Posted By a grá
I have no experience in excavation support and I was wondering if anybody could help me out a little.

A few questions I have are:

What is push and dig?

Is there such a thing as dig and push?

Are trench piles wide like trench sheets?

I have looked at a detailed method statement but have a few questions

1. Mark out excavation area
2. Excavate to level of first frame (300mm)
3. Attach chains to excavator and frame
4. Lower frame into position and detach chains
5. Put. chains on bucket of machine and link to 'D' shackle on trench sheet.
6. Put dolly onto the top of the trench sheet and lift into place.
7. Place bottom of trench sheet between the edge of the frame and the edge of the excavation.
8. Push sheet down and then hammer into the ground leaving 1 meter protruding to form edge protection.
9. Detach 'D' shackle and dolly and repeat with the remainder of the sheets.
10. Expand the frame so it is tight against the sheets, wedge into place with timber wedges and chain to the top of the trench sheets.
11. Excavate to depth of second frame ensuring there is a minimum of a 1 meter toe in.
12. Insert 2nd hydraulic frame wedge into place and chain to the first frame.
13. Excavate to the final depth ensuring a minimum toe in of 1 meter.
14. Insert ladder and lash at the top.

My question are as follows:

4. how do you detach chains? Can a person get into the excavation to do this? The excavation is only 3oomm deep at this stage but if it was 1m deep what do you do? I have heard a few people menion that no person enters an excavation until the top frame is in place and there is a good toe in.

10. How do you attach the chains and wedge into place? can a person get into the excavation to do this before it is properly supported?
I seen a method on the internet where a crawling board complete with handrails was placed across the excavation on top of the sheets and the person reached overboard to attach the chains and wedge into place. If this is done in this situation the person would have to reach 1.3 meters below himself.

When supporting the ends of the trench do you use a wailing and wedge the edge of the frame against it? If this is not what you do how do you prevent the sheets from being pushed into the excavation?

Again, I have no experience in this area (obviously) and I would greatly appreciate any help.