Sheet pile walls are used to resist the pressure of water or earth in various applications including retaining walls, quay walls, cellar walls, underground car-parks, foundation pits, banks (including revetment walls), pipeline trenches, tunnels, bridges and viaducts, culverts, weirs, abutments, sound-proof walls, cellar-like structures and remediation projects.

The most common method of creating a steel sheet pile wall is to use a hammer-type vibrator. This hammer is wedged above the element being installed. When the hammer is made to vibrate, resistance reduces and the element sinks or is forced into the ground. The following element is then placed into the slot or groove made by the previous one and is installed in the same way. Using the same procedure in reverse, the wedged hammer can be used to withdraw vibrating sheet pile sections. Sections of sheet pile can also be installed by driving. The consequence of this is that they can no longer be removed.

Pre-fab sheet pile walls

The post-tensioned concrete wall is a sheet pile wall system developed in Japan. The elements are pre-fabricated, prestressed concrete sections of sheet pile able to bear loads. In contrast to traditional sheet pile, these are not only able to resist water but can also support a foundation element, on which a foundation beam can be cast. Prestressed concrete sheet pile can absorb both horizontal and vertical forces. The shape of the post-tensioned elements almost precisely matches that of steel sheet pile.

The elements can be installed with a hammer-type vibrator or with a hydraulic hammer, using jet pipes where necessary, that can be worked into the elements.

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