Shoring Ring and Reaming Tool for Stable Dewatered Excavation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for excavating and shoring holes in the ground face challenges such as soil and water collapse, require pre-dewatering, or involve costly sheet piling, and lack efficient means to maintain sidewalls during excavation.
Innovation Solution
A method utilizing a reaming tool with cutting tips and fluid nozzles to create a slurry, forming a deepened perimeter edge, followed by a shoring ring with internal tubes connected to a dewatering machine to stabilize the sidewall and remove moisture.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If traditional excavation methods are used without shoring, then excavation cost and complexity are reduced, but soil and water collapse into the hole causing safety hazards and work interruptions
Solution Approach 1:
The reaming tool forms a deepened perimeter edge at the bottom of the hole before the shoring ring is installed. This preliminary structural preparation provides a stable foundation for the shoring ring, enabling it to effectively support the sidewalls and prevent collapse during excavation operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The shoring system is divided into modular components: the shoring ring with radial support elements, the reaming tool with cutting blades, and the dewatering machine with hoses. These segmented components can be installed and removed independently, simplifying the overall system while maintaining sidewall stability.
2Reliability
If sheet piling steel is driven into the ground before excavation, then sidewall stability is improved, but excavation cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The shoring ring is designed as a temporary, removable structure that provides sidewall support during excavation but does not require permanent installation like sheet piling. The radial support elements and deepened perimeter edge create an effective but economical shoring solution that can be installed and removed as needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the essential shoring function from the expensive sheet piling system and implements it through a simplified ring structure with radial supports. This extracted shoring mechanism provides the necessary sidewall stability without the high cost and complexity of driving steel sheet piles into the ground.
3Reliability
If dewatering is performed before excavation, then water-related stability problems are reduced, but additional equipment and time are required
Solution Approach 1:
The dewatering function is merged with the shoring ring by integrating hose connections directly into the ring structure. The dewatering machine removes water through hoses connected to the shoring ring, combining support and water removal functions in a single integrated system rather than requiring separate pre-dewatering operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The shoring ring acts as an intermediary structure that facilitates dewatering during excavation. The ring provides attachment points for dewatering hoses and creates a structured pathway for water removal, mediating between the excavation hole and the dewatering machine to maintain soil stability without requiring extensive pre-dewatering equipment.
4Productivity
If the hole floor is excavated to the desired depth, then the excavation objective is achieved, but the perimeter edge remains higher creating instability
Solution Approach 1:
The reaming tool forms the deepened perimeter edge at the bottom of the hole before the shoring ring is installed. This preliminary structural preparation creates a stable foundation that prevents perimeter collapse and provides support for the subsequent shoring installation, ensuring both efficiency and stability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables efficient excavation and shoring by maintaining sidewall stability and moisture removal, simplifying the process and preventing cave-ins while allowing dry conditions for work, using a reaming tool and shoring ring with integrated dewatering capabilities.
Implementation Method 1
Water is provided during excavation so as to create a slurry to help hold back the sidewall as the hole is formed
Implementation Method 2
The upper ends of the tubes are adapted to be connected to hoses of a dewatering machine so to further suck moisture out of the excavated hole and from the surrounding soil
Data Source
AI summary
A reaming tool forms a hole in the ground with a sidewall and a floor, and a deepened channel around the perimeter of the floor adjacent to sidewall. Fluid is provided during excavation to form a slurry to hold the sidewall and prevent cave-in of material into the hole. After the hole reaches a desired depth, the reaming tool is removed, and a shoring wall is inserted into the hole through the slurry and seated in the perimeter edge channel. The shoring wall includes vertical tubes for connection to a dewatering machine. Then, the slurry can be vacuumed from the hole, while the dewatering machine keeps the empty hole as dry as possible. Extending the shoring wall into the channel beyond the floor of the hole helps seal flow of water from entering the hole.