Impervious steel sheet pile walls

Ensuring Water Tightness: Rational Analysis and Practical Solutions for Impervious Steel Sheet Pile Walls

Steel sheet piles are completely impervious. 

The only possibility of water infiltrating through a sheet pile wall is by penetration through the interlock. Due to its shape, the Larssen interlock naturally provides high seepage resistance. 

Sealing systems are therefore not necessary for applications such as temporary retaining walls where moderate rates of seepage are acceptable. If medium to high seepage resistance is required, e.g. cut-off walls for contaminated sites, retaining structures for bridge abutments or tunnels, double sheet piles with sealed or welded joints are recommended. 

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The following sealing systems are used to increase the watertightness of sheet pile walls:

  • bituminous filler: Beltan® Plus,
    maximal water pressure: 100 kPa;
  • wax & mineral-oil-based filler: Arcoseal™,
    maximal water pressure: 100 kPa;
  • water-swelling product: ROXAN® Plus System,
    maximal water pressure: 200 kPa;
  • AKILA® System,
    maximal water pressure: 300 kPa;
  • welding: 100% watertight.

As Darcy’s law for discharge through homogenous structures is not applicable to leakage phenomenon through sheet pile interlocks, a new concept of “joint resistance” has been developed by GeoDelft (Deltares).

q(z) = ρ • Δp(z)/γw

 

q(z) - water discharge [m3/s/m]
ρ - inverse joint resistance [m/s]
Δp(z) - pressure drop at level z [kPa]
γw - unit weight of water [kN/m3]