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EMERGENCY AND NON-EMERGENCY RAILROAD SAFE EARTH RETAINING WALLS WITH

PRESSED-IN SHEET PILES

Takefumi “Tom” Takuma, Giken Ltd., 5850 T.G. Lee Blvd., Suite 535, Orlando, FL32822

Phone: (407) 380-3232, E-mail: [email protected]

Masashi Nagano, Giken America Corp., 60 E. 42nd St., Suite 3030, New York, NY 10165

Phone: (212) 597-9331, E-mail: [email protected]

NUMBER OF WORDS: 2,275

ABSTRACT

Two railroad earth retaining projects constructed with pressed-in sheet piles are studied; the first one

is emergency rail bridge pier foundation repair with limited overhead clearance in Columbus, Ohio.

Dry inside space created with a sheet pile cofferdam was utilized for installing additional pin piles

and eventually filled with reinforced concrete to be integrated with the existing footing. The second

project is a railroad grade separation that also utilized sheet pile cofferdams in Hamamatsu, Japan.

Sheet piles were installed only inches away from the construction gage of the railroad involved while

trains were traveling at their normal operational speed. Sheet piles were pressed into the ground with

hydraulic force, eliminating noise and vibration issues normally associated with sheet pile driving.

INTRODUCTION

Steel sheet piles are economical and versatile earth retaining components for many purposes. They

can be driven right next to live rail traffic for stabilizing an existing track, building a new structure, or

creating a grade separation. In addition, a bridge pier foundation exposed or damaged by flooding

can be repaired promptly with a sheet pile cofferdam to isolate it from surrounding water. However,

all this construction near or under rail tracks requires special attention to vibration, potential ground

settlement, and earth’s lateral movement that the repair construction itself may cause. The hydraulic

press-in piling method, which generates only an undiscernible level of vibration, works very safely in

low headroom, minimum horizontal clearance, hard soil, and limited access conditions because of

the way the system works. Numerous railroad upgrade and repair projects have utilized the method

for these features.

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]

PRESS-IN PILING

Conventional sheet pile driving utilizes either percussive or vibratory pile driving methods; both of

which generate high levels of noise and vibration, causing nuisance and potential damage to nearby

structures. On the other hand, the press-in piling method utilizes a hydraulic force to push piles into

the ground, thus practically eliminating the noise and vibration issue. Although there are types of press-

in piling systems mounted on tall leaders on large crawler-base machines, they are less frequently

used due to its much larger size and more limited drivability compared to the Giken type press-in

system that this paper will discuss. The latter type of the press-in machine sits atop and grips on a

reaction stand (a steel frame with expandable arms for holding counterweight) and is anchored with

its own weight and additional counterweight when starting off as shown in Figure 1. Once the first few

piles are pressed in, the equipment grips on top of the installed piles and moves forward on its own as

the pile installation progresses. This method does not use a vibratory or percussive force to install

piles.

Figure 1 Starting of Press-in Piling

Its advantages are:

1. Low noise and practically vibration free (1). It enables piling projects close to houses, schools,

hospitals, and other sensitive structures as well as in the areas where sensitive fish and/or

animals are around. This feature was one of the primary reasons that the method was chosen

for the case study projects.

2. The equipment size is relatively small and its clamping points are much lower than those of

other pile driving methods. This feature enables the equipment to work in physically tight

working conditions, both horizontally and vertically, such as an area under railway girders (2)

or right next to existing structures or railroad tracks (3).

3. It can achieve much more accurate and safer pile installation due to a combination of better

control of the piles and lower clamping points compared with other pile driving methods.

4. With a high pressure water jet attachment or a continuous flight auger attachement (an auger

with a drill head and a drill casing), the press-in machine can install piles into stiff clay, gravel,

cobbles, boulders and soft rock with equivalent N-values much higher than 50 and a uniaxial

compressive strength of 5,000 to 10,000 psi. This allows the piles to be pressed in as the

attachment loosens the hard soil (4) without having to bring in a large predrilling machine.

Figure 2 shows how this auger attachment works. It is integrated with the press-in piling

machine. The maximum depth that the auger can bore is approximately 75 feet. The second

case study project utilized this auger attachment.

Figure 2 Crush Auger Attachment

CSX BRIDGE PIER REPAIR WORK IN COLUMBUS, OHIO, UNITED STATES

One of the Columbus area’s rail bridge foundations was scoured around its foundation, needing

emergency repair work (Figure 3). The original pier foundation was on timber piles with a concrete footer.

The repair work was to drive micro-piles around the original footer and to construct a larger concrete

encasement footer. See Figures 4 and 5 for the structural details.

Figure 3 Bridge Pier with Damaged Foundation

Figure 4 Plan View of Cofferdam (Source: Richard Goettle Inc.)

