There are two basic methods of protecting workers against cave-ins: Sloping. Temporary protective structures (e.g., shoring, trench boxes, pre-fabricated systems, hydraulic systems, engineering systems, etc.)

OSHA defines an excavation as any man-made cut, cavity, trench, or depression in the Earth’s surface formed by earth removal. A trench is defined as a narrow excavation (in relation to its length) made below the surface of the ground.

Types of protective systems include sloping, shoring and shielding. OSHA also requires that a safe means of access or egress – such as ladders, steps and ramps – be located within 25 feet of all workers for excavations 4 feet or deeper.

Trenches 5 feet (1.5 meters) deep or greater require a protective system unless the excavation is made entirely in stable rock. If less than 5 feet deep, a competent person may determine that a protective system is not required.

How Deep Can a Trench Be Without Shoring? Trenches with a depth of 5 feet (1.5 meters) or greater need a protective system unless the entire excavation is in stable rock. If there is anything less than 5 feet, it is up to a competent person’s discretion to determine if there is a need for a protective system.

Strategies to Protect Buildings Close to Deep Excavation

1. Reduce the unsupported length of the retaining wall.
2. Decrease the influence of creep.
3. Take the advantage of corner affect.

*Each country will have specific regulations. For example, OSHA in the United States still specifies a depth that trench shoring must be used, which is currently 5 ft or 1.5 metres deep. However, if the trench is less than this depth, a competent person must determine if a protective system is required.

To prevent cave-ins: SLOPE or bench trench walls. SHORE trench walls with supports, or. SHIELD trench walls with trench boxes.

Cave-ins pose the greatest risk in trenching and excavation operations, and are much more likely than other excavation-related accidents to result in worker fatalities. Other potential hazards include falls, falling loads, hazardous atmospheres, and incidents involving mobile equipment.

“Benching (Benching system)” means a method of protecting employees from cave-ins by excavating the sides of an excavation to form one or a series of horizontal levels or steps, usually with vertical or near-vertical surfaces between levels.

Shoring systems consist of posts, wales, struts, and sheeting. There are two basic types of shoring, timber and aluminum hydraulic.

Making openings in a wall or enlarging one.

• 1). H or I-Beam Shoring. The first on this list of common shoring types is the H or I-Beam Shoring.
• 2). Secant Pile Shoring. The next type of shoring on this list is the Secant Pile Shoring.
• 3). Contiguous Pile Shoring.
• 4). Sheet Piles.

Shoring is a temporary structure used to prevent the collapse of the main under-construction structure. The most common Types of Shoring support is required during the early stage of construction which is excavation.

It gives them assurance that difficult soils and difficult shoring applications are safely planned and shored. It assures that a job site hazard analysis and solution has been performed. The plan tells the OSHA inspector how to inspect and determine if it is properly constructed.

Temporary support may

Shoring is designed to prevent collapse where shielding is only designed to protect workers when collapses occur. Concrete-structure and stone-building shoring, in these cases also referred to as falsework, provides temporary support until the concrete becomes hard and achieves the desired strength to support loads.

Shoring and underpinning are general construction terms. Shoring is used to describe the process of supporting a structure to prevent collapse so that construction can proceed. It can also be used as a noun to refer to the materials used in the process.