The main purpose of a sheet pile cofferdam is to exclude water and/or soil from an area, providing a safe enclosure within an excavation for construction work to take place.
Cofferdams can be used for either permanent or temporary works and are play a crucial role in the safe construction of underground tanks, drainage, and structures built in water, such as bridge supports, piers and abutments.
Cofferdams form a continuous retaining wall using interlocking steel sheet piles that can withstand significant forces. In shallow excavations with stable soils, cofferdams can be self-supporting, or cantilever, and rely on the embedded depth of the sheet piles to resist inward forces. In deeper excavations, or unstable soil conditions, additional support is required in the form of waling beams, internal braces and external anchors, to ensure stability of the structure.
A sustainable, robust and versatile solution
Ivor King maintain stocks of up to 3000 tonnes of steel sheet piles for use in temporary cofferdams. Often used for temporary works with excavations of between 3 and 6 metres below ground level, sheet piles will be installed and if applicable, internally braced with temporary hydraulic propping. This propping can either be formed of structural steel, fabricated and installed on site, or a proprietary framing system can be supplied.
Additionally, clutch sealants (WADIT®) and other waterproofing details can be used to make the structure watertight, whether temporary or permanent in nature.
Upon completion of the works, the steel sheet piles can be extracted and returned to our central hub to be cleaned and recycled back into our stock for future use.
Our design team will always consider the best options to suit your needs.
Cofferdam shapes
A cofferdam can be designed and constructed in almost any desired shape, but for practical and economic reasons, most cofferdams are either rectangular or circular.
No substitute for experience
Ivor King have considerable experience in the design, supply, installation and extraction of sheet pile cofferdams, thus we are able to offer the complete package for any project requiring a solution of this nature.