New Concrete Footer

Figure 5 Cross-section of Cofferdam and Pier Foundation (Source: Richard Goettle Inc.)

A sheet pile cofferdam was planned to create dry working space around the damaged foundation to repair

it. However, the construction of the cofferdam required careful planning because of the limited overhead

clearance under the bridge girder and proximity to the damaged foundation. For these reasons, the

foundation subcontractor decided to press in sheet piles to build the cofferdam.

Figure 6 shows the soil conditions at the pier with N-values and the location of the 25-foot-long sheet

piles. As can be seen, the soil was not very hard for the entire penetration except sand and silt mixed

with stone fragments found between 12 to 15 feet below the GL. A water jetting or auger attachment was

not needed.

Due to the limited overhead clearance under the bridge girder, a short sheet pile section was brought

over to the piling equipment by a small track loader with a special arm to hold it in position after their

lower sections had been pressed in (Figure 7). Sheet piles were then spliced and welded together in

place (Figure 8). With the sheets spliced, the work continued using the piling equipment capable of up to

130 metric tons of press-in force. A production of approximately 9 sets of welded sheets were pressed in

per each 10-hour shift. Figure 9 shows the concrete pier with the existing concrete footer, a line of new

HP14x89 Strut

HP14x89 Wale

15’

micropiles, and steel bar reinforcement placed on top inside the completed sheet pile cofferdam.

Figure 6 Soil Conditions and Sheet Pile Location

Figure 7 Cofferdam Sheet Pile Press-in Work Under Rail Girder

SPT N-Values Soil Ft

Sheet Piles

Figure 8 Splicing Sheet Piles by Welding

Figure 9 Sheet Pile Cofferdam and Micropiles for Larger Encasement Footer

The cofferdam construction was finished within a short period of time without affecting the weakened pier

foundation or the rail girder above it. Although this project did not encounter very hard soil, emergency

bridge foundation repair often has to deal with gravel, cobbles, and boulders brought over by flooding.

The aforementioned auger attachment becomes essential for safe and efficient installation of sheet piles

in these cases.

ENSHU RAILWAY GRADE SEPARATION PROJECT PHASE 2

Hamamatsu City with population of about 800,000 is located in the central part of Japan. The 10.7-mile

-long Enshu railway is serving the city’s residents by connecting the city center on the south and its

northern suburb, crossing many highways and roadways in congested residential and industrial areas.

Although it is a single track railway, the trains are operating every 12 minutes in each direction during

the daytime, transporting some 10 million passengers per year. To alleviate local roadway traffic jams at

railroad crossings, the southernmost 1.6-mile section was first grade separated in the 1980’s and the

next 2.0-mile section was elevated from 2004 to 2013 as the second phase. The latter project

eliminated 21 railway-road crossings and elevated 3 stations. Figure 10 shows a typical cross section of

the completed viaduct of the second phase.

Figure 10 Typical Cross Section of Viaduct

To build this, a temporary rail track was first laid on the ground next to the existing line as shown on the

right hand side of the cross section. The rail traffic was then shifted to the temporary track to make way

for the viaduct construction. While the southern half of this phase had sufficient distance from

surrounding structures for most of its alignment, the northern half was running through a densely

populated residential neighborhood with minimal distance from houses on both sides of the

construction. To build the viaduct’s footing foundations, sheet piles were first to be installed to form a

cofferdam (39 FT x 26 FT). However, the noise and vibration during sheet pile driving were a major

concern to the majority owner of the project, the city government, due to their proximity to many houses.

When consulted by the city government, the foundation subcontractor involved proposed the

adoption of press-in piling with “Zero” sheet piles for mitigating the potential noise and vibration issue

as well as the project’s very tight right of way. A Zero sheet pile (NS-SP-J) is a special section (23.6

inches wide and 7.9 inches deep), which can be installed right against adjacent structures or

property lines with a “Zero” type press-in piling machine, which clamps on and presses in the Zero

sheet piles always from the project side of the sheets without protruding into the other side. This

process allows a sheet pile wall to be constructed theoretically with zero clearance with neighboring

structures or property lines as shown in Figure 11.

Figure 11 Press-in of Zero Sheet Piles Right Against Adjacent Structure

As Figure 12 indicates, the project’s SPT value was higher than 50 at the sandy gravel layer located

around 23 feet below the ground level. The sheet piles were planned to be about 30 feet long to

penetrate through this hard layer which required the auger attachment.

Figure 12 Soil Conditions with Sheet Pile Location

Figure 13 shows an aerial view of the project during sheet pile installation. Note that two sets of

equipment were working while the train was operating on the temporary track on the right hand side.

