Reflection on Construction Technology II

This module started with basements excavations and its various supports. It is among the things that interests me the most in this semester. Among the support systems for basement excavations include sheet piling, secant and interlocking bored piles, and diaphragm wall.

This diagram shows the structure of secant bored pile wall. I find this structure interesting as the primary piles and cut by the secondary piles to form a rigid wall that is almost completely waterproof. This picture below shows how it really looks like:

The concrete of the secondary piles merges completely with the primary piles, leaving no gap for water to seep through. This is almost similar to how diaphragm walls works.

Diaphragm walls are also cast in primary and secondary slabs, each one interlocking one another to to serve as a waterproof support wall. However, waterproofing is done by adding a water stop in between the walls. These rubber stops are temporarily attached to a metal template for installation.

At the left is the temporary metal casing. It is taken off before the secondary panel is concreted to allow the concrete to merge, while the water stop prevents any water from seeping through the wall through the gap.