BS 6031:1981

Foreword
Code drafting committee
Code of practice
Section one. General
1. Scope
2. References
3. Definitions
3.1 General
3.2 Terms used in section two
3.3 Terms used in section three
3.4 Terms used in timbering
4. Safety procedures
4.1 General
4.2 Statutory obligations
4.3 Precautions against incidental hazards
Section two. Cuttings and embankments, grading and
levelling
5. Site conditions and investigations
5.1 General
5.2 Economic and environmental considerations
5.3 Risks of failure and acceptance of deformation
6. Cuttings
6.1 General considerations
6.2 Factors governing the stability of cutting slopes
6.3 Modes of failure of cuttings and natural slopes
6.4 Methods of analysis of stability of slopes
6.5 Design
6.6 Monitoring of slopes
7. Embankments and general filling
7.1 General factors affecting the design of
      embankments
7.2 Strength and deformation characteristics of
      foundations and fill materials
7.3 Design of embankments
7.4 Drainage
7.5 Special site conditions affecting embankment or
      general fill design
7.6 Suitability of materials for fill
8. Excavation and filling
8.1 Planning
8.2 Preparation of site
8.3 Excavation
8.4 Earth-moving
8.5 Deposition and spreading
8.6 Control
8.7 Inclement weather during construction
8.8 Haul roads
8.9 Advanced earthworks
8.10 Stage construction
8.11 The disposal of spoil
9. Compaction
9.1 General
9.2 Test for compaction of earthworks
9.3 Methods of compaction
9.4 Soil compaction characteristics
9.5 Control of compaction in the field
9.6 Compaction adjacent to structures
10. The operation of construction plant for earthworks
10.1 Classification of plant
10.2 Particular factors affecting earth-moving plant
10.3 Preparation for excavation
10.4 Excavation and earth-moving plant
10.5 Compaction equipment
10.6 Specialist plant and equipment
10.7 Safety measures
11. Maintenance and protection of slopes
11.1 General
11.2 Maintenance of slopes
11.3 Sources of erosion
11.4 Methods of protection
11.5 Remedial works after slope failure
Section three. Trenches, pits and shafts
12. Design considerations
12.1 Site investigation
12.2 Ground conditions
12.3 The design of stable slopes and supports to
      excavations
12.4 Practical considerations
13. Construction procedure
13.1 Temporary support of excavations
13.2 Backfilling
13.3 Support of excavation by diaphragm walls or cast-
      in-place bored piles
14. Trenches
14.1 Construction methods
14.2 Statutory obligations
14.3 Excavation procedure
14.4 Mechanical excavation of trenches
14.5 Hand excavation of trenches
14.6 Methods of dewatering trenches
14.7 Installation of permanent work or materials in
      trenches
14.8 Backfilling and reinstatement of surface
14.9 Special cases
15. Pits and shafts
15.1 General
15.2 Methods of support of excavations
15.3 Drainage
15.4 Striking of supports and backfilling
15.5 Alternative methods of sinking
15.6 Use of ground treatment processes
16. Excavation in rock
16.1 General
16.2 Rock excavation by mechanical or hand methods
16.3 Rock excavation by drilling and blasting
16.4 Removal of loosened rock
Appendices
A. Descriptions of construction plant for earthworks
B. List of references
Tables
1. British soil classification system for engineering
     purposes and field identification
2. Field characteristics of soils and other materials
     used in earthworks
3. Design of slopes in rock cuttings and embankments
4. Typical compaction characteristics for natural
     soils, rocks and artificial materials used in
     earthwork construction
Figures
1. short and long term stability of cutting and
     embankment slopes
2. Types of rotational slide
3. Successive rotational slide
4. Multiple retrogressive slide
5. Slab slide
6. Block slide
7. Wedge failure
8. Toppling failure
9. Fall
10. Slip circle analysis (undrained shear strength su
     constant with depth)
11. Slip circle analysis (undrained shear strength su
     varies
12. Slip circle analysis (effective stress method)
13. Effect of tension cracks on slope stability
14. Non-circular slide on weak soil layer
15. Planar slide on infinite slope - stability analysis
16. Steep soil slope retained by ground anchors
17. Unstable rock slope stabilized by rock bolts
18. Slab slide stabilized by dowel bolts
19. Reinforced earth
20. Variation of undrained shear strength with moisture
     content for typical soils compacted using the
     2.5 kg rammer method (BS 1377) at moisture contents
     above the optimum value
21. Envelope of strut loads on braced excavations
22. Water-bearing permeable soils: seepage and uplift
23. Typical single or centre waling poling frame
24. Close poling with tucking frames
25. Support of deep excavation by horizontal sheeting
     and soldier piles
26. Trench excavation using steel trench sheets as
     runners
27. Typical medium-depth trench with steel sheet piling
     in bad ground
28. Wide and deep trench using steel sheet piling
29. Blockings, chocks or chogs
30. Trenches with sloping sides
31. Method of lowering long steel pipes byuse of
     temporary strutting
32. Trench timbering for quay walls, etc.
33. Method of excavating isolated pits and shafts
34. Rock excavation by drilling and blasting: general
     excavation
35. Rock excavation by drilling and blasting: pits and
     shafts

Applies to earthworks forming part of general civil engineering construction such as highways, railways and airfields; bulk excavation for major structures and excavations in pit shafts and trenches for pipelines and drainage works.