The invention relates to a soil and/or water- retaining wall;.-to a method for forming this soil and/or water-retaining wall, and to a forming mould suitable for use with this method. For forming soil-retaining walls a method is al¬ ready known, the "Berlin building method" in accordance with which these walls are built up from load-bearing parts, which consist of steel sections and from intervening retaining por¬ tions, which are made up of timber slabs or of pref bricated concrete slabs, these slabs being placed in position manually, one after the other, during excavation. Such walls, obtained with the use of the Berlin building method, are unsuitable for retaining water because during the construction numerous gaps are formed. Hence these walls can be used exclusively above ground water level. A further difficulty with such known walls is that a great deal of manual labour is necessary.

Further, soil and/or water-retaining walls made of concrete are known which are formed in the soil from ad¬ jacent flat sections having a uniform thickness of at least 40 cm. These known soil and/or water-retaining walls require on the one hand a very great deal of concrete material, whilst on the other hand the forming of these walls is rather time- consuming because first of all soil has to be removed by dril¬ ling or excavation, whereafter this removed soil is replaced by concrete.

It is an object of the present invention to pro¬ vide a soil and/or water-retaining wall whereby the above- mentioned disadvantages are effectively removed.

For this purpose, this soil and/or water-retai- ning wall in accordance with the invention is characterized in that this wall is composed of at least partially pre¬ fabricated load bearing uprights and intervening curved shells formed in the soil of concrete or similar hardenable material..,

which shells connect on. oth sides without joints to the up¬ rights.

It has been shown that in this way soil and/or water-retaining walls are obtained whereby the integrally formed shells connect on either side with the uprights prac¬ tically hermetically. Thus, the walls in accordance with the invention can be-used both as soil-retaining walls and as water-retaining w ^' alls and hence can be located below the ground water level if required. Furthermore the forming of th soil and/or water-retaining walls in accordance with the in¬ vention lends itself excellently to mechanization, so that practically no manual labour has to be performed.

Preferably the uprights are completely prefabri¬ cated. The uprights may in the first place consist of steel sections, such as H-sections or double U-sections.

As an alternative it is possible for the upright to consist of reinforced or pre-stressed beams made of con¬ crete or similar hardenable material. Furthermore it is also possible for the upright to be made of steel and of concrete or similar hardenable material.

According to a favourable embodiment of the soil and/or water-retaining wall in accordance with the invention, the ends of the intervening curved shells connect with the steel sections in the corner between the web of the ^* section and a flange located at the side of the excavation.

In this embodiment the uprights are the only loa bearing components of the soil and/or water-retaining wall, whilst the intervening curved shells transfer the loads essen tially in the horizontal sense to the adjacent uprights. Henc there is a clear separation between the function of the up¬ rights,- which act as load-bearing components, and the functio of the intervening shells which form the retaining portions of the wall.

The shells rest on the flange of the uprights, which is located at the side of the excavation, the said flange being subjected to a tensile stress after excavation ,

at the point of the soil moment in the wall. The shell which is cast against this flange will thus actually have to be subjected to the same elongation as this flange, which could lead to tensile cracking in the horizontal direction in the concrete as this concrete does not have the same elasticity as the steel flange. As a result the water tightness of the soil and/or water-retaining wall can be reduced to a greater or lesser degree under certain circumstances.

In conjunction herewith, in a very important em- bodiment of the soil and/or water-retaining wall in accordan¬ ce with the invention, the uprights, made from steel sections, are composed of a tensile portion located at the side of the excavation and a compression portion located at the side of the soil mass, whereby the ends of the intervening curved shells connect with this compression portion of the steel sec¬ tions.

The compression portion of the steel sections may comprise a web and two flanges, whereby the ends of the intervening curved shells in cross-section completely fill the space between the web and the flange portions, located on the corresponding side, of the compression portion of the steel sections.

In this embodiment there is no sharp _, separation anymore between the function of the uprights and that of the intervening shells, since these shells are also load-bearing. ith advantage the tensile portion of the steel sections may consist of a flange and of a web with trapezoi¬ dal recesses which is welded to a flange of the compression portion. In this embodiment the shells are effective in two directions, since the shell functions in the vertical sense as a compression flange for the entire wall section, whilst in the horizontal sense the shell retains its function as an arch. Hence optimum use is made here of the material properties of steel on the one hand and of concrete, or similar hardenable material on the other hand, so that it is

possible to obtain a soil and/or water-retaining wall at minimum costs.

