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Contractor Builds New Retaining Wall with Help
With any excavation project, challenges always impact the process, even in good conditions. This can be especially true in trying to fit the correct shoring system to site conditions and project parameters. For the initial installation of the retaining wall, Brycon was using H-pile with timber lagging to shore the excavation. But as the excavation trench moved closer to a nearby apartment complex, the ability to maintain the stability of the building’s foundation became a concern. “When we got up to that building, I thought we might have a problem continuing with piling,” said Brycon’s owner and operator, Bryan Naugle. “I began thinking that maybe I needed to switch shoring system mid-stream. So then I thought, How can I make this happen now and still be usable and a cost effective solution?,” he explained.
Instead, Mr. Naugle inquired about a shoring option that he had used in the past that met all safety and excavation requirements: a Slide Rail Shoring System from Efficiency Production Inc.
Slide Rail is considered “positive shoring”. It is installed by sliding the panels into integrated rails on the posts, and then pushing the panels and posts incrementally down to grade as the pit is dug; a process commonly referred to as a “dig and push” shoring system. The advantage of Efficiency’s Slide Rail is that there is absolutely no over-excavation, which means that pressure against the surrounding soil is maintained throughout the entire installation and removal of the system. Slide Rail is installed simultaneously as the trench or pit is excavated, which means personnel can safely be in the trench or pit at any point in the installation or removal process. The individual panels and posts can be handled with a standard size excavator which means that excavation contractors can usually install the shoring system themselves. Brycon used a CAT 315 and CAT 330 excavator to install the Slide Rail System. Brycon rented from Hewitt Rentals’ Dartmouth branch office more than 36.6 m (120’) of Slide Rail equipment, enough to configure a Linear Multi-Bay™ system to safely shore the cast-in-place retaining wall. The system included 2.4 m (8’) tall, 4.9 m (16’) and 6 m (20’) wide steel panels that slide down integrated rails on 5.5 m (20’) tall linear posts, creating seven separate 4.9 m (16’) and 6 m (20’) wide “bays”. The 3.3 m (11’) tall, 31 cm (1’) wide parallel beams that roll up and down the slotted rail on the inside face of the linear posts have spreader collars – like trench shield sidewalls – which pin 4.3 m (14’) long spreader pipe; creating a 4.9 m (16’)wide interior trench. “A big advantage of the Efficiency Slide Rail was the parallel beams and spreaders that move up and down in the posts. When we were putting in the system we could keep the spreaders real low in the trench, then slide them up high as we built up the 4.9 m (16’) tall retaining wall,” continued Mr. Naugle. Hewitt Rentals also provided with the Slide Rail equipment, Efficiency’s new exclusive Ground Quick-Release™ Shackle. The innovative device has a spring loaded pin that when pulled by a connecting rope retracts and frees the shackle from the panels or top of posts, eliminating the potential dangers of climbing a ladder to undo traditional threaded shackles. “I think that (the ground release shackle) is a super idea,” said Mr. Naugle. “I like to see some innovation some times,” he added. Brycon Construction is one of the Maritimes largest and most respected civil contractors. Incorporated in just 2002, Brycon is constantly striving to make work more efficient by utilizing the latest software, and embracing new approaches to infrastructure construction. Hewitt Rentals Inc., a subsidiary of Hewitt Equipment Limited, and Atlantic Tractors & Equipment rent a wide variety of equipment and small tools. Hewitt Rentals Inc. is the exclusive distributor of Efficiency Production, Inc. product for Quebec and the Maritimes. |
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Mr. Naugle contacted Hewitt Rentals Inc. – a leading distributor of Efficiency Production trench shoring equipment in Quebec and the Maritime Provinces – to discuss options. “Traditional means of trenching such as trench boxes were immediately ruled out; there was no possibility to over-excavate enough to install trench shields, and shoring of the ground would be necessary to protect surrounding buildings” said Marco Ferro, from Hewitt Rentals Inc. “Driven tight-sheeting is usually the first alternate option to trench shields, but due to the high cost and possible vibration issues to surrounding building foundations sheeting was also unfeasible. Slide Rail is a cost effective way to shore up an area in many traditional applications, and Efficiency slide rails have many possible configurations and applications to fit an assortment of job needs,” he also explained.
Efficiency’s Universal Slide Rail is a component shoring system comprised of steel panels (similar to trench shield sidewalls) and vertical steel posts. The highly versatile system can be used in a variety of configurations. Efficiency’s Slide Rail System can be configured into small four-sided pits; an obstruction-free ClearSpan™ configuration; or in a Multi-Bay™ configuration to install large tanks and structures, or lengths of pipe over 12.2 m (40’).
A 2.4 m (8’) tall panel is installed first in the outside slotted rail of the post, then another into the inside open-face rail of the post creating a trench depth of 4.9 m (16’). Efficiency Production is the only Slide Rail manufacturer to offer an open-face rail design on their Slide Rail posts which greatly reduces the potential of the panels binding against the soil.
