ABSTRACT
The development of underground space along the bund of Huangpu River in Shanghai, China has resulted in excavations becoming progressively larger and closer to the River, where the groundwater table was just near the ground surface and a great number of underground works are within a few meters of the surface. The riverside excavations were all located close to the existing buildings, network and the city lifeline of flood wall. It has become a great challenge to protect these neighboring buildings and public utilities from damage during the deep excavation due to the complex geotechnical constraints and the small opening from the Huangpu River. The soils near the Huangpu River was usually weak with a very low strength and higher water content, which were a potential causes of the larger ground movement. Meanwhile, the complex and dense environments put forward a strict requirement on the ground movement controlling. It was difficult to determine the earth pressure acted on the retaining wall with any conventional earth pressure theory considering the small soil body left between retaining wall and flood wall. Besides, the retaining wall of riverside deep excavation was usually asymmetrically loaded with much higher earth pressure on one side, which was caused by great surface surcharge due to the existing buildings and the pile of the construction material. The stability of the deep excavation as a whole was
worth considering to avoid any kinds of failure of the deep excavation and consequent damage on the environments.