According to a further modification of the soil and/or water-retaining wall in accordance with the invention, the uprights consist of a prefabricated core and of a casing of concrete or similar hardenable material which is formed in the soil.

The invention furthermore relates to methods fo forming the soil and/or water-retaining walls described here inabove in accordance with the present invention,, and to forming moulds suitable for use with these methods.

The invention will be explained hereinafter wit reference to the drawings.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a first embodiment of a soil and/or water-retaining wall in ac¬ cordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 schematically shows a forming mould whic can be used during the forming of the wall according to fig. and which is clampingly guided between two uprights. Fig. 3 is a section along the plane III-III in fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section of a corner porti of the soil and/or water-retaining wall shown in fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a portion of another embodiment of a soil and/or water-retaining wall in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section along the plane VI-VI in fig. 7, of an embodiment of a forming mould which ca be used for forming the soil and/or water-retaining wall in accordance with fig. 5 and which is clampingly guided between two uprights.

Fig. 7 is a section along the plane VII-VII in fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a horizontal section of an embodiment of a lateral end portion of the forming mould shown in fig.6, on a larger scale.

Fig. 9 is a horizontal section of a portion of a

modified shell.

Fig. 10 schematically shows a vertical section of a portion of a modified forming mould for forming a shell in accordance with fig. 9. 5 Fig. 11 is a horizontal section of a portion of still another embodiment of the soil and/or water-retaining wall in accordance with the invention, wherein also a forming mould used for forming this wall is shown.

In fig. 1 a first embodiment is illustrated of a 10 soil and/or water-retaining wall in accordance with the inven¬ tion. This wall is composed of completely prefabricated load- bearing uprights, each of which consists of a steel broad flange girder or H-section 1, and intervening cylindrically curved shells 2, which are formed in the soil of concrete or - 15 similar hardenable material and which connect on both sides to the H-sections 1, without joints in a soil-tight and/or water¬ tight fashion.

As can be seen in fig. 1, the ends of the shells 2 connect with the H-sections 1 in the corner between the web 20 3 of the section 1 and a flange 4 located at the side of the excavation. The shells 2 are made without reinforcement.

In fig. 2 and 3 a method is elucidated for forming the soil and/or water-retaining wall as shown in fig. 1. For this purpose the H-sections 1 are introduced into the soil at 25 a mutual spacing of for example- 2.00 metres, for example by means of ramming, vibrating or preliminary drilling. Hereafter a steel forming mould 5 is downwardly fed in the soil which mould has practically the same shape and dimensions as the shells 2 to be formed. Preferably this mould 5 is somewhat 30 broader than the clearance between the webs 3 of consecutive H-sections 1.

Prior to its introduction the mould 5 must there¬ fore be bent inwards to some extent so that this mould can be clampingly introduced between the webs 3 of consecutive H-sec-

35 tions 1. This ensures that finally a hermetically sealed con-

2 nect on is obtained between the ends of the shells-^and the H- sections 1, even if the acutal position of the H-sections 1 should slightly deviate from the theoretically required posi-

tion.

After the mould 5 has been introduced in the so to the precise depth this mould 5 is withdrawn again, and simultaneously a mix or mortar of concrete or the like is in troduced into the cavity formed underneath the mould 5 and fills this cavity. This mortar is supplied from the top of th mould 5 via one or more channels (not shown) in the mould 5 to discharge apertures in the lower surface of the mould 5. This may take place under pressure or may be done by means of a filling channel having such height that the mortar will flow under the influence of gravity to the lower side of the mould 5.

With the soil and/or water-retaining wall accor¬ ding to fig. 1, the H-sections 1 take up the loads in the ver tical direction, whilst the shells 2 transfer the loads main¬ ly in the horizontal direction to the nearest H-sections 1. This permits major savings in material which, together with the simple, completely mechanized method of working described here ^' inabove- provide an extremely cheap soil and/or water-re- taining wall.

In conjunction with the great strength of the shell 2, it should suffice to have a thickness of approximate ly 10 mm. Such a thickness is however inadequate to enable th mix or mortar of concrete or the like to be distributed uni- formly over the distance between consecutive H-sections 1, which for example is 2 metres. For practical reasons the thic ness of the shells 2 is made larger and may amount to 50-100 mm, for example. A thickness exceeding 100 mm is again not desirable because the mould 5, as has already been described hereinbefore, must to some extent be capable of elastic de¬ formation.

