Applicability Verification of New Prefabricated Support Materials in Soft Soil Areas

This study investigates a new support material used in the prefabricated steel continuous wall named 488SU. It uses the 488×300×11×18 type steel material and U-shaped Larsen steel sheet piles to form a continuous wall technology for the vertical support body of foundation pits through special connection grooves and mechanical arm construction. Unlike the HUW and the PC engineering piles (EPs), it uses a lighter, more convenient section steel material 488×300×11×18 as the main load-bearing component. This study used theoretical calculations and 3D numerical simulations to compare the available supporting systems commonly used for bored piles, including PC EP, SMW EP, etc. Finally, the on-site test of a typical engineering project in deep and soft soil in Wenzhou, China, proved that the applied 488SU EP met use requirements on single-layer basement foundation pit support in soft soil areas, providing a cost-effective and reliable implementation of the proposed engineering solution. These findings are instrumental in assessing the applicability of various prefabricated pit support materials in soft soil areas’ foundations.