Abstract

Recent urbanization of central parts of Addis Ababa has necessitated the use of deep excavations for the foundation of highrise buildings and related infrastructure projects. The conditions of the subsoil, the safety of neighboring structures, groundwater conditions, experience by contractors, working space, the effect of vibration, and noise must be considered for the choice of deep excavation support system. Besides, economic factors, local availability of equipment, and technical staff are also governing factors for choosing an appropriate shoring technique. The study focused on the major construction methods and techniques of shoring works in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Only four projects utilized shoring construction techniques from the total number of high-rise buildings available in the City. The target population included a minimum of twenty respondents from the four construction sites constructed around Beherawi, Lideta sub-city in Addis Ababa. Two of the projects were supervised by Specialists from Varnero Foundation and Meseret Foundation PLC. Primary and secondary data are gathered to support the objective of the study. All the frequency distribution, Reliability, and Pearson correlation were analyzed using SPSS. All groups of factors that affect shoring construction were ranked using the Relative Importance Index (RII). Results indicated that geotechnical investigation, building type, and excavation depth were the major factors with an RII value of 0.89 and 0.86, respectively. Besides, the analyses showed that were strong correlations between the different factors within each group of factors in undertaking the shoring construction. Hence, it is suggested to take a deep and detailed sub-soil investigation to determine the suitability of shoring materials, appropriate construction methods, and techniques.