Benched Excavation

If you are digging in loose soil a deep vertical trench wall is at risk of collapse.
Benched excavation. In the half bench configuration the horizontal benches extend from the semi circular channel to the interior manhole wall. Rain vibration and pressure from heavy equipment can make soil un stable and increase the risk of a cave in. This shows orange county s standard introduced in 1965.
Benching involves digging the trench in steps or tiers instead so the banks do not have to support more material than they are capable of. When the embankment is constructed on hillside slopes civil engineering. Benching systems rather than excavating a flat trench face benching leaves steps on the side of the excavation.
Actual slope means the slope to which an excavation face is excavated. The requirements of this appendix apply when the design of sloping and benching protective systems is to be performed in accordance with the requirements set forth in 1926 652 b 2. Half bench and full bench are the most common types of benching configurations utilized.
A benched excavation also called benching can be defined as a type of excavation that consists of a series of horizontal steps with near vertical surfaces between them. Sloped or benched excavations that show signs of cracks bulges or clumps of soil that fall away from the faces are dangerous and must be inspected by a competent person. The house foundation basement excavation is less than 71 2 feet 2 5 meters deep or is benched for at least 2 feet 0 61 meters horizontally for every 5 feet 1 52 meters or less of vertical height.
There are really two main reasons to bench a trench rather than slope a trench. No ground can be relied upon to stand unsupported in all circumstances. This is done as a safety measure to prevent the excavated walls from collapsing inwards and trapping the construction workers.
The art of cutting side slopes in steps is called benching. The minimum horizontal width excavation face to formwork wall at the bottom of the excavation is as wide as. This can either be found as a single bench at the bottom of the trench or a multiple bench system.