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Sitework & Earthworkaka: trench shoringaka: excavation supportaka: trench box

Shoring

In Plain English

Temporary supports installed in an excavation to prevent the walls from caving in on workers.

Definition

Temporary or permanent support structures used to prevent the collapse of excavation walls and protect workers and adjacent structures from soil movement. Shoring systems include timber shoring, hydraulic trench boxes, soldier piles with lagging, sheet piling, and soil nail walls. OSHA requires shoring or other protective systems for excavations deeper than 5 feet.

Why It Matters in Bidding

Shoring is a required protective system that estimators must price whenever excavations approach or exceed regulated depths, and omitting it is both a safety and a cost exposure. The chosen system, trench boxes, soldier piles and lagging, sheet piling, or engineered solutions, can vary widely in cost, and deep or adjacent-to-structure excavations may require an engineered design, so estimators should confirm the geotechnical conditions and protective-system requirements before pricing earthwork.

Example

Pricing a 12-foot utility trench next to an existing building, the estimator carries an engineered soldier-pile-and-lagging system rather than a trench box and adds the cost of the engineer's protective-system design.

Related Terms

ExcavationSheet PilingRetaining WallUnderpinning

Related Tools & Templates

Excavation Shoring Plan

Frequently Asked Questions

Whenever excavation depth and soil conditions require a protective system under OSHA excavation rules, generally for trenches and excavations five feet deep or greater unless made entirely in stable rock. Estimators should assume some protective system, sloping, benching, or shoring, on essentially any meaningful excavation and price it accordingly.
Selection depends on excavation depth, soil type, groundwater, available work area, and proximity to existing structures or property lines, as informed by the geotechnical report. Trench boxes suit utility work; soldier piles with lagging or sheet piling suit deeper or constrained sites. Deep or sensitive excavations often require an engineered design.
Excavation support is commonly carried by the earthwork or excavation subcontractor, but deep or specialized systems may be a separate shoring specialist's package. Estimators must confirm which scope letter includes the protective system and any required engineering, since this is a frequent scope-gap area that surfaces as a change order after award.

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