Diaphragm Walls Extreme â€“ Contrast Between Going Deep and Getting Small-Video

Video Transcription

Video Summary

The presentation explores how diaphragm-wall equipment is adapting to increasingly demanding sites. It first reviews standard cutter construction: excavating primary panels, installing reinforcement and concrete, then cutting secondary panels to create watertight joints.<br /><br />To meet deep-foundation needs, a cutter completed reinforced test panels to 150 metres in Shanghai, within the project’s strict verticality tolerance. A separate mining project used a trench cutter to excavate 251 metres through overburden and hard kimberlite, carefully collecting samples to protect diamond-bearing material.<br /><br />The talk then turns to constrained urban sites, where low headroom and limited space require smaller equipment. A container-sized “Cube System” packs the cutter, pump and supporting components into three 20-foot containers. Yard trials demonstrated diaphragm-wall construction to 42 metres, including reinforcement, concreting and simulated rock excavation. The system performed broadly as expected, though its compact capacity and reinforcement-cage assembly impose limitations. The presenter concludes that further miniaturization may be possible, pending deployment on a real project.

Keywords

diaphragm-wall equipment

cutter construction

deep foundation

trench cutter

low headroom system