SHORING
Shoring is a temporary structure used to prevent the collapse of the main under-
construction structure. The most commonly shoring support is required during the
early stage of construction which is excavation. It is a momentary support, which is
used during the repair or original construction of buildings and in excavations. It
can be utilized when walls bulge out or cracks due to unequal settlement of
foundation and repairs must be carried out to the cracked wall, when an adjacent
structure needs pulling down when openings must be newly enlarged or made into
a wall. Its support requirement depends on the types of soil and when an
excavation depth is at least 1.20-meter difference in levels from ground level.
TYPES OF SHORING
Each shoring system has its own function to perform and is based upon the
principles of a perfectly symmetrical situation. The types of shoring as discussed
below:
Dead Shoring:
Dead shoring is also known as vertical shoring. This type of shoring is used to
support dead loads that act vertically downwards. It is used to temporarily support
the walls, roofs, floors, etc., by providing horizontal members known as needles. It
consists of a vertical prop or shore leg with a head plate, sole plate, and some
means of adjustment for tightening and easing the shore. The usual arrangement is
to use two sore legs connected over their heads by a horizontal beam or needle.
The loads are transferred by the needle to the shore legs and hence down to a solid
bearing surface.
Dead shoring is used to build the lower part of a defective load-bearing wall,
deepen the existing foundations, which have either become unsafe or require
strengthening and large openings in the existing walls for doors and windows. This
type of shoring system is kept away from the wall for easy repair work. Dead
shores are supported and anchored on plates and folding wedges.
Factors to consider for dead shoring are as follows:
❖ The needles are spaced at 1 to 2 meters
❖ Needles should be suitably braced
❖ Folding wedges should be inserted between the two
❖ The floors should be suitably supported from inside
❖ Fix ceiling struts between the suitable head and sole plates to relieve the wall of
floor and roof loads
❖ Strut all window openings within the vicinity of the shores
❖ Cut holes through ceilings and floors for the shore legs
❖ Leave the shoring in position for at least seven days before starting new work
Rake Shoring
It is also called as inclined shoring. Rake shoring is used to support any walls that
aren't structurally sound within a building. Using cleats, needles, sole plates,
inclined members, bracing and wall plates, they help to keep walls intact to
minimize any damage to the existing building or structure. It is used to transfer the
floor and wall loads to the ground utilizing sloping struts or rakers. The rakers
must be positioned correctly so that they are capable of receiving maximum wall
and floor loads.
Rakers are positioned against the needles in such a way that the centerline of the
raker and the wall meet at the floor level. Thus, there will be one raker
corresponding to each floor. These rakers are inter-connected by struts, to prevent
their buckling. An inclined soleplate is embedded into the ground on which the feet
of rakers are connected. The feet of rakers are further stiffened near the soleplate
using hoop iron. The wall plate distributes the pressure to the wall uniformly.
Based on the requirement of the rakes, it may be classified as single rake shore and
double rake shore. The factors to consider for rake shoring are:
❖ Rakers should be inclined to the ground by 45° to 75°,
❖ Length of raker can be reduced by introducing rider raker.
❖ Rakers should be properly braced at intervals.
❖ The centre line of a raker and the wall are maintained at the same level of floor.
❖ The sole plate should be properly embedded into the ground, at an inclination
and should be of proper section.
❖ Wedges should not be used on sole plates
Flying Shoring
Flying shoring is also known as horizontal shoring. It is a support system that
provides horizontal support to two parallel party walls when removal or collapse of
the intermediate building takes place. These are most often used for supporting
temporarily the parallel walls of two adjacent buildings where an intermediate
building has to be demolished or rebuilt. Essentially the scaffold would be built
through the middle and 'wedge' between the adjacent buildings. The flying shore
consists of wall plates, struts, straining pieces, horizontal shore, needles, cleats and
wedges, as shown in the above image. Like inclined shores, in this system also, the
wall plates are secured against the walls using needles and cleats.
In this type of shoring also the wall plates are placed against the wall and secured
to it. A horizontal strut is placed between the wall plates and is supported by a
system of needles and cleats. The inclined struts are supported by the needle at
their top and by straining pieces at their feet. They may be single or double flying
shores as shown in the figure. Points to be considered for flying shoring are as
follows:
❖ The center lines of flying shore and struts and those of the walls should meet at
floor levels of the two buildings.
❖ The struts should preferably be inclined at 45°.
❖ Single shores should be used only up to 9 m distance between walls.
❖ Should be spaced at 3 to 4.5 m centers, along the two walls; and horizontal
braces
REQUIREMENTS OF SHORING
Shoring in construction is essentially required to support a deep excavation to
prevent the retained soil from overturns and eventually cause a project mishap. The
following are some of the requirements of shoring:
❖ To repair a crack on the wall due to unequal settlement of the foundation.
❖To give support to walls that are dangerous or are likely to become unstable
because of subsidence, bulging, or leaning.
❖ If the wall shows signs of bulging out due to bad workmanship.
❖ When an adjacent structure is to be dismantled.
❖ If openings are to be made or enlarged in the wall.
❖ For avoiding failure of sound walls caused by the removal of underlying support
❖ During demolition works to give support to an adjacent building or structure.
