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Shoring and its types

Short answer

Shoring is temporary support for an unsafe wall or structure. Types: raking shores (inclined members at 60-70°, bearing on wall plate and sole plate); flying shores (horizontal shores between two walls, with struts, for gaps up to 9 m); dead shores (vertical posts supporting loads above a removed wall via needles and sole plates).

Define shoring. Describe the various types of shoring with necessary neat sketches.

Shoring is the temporary support given to an unsafe wall, building or structure to prevent it from collapsing, using inclined, horizontal or vertical timber or steel members, until permanent repair or reconstruction is done.

Types of shoring

1. Raking shore

Raking (inclined) shore: inclined members (rakers) support a wall from the outside. Rakers are at 60-70 degrees to the ground. At the top they bear on needles fixed through a wall plate that is secured to the wall, and at the bottom they rest on a sole plate on a firm base. Cleats and braces hold the members together.

        wall plate
   wall |==|\ needle
   |    |  | \ raker
   |    |  |  \ cleat
   |    |  |   \
   |    |  |    \
 --+----+--+-----\--- ground
                sole plate

Types: simple (single raker), compound/double (two or more rakers meeting the wall at different levels), and multiple raking shores for high walls (up to three storeys).

2. Flying shore

Flying (horizontal) shore: used when two parallel walls with a narrow gap (3-9 m) between them are to be supported, e.g. when the building between them is demolished. A horizontal shore is fixed between wall plates on the two walls, supported on needles, with inclined struts from lower needles up to straining pieces on the horizontal shore. No part touches the ground, hence "flying".

  wall                                      wall
  |  ||==N====== horizontal shore ======N==||  |
  |  ||     [sp]                  [sp]     ||  |
  |  ||      /                      \      ||  |
  |  ||    /   strut          strut   \    ||  |
  |  ||  /                              \  ||  |
  |  ||N/                                \N||  |
  |  ||                                    ||  |
  || = wall plate, N = needle, [sp] = straining piece

A single flying shore is used for gaps up to about 9 m; a double (compound) flying shore is used for wider gaps. The system is cheaper than raking shores and keeps the ground clear for work.

3. Dead shore

Dead (vertical) shore: used to support the floors and roofs above when a wall is removed, an opening is made in a lower storey, or the lower wall is repaired. It transfers the vertical load to the ground.

It consists of vertical posts (dead shores) on a sole plate at the bottom, a needle (horizontal beam) passing through the wall at the top, and braces, cleats and wedges to take up the weight.

        floor above
   ____|==needle==|____
   wall| |      | |wall
   wall| | post | |
   wall| | post | |
       |_|______|_|
       sole plate

✓ Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort)

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