Figure 14 illustrates the relationship between the Zero sheet pile wall and the temporary railroad

track. Figure 15 shows a close-up view of the press-in piling with the auger attachment right next to

railway traffic. Due to the fact that the piling equipment firmly clamp onto already installed piles at a

much lower elevation compared to conventional piling, the press-in piling was allowed to continue

while trains were running by at their normal speed. Figure 16 is one of the completed sheet pile

cofferdams with internal bracing and the footing concrete already cast in place.

The rail traffic was finally shifted from the temporary track over to the newly built viaduct section in

November, 2012 after 8 years of construction.

Figure 13 Sheet Pile Installation for Cofferdam Construction

Figure 14 Cross Section of Zero Sheet Pile Press-in Installation

Figure 15 Zero Sheet Pile’s Press-in Installation with Simultaneous Augering

Track Gauge: 3 FT-6 IN

Figure 16 Completed Sheet Pile Cofferdam with Internal Bracing

CONCLUSIONS

Pressed-in sheet piles can form high quality earth retaining and cut-off walls without causing a noise

or vibration issue against nearby structures or local residents. They can also be installed in a low

headroom situation and/or at a very little distance from existing structures or at the edge of the right

of way as exemplified with the case studies. An auger attachment enables sheets to be efficiently

installed through hard soil with N-values much higher than 50. Emergency and non-emergency

railroad construction work can be safely executed with pressed-in sheet piles even in the face of

difficult site conditions.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The authors appreciate assistance provided by Richard Goettle, Inc., Takayuki Sakai of Zefiro

Corporation, and Ian Vaz of Giken America Corporation.

REFERENCES

1. White, D., Finlay, T., Bolton, M., and Bearss, G., (2002), “Press-in Piling: Ground Vibration and

Noise During Piling Installation”, Proceedings of Deep Foundations 2002 Conference (GSP 116),

ASCE

2. Takuma, T., (2016), “Emergency Repair of Flood-damaged Bridge Pier Foundations with Pressed-in

Piles”, Proceedings of 2016 Annual Conference of American Railway Engineering and

Maintenance-of-Way Association

3. Takuma, T., Nishimura, H., Kambe, S., (2016), “Aseismic Upgrade of Existing Railway Embankment

by Double Sheet Pile and Tubular Pile Walls”, Proceedings of 2016 GeoChicago Conference,

ASCE-GI

4. Takuma, T., DellAringa, C., and Nagano, M., (2018), “Retrofitting Drainage Systems With

Pressed-In Sheet Piles In Very Hard Soil In Southern California”, Proceedings of 2018 Deep

Foundations Institute Annual Conference

List of Figure Captions

Figure 1 Starting of Press-in Piling

Figure 2 Crush Auger Attachment

Figure 3 Bridge Pier with Damaged Foundation

Figure 4 Plan View of Cofferdam (Source: Richard Goettle Inc.)

Figure 5 Cross-section of Cofferdam and Pier Foundation (Source: Richard Goettle Inc.)

Figure 6 Soil Conditions and Sheet Pile Location

Figure 7 Cofferdam Sheet Pile Press-in Work Under Rail Girder

Figure 8 Splicing Sheet Piles by Welding

Figure 9 Sheet Pile Cofferdam and Micropiles for Larger Encasement Footer

Figure 10 Typical Cross Section of Viaduct

Figure 11 Press-in of Zero Sheet Piles Right Against Adjacent Structure

Figure 12 Soil Conditions with Sheet Pile Location

Figure 13 Sheet Pile Installation for Cofferdam Construction

Figure 14 Cross Section of Zero Sheet Pile Press-in Installation

Figure 15 Zero Sheet Pile’s Press-in Installation with Simultaneous Augering

Figure 16 Completed Sheet Pile Cofferdam with Internal Bracing

Takefumi “Tom” Takuma - Giken Ltd.Masashi Nagano - Giken America Corp.

Emergency and Non-emergency Railroad Safe Earth Retaining Walls with Pressed-in Sheet Piles

Overview1. Background2. Press-in Pile Driving3. Case Study No. 1 Columbus, OH4. Case Study No. 2 Hamamatsu, Japan5. Conclusions

Commonly-used Civil Engineering Retaining Walls

• Soldier pile and lagging• Steel sheet pile or pipe pile walls• Concrete Walls

MSE (Mechanically Stabilized Earth) wallsPrecast concrete L or Reverse T-wallsSecant or tangent pile wallsCast-in-place gravity type walls

Advantages of Steel Materialsfor Railroad Construction• Can support soils and water in shoring applications. • Permits excavations and construction of buildings foundations. • Those retaining walls can be cantilevered, braced or anchored.• Creates a steel cut-off wall that can achieve a high level of sealing.• They can become permanent walls to reduce footings, columns

and piling needs or can be just a temporary wall by easy extraction.• Permits thinner walls than other wall types, creating larger inner

space. • Can be installed w/ low noise and practically no vibration w/ press-

in piling.• Can be installed in hard ground w/pre-drilling or press-in piling.

