured
entirely from the highest 100% stabilized vinyl with an additional ultra-tough weatherable exterior for the best performance of all sheeting.

Steel sheet-piles are being driven with a vibratory hammer (notice the driven piles at right).

Installation of anchors on a steel sheet-pile bulkhead.

The backfill is placed in lift of 12 and compacted.

A steel sheet-pile wall is completed with a concrete head beam. Note the battered piles at
left, the lighting facility and some tourists sunning themselves on the new facility.

Combination walls: steel sheet-piles and

steel pipe piles.

Building a combination wall for the south quay, Port of Miami.

A combination wall.

Another form of building a combination wall.

Driving straight web steel

sheet piles.

Driving straight web steel sheet piles.

The straight web sheet piles are also used in cellular structures like circular cells,
cloverleaf cells and diaphragm walls.
Single piles are joined to form closed cells which are back-filled with granular material.
The enclosed soil mass allows the structure to withstand horizontal forces through its
own weight. No lateral support is needed.

Major excavation and highway collapse due to a failed steel sheet-pile wall in Singapore,
in 4 April 2004, during the construction of a rail tunnel.

The Design of Marine Sheet-piles.

a) Design Loads:
1- Dead loads;
2- Vertical live loads;
3- Mooring loads from wind, currents, waves, passing vessels and seiche loads;
4- Berthing loads;
5- Earthquake loads; and
6- Ice forces (if applicable).

b) Design Methods:
123456-

The Free-earth support method (cantilever method);

The Rowe Moment-reduction method;
The Fixed-earth support method( equivalent-beam);
Graphical solution methods;
The Danish rules; and
The finite element analysis.

Four different methods of design are dictated by the depth of penetration, the lateral
pressure and the elastic line (deflected shape). (a) is the free-earth method; (b) and (c)
show the effects of deeper penetrations, and (d) is the fixed-earth method.

c) Four Types of Sheet-pile Wall Failures.

C a s e A - S lid in g

C as e B - O v e rtu rn

C as e C - O v e rtu rn

C a s e D Y i e ld o r b r e a k

Steps to Design a Sheet-pile Wall.

The design of anchored sheet pile retaining walls require several successive operations:
1) Evaluation of the lateral pressures and forces that act on the wall;
2) Determine the required depth of penetration;
3) Determine the location of the tie rod;
4) Compute the maximum bending moments in the sheet-piling wall;
5) Compute the stresses in the wall and select the appropriate sheet section modulus;
6) Design the anchorage system at the end of the tie rod;
7) Design the drainage system, and
8) Determine the limitations of the surcharge loads.
Before these steps are initiated, some preliminary information must be obtained. In
particular, the controlling dimensions must be set. These are:
a) The elevation of the top of the wall;
b) The elevation at the ground surface in front of the wall (the dredge line); and
c) The elevation of the maximum, the mean, and the minimum water levels.

Anchored sheet-pile walls derive their support by two means:

1) The passive pressure in the front of the embedded portion of the wall, and
2) the anchors near the top of the piling.
This method is suitable for heights up to about 35 feet. For higher walls we could use:
a) High-strength steel sheet-piling;
b) Reinforced sheet-piling;
c) Relieving platforms; and
d) Additional tiers of tie rods.
The overall stability of anchored sheet piling walls and the stresses in the members
depends on the interaction of some factors, such as:
Relative stiffness of the piling;
Depth of the sheet-piling penetration;
The relative compressibility and the shear strength of the soil; and
The amount of anchor yield.
In general the greater the depth of penetration of the sheet-piling, the lower the location
of the resultant force of the flexural stresses.
The following slide shows the general relationship between the depth of penetration, the
lateral pressure distribution, and the elastic line or the deflection shape.

Free Earth Method.

In this method, it is assumed that the soil in front of the embedded part of the wall is
not producing enough passive force to eliminate the rotation and lateral movement at
that end point. The pile is just driven enough to assure stability. The sheet piling is
assumed to be rigid and that no pivot exists below the dredge line. That means that no
passive resistance develops on the backside of the piling.
The earth pressures could be computed by the Coulomb or the log-spiral methods.
With these assumptions the design becomes a simple statically determinate problem.
The procedures for granular soils and cohesive soils are different, since the pressures
on the wall vary.
The design chart shown in the next slide is used for anchored walls in homogeneous
granular soils, and cohesive soils under certain conditions:
- The moist unit soil weight is equal to twice the submerged unit soil weight ;
- The depth of the anchor is at 0.25H.

This cantilevered sheet piling is

being used as temporary shoring. It
was analyzed through the freeearth support method.
This cofferdam has been excavated
to expose these augercast shafts.
The pile cap is below the water
table, so that the cofferdam will be
dewatered, the augercast shafts will
be cut to the correct elevation and
the pile cap will be constructed in
the cofferdam.

