There are seven basic work steps involved in the construction of deep basement.

These are ground stabilization provisions, cut-off walling provisions, lateral soil support provisions, excavation arrangement, dewatering arrangement, spoil removal arrangement and basement construction arrangement. Firstly, ground stabilization is the first step of construction. Its purposes are preventing outside that affect the site and stabilizing the construction site. So it is done before the excavation. To have this function, the usual grouting method is used. Grout is a kind of fluid form material for injecting into sub-soil. The material can be of cement of chemical base. It can get hydrated inside the soil and make the sub-soil much stronger to withstand itself or to resist penetration of ground water. For example, before the construction of basement, inject a pipe with grout into the sub-soil, and spray the cement with grout surround the site area. The figure below is showing that the grout is injected between the structural wall and outer wall, meaning around the site boundary.

Secondly, there is also another step need to do before the excavation, which is a cut-off walling provision. It can prevent collapse from surroundings during the process of excavation. Also, it can prevent the water intake into the site. The depth of it must deeper than the depth of excavation, because it needs to ensure that the workers must work in a safety place. The material using in cut-off wall is usually sheet pile, soldier pile, and bore pile. Also, it can also be the diaphragm wall as it is relatively thinner. Thirdly, lateral soil support provision is the next step. Its functions are also preventing collapse from surroundings during the process of excavation and making the sub-soil is stable. As it may also collapse after doing the second step, this step is used to stronger the lateral forces to resist the sub-soil. But this step and the excavation is done at the same time because of safety. The material using in this step can be the steel strut or diaphragm wall with ground anchor or the steel tube. Besides, excavation is the fourth step of construction the deep basement. It needs a working platform for the machine such as track loader to have further excavation and soil removal. So it is necessary to excavate the site evenly due to the safety concern.

Figure 3. Track Loader Moreover, dewatering arrangement is also the basic step of deep basement construction. As underground water is behind the sheet pile, the tube must deeper than excavated depth. There are a densely pump and suction pipe installed for pumping out water until finish basement part construction. For example, sump pump may be required to remove the water and make the basement dry.

Figure 4. A small sump pump

Furthermore, as there are many soil excavated, soil removal is a necessary step of deep basement construction. The excavated soil may be aside properly to reduce possibility of collapsing. And as the safety concerns, the angle of repose must be calculated. Also, there are machines used to remove the spoil like grab mounted on gantry crane. Lastly, after the preparation of the basement construction has done, the basement construction is the last step of the deep basement construction. There are three methods to construct the basement. The first one is open cut arrangement, it is suitable for site with abandon of unobstructed working space and usually used in construction of railway. The second one is bottom up arrangement, which is excavating to the bottom and constructs the basement form the bottom. It is suitable for the basement of small to medium size. But it can only use the small machine to excavate and remove soil. The last one is top down arrangement, which is constructing the superstructure and substructure at the same time. It is suitable for basement of very large size, deep and with complex environment. It need a special provision which is temporary vertical support required as it need to support and transmit the loading during construction of superstructure. This method is usually used in Hong Kong as it can save much time. To conclude, the main reason to do these steps before the construction of basement is the safety concerns. Basement construction is a dangerous work because the soil aside may collapse anytime. These steps can make sure that the workers are working in a safety site.