What is Press-in Piling?

Use hydraulic force to push piles into the ground.

So, it is practically vibration-free.

Press-in Piling Principle

How is the first pile started?

How to Start the First Press-in Pile?

Is it low noise, really?

Does it only generate undiscernible vibrations?

How about hard soil?

Water Jet Attachment or Crush Auger Attachmentis the key for pressing in piles into hard soil.

How Crush Auger Attachment Works

If your project access is limited, the GRB System enables pile installation.

Case Study No. 1: Emergency Repair of Railroad Bridge Pier Foundation in Columbus, OH (2015)

Columbus, OH

Plan View of the Bridge Pier Foundation

(Source: Richard Goettle Inc.)

Cross Section of the Bridge Pier Foundation

(Source: Richard Goettle Inc.)

Soil Conditions

Photo credit: Zefiro Corp.

Micropileinstallation


Pressing in sheet piles under the rail girder.


Low headroom.


Next short section.


Ready for splicing.


Welding for splicing.


Unexpected flooding.


Sheeting work and excavation complete.


Readying for enlarged footer concrete.

Case Study No. 2: Railroad Grade SeparationProject in Hamamatsu, Japan

https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9286431#/media/File:Enshu-RW_series1000.jpg

Tokyo

HamamatsuProject Location

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enshū_Railway_Line

Summary of Enshu Railway

Hamamatsu City Center

Enshu Railway LineL=18km (11miles)

Nishi-Kajima (Terminus)

Grade Separation Project (Phase 2)L=3.3km(2.0miles)

Enshu Railway Continuous Grade Separation Phase 2 Project Summary• Length: 3.3km (2.0 miles)• At-grade crossings eliminated: 21 locations• Elevated stations: 3 locations• Project duration: 2004 – 2012• Project Owner: Hamamatsu City Government& Enshu Railway

Typical Cross Section of Grade Separation

8’-10”25’-7”

Soil Conditions

Sheet Pile Installation

“Zero Piler” can install sheet piles right against the property line…

On this project “Zero Piler” was placed right next to the railway track.

“Zero Piler” installed sheets right outside the railroad’s construction gage.

Regular “Silent Piler” was used for non-track sides.

Excavation of a bulkhead started.

Leveling concrete was placed at the bottom of the bulkhead made of sheet piles, wales and braces.

https://www.suyama-group.co.jp/construction/maintenance/24_4.php

Viaduct completed.

http://www.gaisokkyo.jp/doromanage/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/pro-27-16.pdf

Conclusion• Pressed-in sheet piles can form high quality earth retaining and

cut-off walls without causing a noise or vibration issue against nearby structures or local residents.

• They can also be installed in a low headroom situation and/or at a very little distance from existing structures or at the edge of the right of way.

• An auger attachment enables sheets to be efficiently installed through hard soil with N-values much higher than 50.

• Emergency and non-emergency railroad construction work can be safely executed with relative ease even in the face of difficult site conditions with pressed-in sheet piles.

Acknowledgement

• Richard Goettle Inc.• Zefiro Corp. (Takayuki Sakai)• Ian Vaz – Giken America Corp.

Thank you!

Questions?

Takefumi “Tom” Takuma - Giken Ltd.�Masashi Nagano - Giken America Corp.Slide Number 2Commonly-used �Civil Engineering Retaining WallsAdvantages of Steel Materials�for Railroad ConstructionWhat is Press-in Piling?Slide Number 6Press-in Piling PrincipleHow is the first pile started?How to Start the First Press-in Pile?Is it low noise, really?Does it only generate undiscernible vibrations?How about hard soil?Slide Number 13How Crush Auger Attachment WorksIf your project access is limited, the GRB System enables pile installation.Case Study No. 1: �Emergency Repair of Railroad Bridge Pier Foundation in Columbus, OH (2015)Slide Number 17Plan View of the Bridge Pier FoundationCross Section of the Bridge Pier FoundationSoil ConditionsPhoto credit: Zefiro Corp.Photo credit: Zefiro Corp.Photo credit: Zefiro Corp.Photo credit: Zefiro Corp.Photo credit: Zefiro Corp.Photo credit: Zefiro Corp.Photo credit: Zefiro Corp.Photo credit: Zefiro Corp.Photo credit: Zefiro Corp.Case Study No. 2: Railroad Grade Separation�Project in Hamamatsu, Japan Slide Number 31Slide Number 32Slide Number 33Enshu Railway Continuous Grade Separation Phase 2 Project SummarySlide Number 35Soil ConditionsSheet Pile InstallationSlide Number 38On this project �“Zero Piler” was placed right next to the railway track.Slide Number 40Slide Number 41Slide Number 42Slide Number 43Slide Number 44Slide Number 45ConclusionAcknowledgementThank you!��Questions?

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