Rowes Moment Reduction Theory.

Steel sheet piling is quite flexible, thereby causing earth pressures to redistribute or
differ from the classical hydrostatic distribution. In particular, it has been observed in
tests that the bending moment generally decreases if the flexibility of the piling
increases. Rowe has established a definite relationship between the degree of flexibility
of an anchored bulkhead, expressed as a coefficient ,

H + D)
(
=

EI

and reduction of the actual bending moment M as compared to the free earth support
value Mmax. The value D is the embedded portion of the sheet-pile, and H is the free
part of the sheet pile; E is the steel modulus of elasticity and I is the steel section
moment of inertia.
The figure on the next slide shows the relationship between the ratio M / Mmax and for
both medium dense and very dense granular soils.
Any section falling below the moment curve for the appropriate relative soil density
would be inadequate.

The Fixed Earth Support Method (the Blum or Equivalent Beam Method).
This method is based on the assumption that the wall deflections are such that the
elastic line will be vertical near the bottom of the sheet pile wall. This means that the
wall acts like a partially built-in beam subjected to bending moments. To produce this
deflection, the wall must be driven deep enough so that the soil beneath the dredge line
provides the required restraint on the bulkhead deformations.
The elastic line method is very time consuming and very seldom used in practice.
Blum has developed a much simpler procedure known as the equivalent beam method.
The equivalent beam method assumes a hinge at the point of contra-flexure, since the
bending moment in that point is zero. The part above the hinge can then be treated as a
separate, freely supported beam with an overhanging end. After that, the bending
moments could be calculated from simple statics. The lower portion, below the point of
contra-flexure, can also be analyzed as a separate, freely supported beam on two
supports.

Graphical Methods.
In this method the wall and the corresponding pressure diagram is divided into a
number of equal panels or sections. The resultant earth pressure on each panel is
replaced by an equivalent concentrated force acting through the center of the section
and drawn to a convenient scale so that it can then be analyzed.

Danish Rules.
These rules to design sheet-piling are published by the Danish Society of
Engineers. They are based on studies of a number of existing sheet pile structures and
are purely empirical. They apply to single anchored sheet pile walls in granular soils
and represent the most practical design procedure, albeit it is also the least
conservative approach to design.
Although the Danish Rules have been subject to considerable criticism, they have
formed the design basis for many very economical sheet pile structures in use today.

Multiple-rowed Sheet-pile Walls.

When the height between the dredged line and the anchor is great than about 35 feet, it
may prove economical to utilize a second tie rod at a lower level. This will reduce the
both the moment in the wall and the required depth of penetration. In these cases, the
designer must determine the largest deflection produced at a certain height under the
first tie rod, and calculate the force to create that deflection in the opposite direction.
The force in the tie rod on top will be reduced by the fact that the one in the bottom
took a portion of the total force.

Two rows of wales are used to brace this cofferdam.

The Design of Anchorage Systems.

The stability of an anchored sheet pile bulkhead driven into the ground depends
mainly on the stability of the anchor.
The wall may be supported at its top on a rigid structure. For example, a steel
cable or rod anchored to a large concrete block or large piles.
The design of these retaining system are dependent upon three distinct checks,
namely:
1) Determination of the required height of the anchor wall that should resist a
given anchor pull;
2) Computation of the stability of the whole system, that is to say, the bulkhead
and anchor wall or, the actual length of the tie rods for necessary security;
3) Selection of accessories such as walers or wales, tie rods, plates and fixing bolts
for a certain pre-determined stress.

Temporary tieback of a sheet-pile wall with a steel pipe pile.

Tie Rods.
Tie rods are frequently subjected to tensions much greater than the calculated
values. The conventional methods of calculating the anchor pull involves the
assumption that the resulting active pressure distribution is hydrostatic, or triangular.
In reality, the real distribution may be somewhat different and the corresponding
anchor tension may be greater than that computed. The anchor pull may also increase
because of repeated application and removal of heavy surcharges or an unequal yield
of adjacent anchorages that causes overloading. Because of these possibilities, the
computed tie rod design tension should be increased by about 30% for the tie rod
proper, and 50 to 100% at splices and connections where stress concentration can
develop. The pull on a tie rod before any increase is assessed would then be,

Ap

Td )
(
=

cos

where Ap is the anchor pull in kips per tie rod, T is the anchor pull in kips per foot
width of wall, d is the horizontal distance between anchors, rods in feet (center to
center) and is the inclination of tie rod with respect to the horizon.

