Design of Guard Structure System for Urban Ditches with Value Engineering Approach

Today, the use of pits in construction projects is increasing due to the maximum use of land and also the high price of land. The use of methods to maintain stability, security, time and cost has always been a concern of employers and those involved in excavation projects. Value engineering is a way to achieve the optimal state in carrying out construction projects, which is effective in reducing project time by eliminating additional costs as well as ineffective activities without affecting the process and operation of the project. Due to the importance of two issues in this research, an attempt has been made to investigate the factors affecting excavation projects by adopting a value engineering approach. In this research, the staticity of the pits based on truss, concrete pile, nailing and anchor methods as well as the use of soil rupture wedge as an innovative method for stabilizing shallow, semi-deep and deep pits have been investigated. The results are evaluated in terms of cost, time, pit security and occupied space and are evaluated and weighted using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The results show that the use of wedge rupture method in shallow excavations can be a good option in terms of value engineering. Also, using concrete pile method for semi-deep pits and using anchorage method for deep pits according to the results are considered suitable options.