As shown in fig. 3, the mould 5 has a slanting foot 6 on its lower side. This slant is such that the mould 5 under the influence of the soil resistance, has its ends pres sed strongly into the corners between the web 3 of the neigh bouring H-sections 1 and the flange 4 thereof which is loca¬ ted at the side of the excavation.

As shown in fig. 2, the ends of the mould 5 and thus similarly the ends of a shell 2 formed by this mould enclose an angle of 45 with the plane which connects these ends (and which in the embodiment as shown in fig. 2 coinci- 5 des with the plane through the flanges 4 of the H-sections 1, .located at. the side of the excavation) . In this manner it be¬ comes possible for example, by means of four shells 2, to de¬ fine a completely closed cylindrical well, which can be em¬ ployed for many purposes. 10 Fig. 4 illustrates a corner portion of the soil and/or water-retaining wall shown in fig. 1. As can be seen from fig. 4, a cruciform section 7 has to be employed at the corner point, because here the abutting ends of the shells 2 must extend in line with each other. - 15 Of course, instead of the H-sections 1, it is al¬ so possible to use sections of another shape as load-bearing uprights in a soil and/or water-retaining wall in accordance with the invention. It is for example possible to use double U-sections for this purpose, which has the advantage that they 20 can leave an intervening gap for passing through anchors or the like, so as to anchor the top ends of the sections.

Generally, by means of anchors or the like, it will also be possible to anchor the H-sections 1 of the soil and/or water-retaining wall as shown in fig. 1, for which pur- 25 pose special drilled holes will have to be made in the H-sec¬ tions 1 close to the top end thereof.

Furthermore with the soil and/or water-retaining wall in accordance with the invention it is possible for the load bearing uprights to consist of prefabricated, reinforced 30 or pre-stressed beams made of concrete or similar hardenable material.

The load-bearing uprights can also be composed of steel and of concrete or similar hardenable material.

Generally the shells 2 will extend into the soil 35 to a smaller depth than the uprights.

One advantage of the method described hereinbe¬ fore for forming a soil and/or water-retaining wall consists

in the fact that the soil which is displaced during the in¬ troduction of the mould 5 into the ground, cannot cause any damage to the shell 2 which has just been formed in the soil, because the intervening upright provides suitable protection 5 against soil displacement.

Furthermore this method has the advantage that t work can be interrupted at any time, because the hardening of the material from which the shell 2 is formed does not impose any problem whatever during the formation in the soil of the 10 next shell 2.

If the wall is required only as a temporary mea¬ sure in the soil, it can be an advantage to withdraw the up¬ rights again afterwards.

For this purpose the upright can initially be - 15 introduced further into the soil over a short distance, for example 10 cm, so as to reduce the adhesion between this up¬ right and the ends of the abutting shells 2 made of concrete or similar hardenable material, whereafter the uprights can easily be withdrawn. 20 Alternatively it is similarly possible for the u rights, at the point where they connect with the intervening shells 2, to be coated in advance with an anti-adhesion layer which counteracts the adhesion of the concrete or similar har denable material to the uprights. 25 Fig. 5 shows a further embodiment of a soil and/ or water-retaining wall in accordance with the present inven tion. Although with the soil and/or water-retaining wall show in fig. 1 there is a clear functional separation between the load bearing H-sections 1 and the intervening soil and/or 30 water-retaining shells 2 of the wall, in the case of the wall shown in fig. 5 this separation no longer exists.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 1 the shells 2 rest oh the flanges 4, facing the side of the excavation, of the load bearing H-sections 1. At the location where the soil 35 moment is exerted on the wall these flanges 4 are subjected t tensile stresses and for this reason will be elongated. The . curved shell 2, the ends of which are poured against these

- . flanges 4, must thus follow this elongation. As the concrete or similar hardenable material used for the shell 2 does not exhibit the same elasticity as the steel H-sections 1, it is possible for tensile cracks to occur in the shell material in 5 the horizontal direction, so that under certain conditions the water tightness of the wall can deteriorate.

