Pawar & Sons
Basement excavations
Vertical or near-vertical cuts for apartment and commercial basements on tight plots.
Soil nailing & slope protection in Bangalore & Hyderabad
We hold up basement excavations, cut slopes and road cuttings with grouted soil nails, mesh and shotcrete, built top-down as the dig goes deeper.
Nail the ground. Then face it.
Soil nailing reinforces the ground behind an excavation instead of building a wall in front of it. Steel bars are grouted into drilled holes, row by row, so the soil behind the face becomes one reinforced block that holds itself up.
It’s built top-down with the excavation: dig a lift, nail it, mesh it, spray it, then dig the next. No heavy piling rigs, no wall to build first, and it works right up to the boundary next to existing buildings.
Where we use soil nailing
Cut slopes
Steep site slopes and terraces that need to stand without a wide batter.
Road & railway cuttings
Stabilising cuttings for road widening, ramps and approaches.
Next to buildings
Cuts beside existing structures and compound walls, where there’s no room to slope back.
Landslip repair
Reinforcing slopes that have slipped or are showing cracks.
Temporary or permanent
Temporary support during construction, or permanent walls with durable facing.
Soil nailing or a piled wall?
Both hold up an excavation. Here’s how they generally compare.
| Soil nailing | Piled wall | |
|---|---|---|
| Equipment | Light drilling rigs | Heavy piling rigs |
| Sequence | Built top-down as you excavate | Wall built before digging starts |
| Space | Works close to boundaries | Needs rig access along the line |
| Best ground | Stiff soil, murrum, weathered rock | Wider range, including high water table |
| Cost | Usually lower where ground suits | Usually higher |
How a soil nail wall is built
Excavate a lift
The cut goes down one short lift at a time, so only a small height of face is open.
Drill
Holes are drilled into the face at the design angle, spacing and length.
Install nails
Steel bars with centralisers are placed in each hole.
Grout
Holes are filled with cement grout to bond the bars to the ground.
Mesh, drains & shotcrete
Mesh is fixed, weep holes placed and the face sprayed with shotcrete.
Plates & next lift
Bearing plates and nuts are fixed, and the next lift is dug.
What our crew handles
Drilling, nailing, grouting and shotcrete by one team, so each lift is finished before the next is dug.
Options
- Grouted solid bars
- Self-drilling hollow bars
- Mesh & shotcrete facing
- Weep holes & drainage strips
- Pull-out tests
- Site visit and method proposal
- Drilling at design angle and spacing
- Bar installation with centralisers
- Cement grouting
- Mesh fixing and weep holes
- Shotcrete facing in layers
- Bearing plates and nuts
- Pull-out testing as specified
Soil nailing by our crews
Nailed and sprayed excavation faces. Tap any photo to enlarge it.
Soil nailing questions
How does soil nailing work?
Steel bars are installed in drilled holes and grouted into the ground behind the excavation face, in rows, as the cut goes down. Together with mesh and a shotcrete facing, the nailed soil acts as one reinforced block that holds itself up.
What’s the difference between soil nails and ground anchors?
Soil nails are passive: they start carrying load only as the ground moves slightly, and many closely spaced nails share it. Ground anchors are prestressed: each one is tensioned and locked off, so it carries a much higher load and actively holds the wall back.
Can soil nailing be used below the water table?
It works best in ground that stands up on its own for a short time. Where the water table is high or the soil is loose and flowing, dewatering or a different shoring system may be needed. We assess this at the site visit.
How are soil nails tested?
Typically by pull-out tests on sacrificial nails before or during the work, to confirm the design bond strength, as the project specification requires.
Deep cut to hold?
Send the site location, excavation depth and drawings. We’ll visit, check the ground and send a nailing method and quote.