Any soft soil below the tie rods, even at great depth, may consolidate under the
weight of a recent backfill, causing the surface ground to settle. A small settlement will
cause the tie rods to sag under the weight of the soil above them. This sagging will
result in an increase in tensile stress in the tie rod as it tends to pull the sheeting. In
order to eliminate this condition, one of the following methods may be used:
1) Support the tie rods with light vertical piles at 20 to 30-foot intervals; and
2) Encase the anchor rods in large conduits (such as PVC, greased cardboard
tubes, etc).
Tie rods are usually round structural steel bars with upset threaded ends to avoid
a reduction in the net area due to the threads. In order to take up slack, turnbuckles
are usually provided in every tie rod.

Anchor rods are installed before the backfill is placed.

Wales.
The horizontal reaction needed to support an anchored sheet pile wall at the top,
is transferred to the tie rods via flexural horizontal member known as a wale.
A wale (or waler) normally consists of two spaced structural steel channels
placed with their webs back to back in the horizontal position. The channels are
spaced with a sufficient distance between their webs to clear the upset end of the tie
rods. Pipe segments or other types of separators are used to maintain the required
spacing when the channels are connected together. If wales are constructed on the
inside face of the sheet piling, every section of sheet piling is bolted to the wale to
transfer the reaction of the piling. While the best location for the wales is on the
outside face of the wall, where the piling will bear against the wales, they are
sometimes placed inside the wall to provide a clear outside face.
The wales are field bolted at joints known as fish plates or splices. It is preferable
to splice both channels at the same point and place the joint at a recess in the double
piling element. Splices should be designed for the transmission of the bending
moment.

Anchors.
The stability of an anchored sheet pile bulkhead depends mainly on the stability of the
anchor device to which the wall is fastened. The reaction of the tie rods may be
carried by several methods:
1)
2)
3)
4)

Tie rods secured by a concrete dead-man;

Battered steel H-piles used as tension anchors;
Tie rods secured to a concrete block that is supported by bi-battered piles; and
Rock or earth anchors.

The location of the anchorage system to be effective it must be located outside the
potential active failure zone developed behind a sheet pile wall. Its capacity is also
impaired if it is located in unstable ground or if the active failure zone prevents the
development of full passive resistance of the system

Sheet Pile Anchor Walls.

Short steel sheet piles driven in the form of a continuous wall may be used to
anchor tie rods. The tie rods are connected with a waling system similar to that for
the "parent" wall, and resistance is derived from passive pressure developed as the
tie rod pulls against the anchor wall. To provide some stability during installation
of the piling and the wales, pairs of the piling should be driven to a greater depth
at frequent intervals. The anchor wall is analyzed by conventional means
considering full passive pressure developed only if the active and passive failure
zones do not intersect. The tie rod connection to the anchorage should be ideally
located at the point of the resultant earth pressures acting on the anchorage.

Deadmen Anchors.
The effects of interaction of the active and passive failure surfaces, as mentioned
above, also apply to the design of deadmen anchors.
To consider the deadmen or anchor walls settlement the anchorage must be located
in unconsolidated fill, and piles may be needed to support the blocks. Also, the soil
within the passive wedge of the anchorage should be compacted to at least 90% of
maximum density unless the deadmen is forced against firm natural soil.
For design in cohesive soils, both the immediate and the long-term pressure
conditions should be checked to determine the critical case. A safety factor of two
against failure is recommended.

When Not To Use Anchors.

To be effectively used, a drilled-in grouted earth anchor must develop the desired pull
out capacity in a zone outside any potential failure surface.
All the anchors must be tested to well above the design load. Anchors are one of the
few construction systems of any kind that can economically be tested to full design
load or beyond. The pull out capacity of the anchors develops from the resistance of
the surrounding ground. Most soil and/or rock conditions are suitable for providing
this resistance, but founding anchors in organic material (peats), soft clays or silty
clays is not recommended.
If no suitable strata is found within reach, such as sand with an SPT value of 10 or
greater, or bedrock is within 100 feet (30 m) vertically of the anchor elevation, then
anchors may not be cost effective.

References.
-Coduto, Donald P. (2001), Foundation Design: Principles and Practices, 2nd Ed, Prentice Hall,
Upper Saddle River, NJ;
-McCormac, Jack C. (2001), Design of Reinforced Concrete, 5t ED, Jhon Wiley & Sons, Inc, NY.
-Liu, Cheng and Evett, Jack B. (2001) Soils and Foundations, 5TH Ed. Prentice Hall, Upper
Saddle River, NJ;
-Nilson, Arthur, 2)Darwin, David and 3)Dolan, Charles (2004) Design of Concrete Structures, 13
Ed. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Ny, NY;
- Naval Fac. Eng. Command : Design Manual - 7, soil mechanics foundations and earth structures
, Dept. of Navy, Washington, 1971;
-Schmertmann, J.H. : Guidelines for cone penetration test: Performance and Design, US Dep. of.
Transp., Fed. Hyw. Adm., Report FHWA-TS-78-209, July 1978;
- Van Impe, W.F. : Soil Improvement Techniques and their Evolution, Balkema, Rotterdam,
1989.