To obtain an optimum construction also in this respect, in the embodiment shown in fig. 5 the uprights con¬ sisting of steel sections 8 are made up of a tensile portion 9 10 which is located at the side of the excavation and a compres¬ sion portion 10 which is located at the side of the soil mass. The ends of the intervening curved shells 11 connect with this compression portion 10 of the steel profiles 8.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 5 the compression ^" 15 portion 10 of the steel sections 8 consists of a web 12 and of two flanges 13, 14, whereby the ends of the curved shells 11 in cross section completely fill the space between the web 12 and the halves <5f the flanges 13, 14, located on the corres¬ ponding side, of the compression portion 10 of the steel sec- 20 tions 8.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 5 the tensile portion 9 of the steel sections 8 consists of a flange 15 and of a web 16 with trapezoidal recesses, which is welded to the flange 13 o the compression portion 10. 25 The shells 11 function in the vertical direction as compression flanges of the overall wall and retain their function as an arch in the horizontal direction.

Fig. 6, 7 and 8 schematically show a forming mould 17 which can be used for the formation, in the soil of 30 the curved shells 11 illustrated in fig. 5. On both sides this mould 17 has a lateral end portion which comprises a slide 18, by means of which the mould 17 is guided down or up along the compression portion 10 of the steel sections 8 which have been previously introduced into the soil. Each slide 18 is termi- 35 nated by a runner 19 which projects downwards at the bottom, and which has a tapered end edge. This runner 19 fits into the compression portion 10 of the corresponding steel section

8 and serves to remove all the soil which is present between the flanges 13 and 14 and the web 12 of the compression por¬ tion 10 of. the steel section 8.

Each slide 18 extends over approximately the en 5 tire height of the mould 17 up to the runner 19 and is made of two wear-resistant profiles 20 made of high-grade steel, which fit in slidable fashion over the ends of the flanges 1 and 14 of the compression portion 10 of the steel section 8 and which are connected with an intervening covering plate 2 10 Together with the wear-resistant profiles 20 and the compres sion portion 10 of the steel section 8 this covering plate 2 forms a channel 22 which is closed in its horizontal section A hinge arrangement is connected with the slide 18 and consists of a housing 23 and a tube 24 which is rotat - 15 bly mounted therein, but which is not capable of axial dis¬ placement; via an ample slot 25 in the housing 23 this tube connected to the end of a steel plate member 26 which forms the core of the intervening thinner mould portion 27.

Whilst the mould 17 is being introduced into th 20 soil, it is possible to supply water under pressure via the tube 24 to the channel 22, so as to clean the surface of the compression portion 10 of the steel section 8. This water emerges from the runner 19 in the form of a powerful vertica jet. 25 Since the compression portion 10 of the steel section 8 is kept extremely clean in this manner, it is poss ble for the covering plate 21 to be provided with a pluralit of sets of wheels 28, of which one set is shown in dot and dash lines in fig. 8. These sets of wheels 28 can roll over 30 the web 12 of the compression portion 10 of the steel sectio 8. Naturally, instead of rolling over the web 12 of the com¬ pression section 10 of the steel section 8, the sets of whee 28 may also roll over the inne^side of the flanges 13 and 14 The use of the sets of wheels 28 considerably reduces the fo 35 ces on the wear-resistant sections 20, while the friction be tween the mould 17 and the compression portions 10 of the steel sections 8 during the introduction of the mould 17 int

the soil and during the raising of the mould 17, is conside¬ rably reduced.

The thinner mould portion 27, which is located between the hinge components connected to the slides 18, and 5 which has a core which consists of the plate member 26 which is made from a high grade material, e..g. steel, comprises on* either side of the plate member 26 a filler layer 29 of fair¬ ly resilient material, such as wood, so as to obtain the cor¬ rect thickness. The plate member 26 is built up from sections, 10 between which vertical tubes 30 extend, which serve for the supply of mortar of concrete or the like to the cavity formed underneath the mould 17 whilst this mould is being withdrawn, the said cavity always remaining filled in this manner.

The thinner mould portion 27 is flexible again, 15 so that the mould 17 can always be inserted subject to a cer¬ tain stress, between two consecutive steel sections 8, even if these are not entirely in the correct position. Of course the hinge constructions between the slides 18 and the plate member 26 make it easier to locate the mould 17 between con- 20 secutive steel sections 8.

Under certain circumstances it is impossible to prevent variations in the extent to which soil and/or water- retaining walls displace forward. In such cases the curved shells 11 which are tightly connected on both sides will be- 25 have as if they are rigid, so that differences in displace¬ ment may result in fracture.

