THANK YOU FOR SUBSCRIBING
Construction Tech Review | Wednesday, February 22, 2023
Construction Site Dewatering has various benefits, such as providing stable soil and a work area, workplace safety, and protection of valuable equipment.
FREMONT, CA: Dewatering refers to the removal of groundwater or surface water from a location. A dewatering process typically involves pumping surface or groundwater from the construction site aside from natural evaporation. By temporarily lowering the surrounding water table, dewatering creates drier, more stable soils for site preparation and foundation excavation.
Dewatering ensures that the projects are within regulations, operate on time, and are safe for employees and equipment.
Stay ahead of the industry with exclusive feature stories on the top companies, expert insights and the latest news delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe today.
The benefits are elaborated on below:
A stable work area and soil: Dewatering can prevent hazards like mudslides, unstable foundations, and equipment failure due to bogging by removing excess water. This also ensures that the worksite is ready for excavation, foundation preparation, and cement footing pours.
Site managers and crews can almost guarantee a stable work environment by controlling the hazards.
Safety at work: Dewatering can keep employees healthy, happy, and, most importantly, safe. As standing water often becomes contaminated, it poses a variety of health risks to site managers, crews, their families, and the surrounding community. Additionally, slips and falls at the worksite are more likely to occur.
Planning: Employees can keep their construction projects on schedule by incorporating an effective dewatering strategy. During construction, job sites may be affected by adversities at any stage, such as flooding caused by continuous rain or unexpected storms. Dewatering effectively reduces unnecessary delays.
Ensuring that valuable equipment is protected: The cost of construction equipment and building materials is high. Standing water can affect the integrity of equipment and destroy materials essential to keeping the worksite on schedule due to excessive moisture. Dewatering the worksite and equipment storage areas prevents project delays and budget overages.
Below listed are some of the best methods for dewatering a construction site:
Wellpoint: Wellpoint is one of the most common and cost-effective methods for properly dewatering construction sites. A wellpoint dewatering system consists of several small wells drilled into the ground at a predetermined depth and spaced appropriately around the excavation. In order to evacuate the water below the surface, these wells are connected to the surface with pipes that incorporate valves and pumps. Additionally, this method may remove a significant amount of solids. Suitable for shallow depths up to 6 meters, it is suitable for most applications. Multi-story projects or deep foundations may require other dewatering methods, however.
Wells for eductor/ejector: Although deeper well dewatering is more involved and more expensive, many projects find it necessary. To provide stable working conditions in excavations, deep well dewatering utilizes ejector dewatering systems. Ejector systems extract groundwater and can be installed to depths of more than 50 feet. Furthermore, the extracted water contains a greater amount of solids as a result of this process.
More in News