Shoring with shotcrete

Contractor uses earth anchors and shotcrete to shore

a 25-foot excavation needed for road widening

BY CHRIS BACKE

ast November, foundation con- Five feet at a time the holes later to hold the anchors

L
vation.
tractor Schnabel Foundation
Co., Cary, Ill., used an innova-
tive method combining earth
anchors and shotcrete to tem-
porarily shore a deep roadside exca-

The excavation work was needed

Schnabel performed the excava-
tion and shoring work in 5-foot in-
crements down to grade. After mak-
ing the initial 5-foot cut, workers
used a track drill to bore holes for
the earth anchors into the embank-
ment at a slight downward angle.
would not run out.
The holes were about 8 inches in
diameter and varied in depth from
20 to 30 feet, as determined by the
project engineer’s calculations for
the type of soil at each location and
the pressure that might be exerted
along Route 62 in Algonquin, Ill., The downward angle was necessary on the anchors. Hole spacing was
which is being so a cementitious grout pumped into
widened to four lanes.
Earth on one side of a
1
⁄4-mile stretch of the
roadbed was about 25
feet above the pro-
posed grade. Nor-
mally, excavating
such a hill down to
grade would require
the use of sheet piling
or soldier piles and
lagging to shore the
embankment until a
permanent retaining
wall could be built.
But Schnabel deter-
mined that it could
do the job more cost
effectively using the
earth anchors and
shotcrete—a shoring
method the contrac-
tor has used success-
fully on other pro-
Earth anchors and shotcrete are being used during a road-widening project to temporarily shore a
25-foot excavation until a permanent concrete retaining wall can be built. The method is proving
jects.
to be more cost-effective than sheet piling or soldier piles.
about 5 feet vertically and 41⁄2 feet
horizontally.
After drilling the holes, workers
installed the earth anchors—1-inch-
diameter high-tensile-strength
threaded rods, epoxy-coated to pre-
vent rust and corrosion. Plastic
spacers were used to center the rods
in the holes. After installing the
rods, workers pumped the grout
into each hole.
When all the rods in a given
area (typically 100 feet long by 5
feet high) had been placed, 6x6-
inch wire mesh was hung on the
rod ends extending out from the
embankment. Next, #4 rebar were
placed horizontally across the an-
chor rods to serve as additional
reinforcement.
To relieve hydraulic pressure cre- Holes for the earth anchors are spaced about 5 feet vertically and 41⁄2 feet horizontal-
ated behind the wall by groundwa- ly and vary in depth from 20 to 30 feet. After installing the 1-inch-diameter high-
ter, Schnabel installed vertical plastic tensile-strength rods, workers center them using plastic spacers and anchor them
drains against the embankment at 4- with a cementitious grout.
to 5-foot spacings. The drains lead to
weep holes in the shotcreted wall chor rods, reinforcement and drains, Once the shotcrete was applied, a
and will eventually lead to drainage they sprayed wet-mix shotcrete onto large plate washer was placed on
holes in the permanent concrete re- the prepared area to a thickness of each rod and tightened against the
taining wall. up to 12 inches. To create a reason- shotcrete with a nut.
ably flat surface, finishers used man- After the first length of wall was
Applying shotcrete ual screeds and steel trowels to completed, a second cut of about 5
After workers installed all the an- smooth the shotcrete as it built up. feet was excavated, and the entire
procedure was repeated.
When the anchored shotcrete
wall was completed down to
road grade, workers poured a
concrete pad extending about
2 feet from the base of the
wall. The pad provides a base
for the forms being used for
the permanent concrete re-
taining wall.

Chris Backe is a concrete-form

consultant based in Algonquin,
Ill.

PUBLICATION #C980449
Workers performed the excavation and shoring work in 5-foot increments down to grade. Copyright © 1996,
Plastic drains were installed against the embankment to relieve hydraulic pressure created he Aberdeen Group
by groundwater. All rights reserved