In those cases the danger of fracture can be con¬ siderably reduced if, in the shells 11 involved, a vertical hinge 31 is provided (fig. 9) . Such a hinge 31 always trans- 30 mits the compressive force in the plane of the curved shell 11, but not the load component vertical thereto. The latter- mentioned load will result in a slight angular rotation at the location of the hinge 31.

The hinge 31 shown in fig. 9 consists of a tube 35 32 which is filled with a mix or mortar 33 of the same type as that from which the curved shell 11 is made.

The tube 32 once again connects without joint

vVa-O

^" 4RNAT10 se

to the abutting portions of the corresponding curved shell 1 The hinge 31. extends over the entire height of the curved shell 11 and will generally be positioned approximately in the centre of this curved shell 11, although this is not es- sential. The tube 32 has a diameter which is somewhat larger than the thickness of the curved shell 11 at the point of th connection and should consist of a material to which the mor tar does not adhere too strongly. In conjunction herewith th tube 32 can for example be made from plastic or be manufac- tured from steel coated with an anti-adhesion layer, such as a teflon coating.

Af er the mortar from which the curved shell 11 is made and the mortar in the tube 32 have hardened, both portions of the curved shell 11 can be subjected to a slight angular displacement around the tube 32. In this way stresse in the shell 11 which could result in fracture can be effect vely prevented.

Fig. 10 shows in an extremely schematic fashion a portion of a mould 34 which can be used for the formation of a curved shell 11 as shown in fig. 9. In the thinner por¬ tion 27 of the mould a steel tube 35 is fastened which has a diameter somewhat larger than the thickness of the thinner mould portion 27 at the point of connection.

During the insertion of the mould 34 into the soil this tube 35 is closed at its lower side by a loose sho 36 which remains behind in the soil after withdrawal of the mould 34. The tube 35 is used for the introduction into the soil of the tube 32 of the hinge 31. This tube 32 fits insid the tube 35. Prior to the withdrawal of the mould 34 the mor tar 33 is introduced from the top into the tube 32 and fills the tube 32 entirely. During the withdrawal of the mould 34 the tube 32 remains behind in the soil and the mortar used for forming the connecting portions of the curved shell 11 will make jointless contact with the external surface of the tube 32, thus providing a hermetic seal.

Fig. 11 illustrates a modified embodiment of a soil and/or water-retaining wall in accordance with the in¬ vention which is made up of partially prefabricated load-

- .

V ti

bearing uprights 37 and intervening curved shells 38 which are formed in the soil of concrete or similar hardenable material, and which connect on both sides to the uprights 37. In the wall illustrated in fig. 11 the uprights 537 consist of a prefabricated reinforced or pre-stressed beam 39 made of concrete or similar hardenable material which is surrounded by _, concrete 40 poured in the soil. The prefa¬ bricated element 39 can similarly consist of a steel section. For forming the wall shown in fig. 11 it is pos- sible to use a forming mould 41 which consists of two lateral end portions 42, 43 which form hollow channels, and of an in¬ tervening mould portion 44 for forming a curved shell 38. During the introduction into the soil of the mould 41 the lateral portion 42 is provided with a loose shoe 45. During the introduction of the mould 41 into the soil a prefabricated element 39 may already be accommodated in this end portion 42, or it may be placed in this end portion 42 after the mould 41 has reached the required.depth. During the withdrawal of the mould 41 the loose shoe 45 and the pre- fabricated element 39 which rests on this shoe remain behind in the soil, whilst during the withdrawal a mortar of con¬ crete or the like is supplied underneath the intervening mould portion 44 and around the prefabricated element 39. Hereupon the mould 41 is displaced so that the lateral end portion 43 is located exactly above the prefabricated element 39 which has just been placed in position. Hereafter the mould 41 is again brought to the desired depth whereby the channel forming the lateral end portion 43 is guided by the prefabricated element 39. The process is repeated until the complete wall has been formed. The channels which form the lateral end portions 42, 43 preferably extend without too much play around the prefabricated element 39.

Furthermore it can be an advantage if the late¬ ral end portion 42 in which the prefabricated element 39 is placed has somewhat larger dimensions than the lateral end portion 43 which slides around the prefabricated element 39 already placed in position. This ensures that the friction is

-V N' lO

defined by that of the fresh mortar and not by that of the soil. In this embodiment the intervening shells 38 are once again not reinforced and have a thickness of 50-100 mm.

The invention is not restricted to the embodi- ments shown in the drawing, which may be varied in different ways within the scope of the invention.

^■ v. _ \i t-

^~ X.P]