Innovative Steel Sheet Pile Solutions for UCP

Introduction 

Steel sheet piles have been used for over 100 years in permanent and temporary applications. In the early 1910’s, steel sheet piles were mainly utilized for temporary cofferdams in water and excavations on land, but a few years later, the first quay walls were executed with steel sheet piles. One of the first structures that was well documented was built in the Port of Rotterdam, The Netherlands. On other continents, the development of steel sheet piles was done concurrently. 

• In the USA, they were used mainly for large cofferdams, for instance to build hydroelectrical power stations in the Mississippi River. 
• In Japan, one of the first innovative applications was a tunnel built in 1927 with steel sheet piles for the national railway company. 

Installation techniques, as well as design methods, evolved continuously during the 20th century. A few pilot projects confirmed that new permanent applications, such as bridge abutments and underground structures were cost-effective and durable. 

Since the 1960's, these structures have gained momentum in several European countries, but in the last years, a surge in these applications has been quite noticeable, especially in The Netherlands, were several large underground car parks (UCP) were built during the last decade with steel sheet piles. 

Steel sheet piles are cost-effective solutions for UCP with 3 or 4 levels. So why are they not so widely used in other countries? 

There are several reasons, most of them are based on a subjective perception. The execution of an UCP in an urban area poses quite a few challenges to the designer and to the contractor. One of the main issues for the design engineer is fire resistance. Other topics can be managed in quite simple ways. These aspects will be explained in the next chapters.