🏗️ Cast-in-Situ Piles
Piles constructed by drilling or excavating a hole in the ground and then filling it with concrete—cast directly on-site.
🧱 Precast Concrete Piles
Factory-made reinforced or prestressed concrete piles driven into the ground using pile drivers.
Steel shaft with helical plates twisted into the ground, ideal for tension and compression loads.
📏 Steel Sheet Piles
Thin interlocking steel sections driven into the ground to form continuous walls for earth retention or water cutoff.
🔩 Other Precast or Modular Piles
Small-diameter deep foundation pile typically ≤300mm, installed by drilling and grouting, often with reinforcement.
Large-diameter cast-in-situ piles formed by drilling and concreting in place.
Deep foundation typically constructed by hand excavation using a caisson ring method, common in rocky or congested urban areas.
🧱 Substructure & Foundations
⚙️ Concrete & Structural Elements
🚧 General Construction Terms
A system using steel H-piles installed in drilled holes, supported by lagging (e.g. timber).
Horizontal timber members placed between soldier piles to retain soil.
Interlocking steel or plastic sections driven into the ground to retain earth or water.
Series of closely spaced bored piles forming a continuous wall.
Retaining wall using tightly spaced micropiles for shoring or support.
A wall made from adjacent hand-dug caissons forming a continuous retaining barrier.
A circular retaining structure used to isolate work areas below water or soil.
Steel tendons drilled and grouted into the ground to support temporary shoring.
Long-term soil or rock anchors that hold up retaining structures permanently.
Interlocking bored piles (hard-soft or hard-hard) forming watertight or load-bearing walls.
A rubble wall is built using irregular stones or broken rock, laid with or without mortar. It is mainly used for light-duty retaining, landscaping, or aesthetic purposes in rural or low-cost settings.
A mass concrete wall is a thick, gravity-based retaining wall made from plain (unreinforced) concrete. It resists soil pressure through its own weight and is suitable for short walls on firm ground.
Crib walls are modular retaining structures made from interlocking concrete or timber frames filled with rock. They allow natural drainage and are commonly used for road embankments and landscaped slopes.
An RE wall uses layers of soil reinforcement (like geogrids or steel strips) combined with a facing panel to form a stable retaining structure. It is ideal for tall, engineered walls in infrastructure and highway projects.
An L-shape cantilever retaining wall is a reinforced concrete wall with an upright stem and a base slab shaped like the letter “L.” It resists earth pressure by leveraging the weight of backfill on the base slab and transfers lateral forces through bending and shear into the foundation.
🚜 General Earthworks Terms
💧 Drainage & Water Management
📐 Earthwork Support & Stabilization
🔍 Quality Control & Testing
⚠️ Common Earthwork Issues
📏 Bearing Capacity & Settlement
🛠️ Instrumentation & Monitoring
🧠 Geotechnical Design Concepts
💧 Groundwater Control & Drainage
🧱 Foundation & Structural Elements
Techniques and terminology used to correct structural or ground-related defects in buildings, slopes, and retaining systems. A general term for corrective construction activities carried out to restore stability, function, or alignment of a structure affected by settlement, movement, tilting, or failure.
Strengthening the foundation of existing structures to increase depth or load capacity. A method used to strengthen or deepen an existing foundation, transferring structural loads to deeper or more stable ground. It is commonly used to stop or prevent further settlement.
Process of correcting tilted or failed retaining walls to restore function and stability.
The process of adjusting and realigning a settled or tilted structure, often involving jacking, grout injection, or micro-adjustments beneath slabs or foundations.
The correction of leaning or bulging retaining walls, typically involving bracing, ground anchors, or partial rebuilding to restore structural integrity.
A remedial method for sealing structural cracks using epoxy or polyurethane resins, often applied in walls, beams, or slabs to restore load continuity and prevent water ingress.
Improvement of weak or soft soil beneath existing structures using techniques such as compaction grouting, jet grouting, or chemical injection to increase bearing capacity and reduce settlement.
The deliberate re-distribution of structural loads from an unstable or failing element to a new support system (e.g., micropiles or underpinning blocks).
Injection of grout or foam into underground voids or sinkholes that have caused structural settlement or ground collapse beneath buildings.
Specialist rectification for leaning buildings or columns, typically involving strategic underpinning, jacking, or support reconfiguration.
Visible signs of damage such as cracks, tilting, buckling, or settlement in walls, floors, or foundations, usually indicating the need for rectification.
Injection of grout under pressure to fill voids and improve ground strength.
High-velocity jets of grout mix with in-situ soil to create soilcrete columns.
Injection of stiff grout to displace and densify surrounding soil.
Filling underground voids, sinkholes, or cavities with grout.
Multi-stage grouting system using a sleeve pipe to control grout injection zones.
Tools and systems used to monitor ground movement, water pressure, settlement, and structural stability in geotechnical works.
A device installed in a vertical or inclined borehole to measure lateral ground movement over time. Often used to monitor slopes, retaining walls, and deep excavations for signs of displacement.
A grooved PVC or steel pipe placed in a borehole to guide the inclinometer probe and provide reference for repeated measurements.
An instrument used to measure groundwater level or pore water pressure within soil layers. Essential for monitoring drainage effectiveness and slope safety.
A common type of piezometer that uses a vibrating wire sensor to accurately and remotely record changes in pore pressure over time.
A physical reference point (on ground or structure) used to monitor vertical movement (settlement or heave) of soil or foundations over time.
Instruments used to precisely track elevation changes of settlement markers or other structures as part of a monitoring program.
A sensor installed in soil or rock mass to measure horizontal or vertical deformation between fixed anchor points—especially useful in tunnels, slopes, or deep excavations.
A device used to measure angular tilt or rotation of a structure or wall. Often attached to buildings near excavation zones or retaining walls.
A sensor that measures strain or deformation in structural elements like piles, beams, or anchors. Used to evaluate load distribution or stress points.
A small mechanical or digital device installed across a structural crack to monitor changes in crack width over time.
A sensor used to measure applied force, typically installed on ground anchors, struts, or pile heads during load testing or monitoring.
An electronic device that collects and stores readings from various instruments like piezometers, inclinometers, and load cells. Can be configured for remote or real-time monitoring.
A wireless system that transmits data from site instruments to a central dashboard or cloud server, enabling remote, real-time monitoring and alerts.
Techniques used to enhance the engineering properties of soil to make it more suitable for construction.
Involves placing temporary weight (e.g. soil fill) over the construction site to accelerate settlement and expel excess pore water. Often used in conjunction with vertical drains in clayey soils to minimize post-construction settlement.
Prefabricated synthetic drains installed vertically to channel water from clay layers to the surface, speeding up consolidation during preloading.
A high-pressure ground improvement method where cement slurry is injected and mixed in-situ with soil to form columns or panels of soilcrete, increasing strength and reducing permeability.
Columns made by vibrating and replacing soil with crushed stone, improving bearing capacity and drainage in loose or weak soils.
Technique involving repeated dropping of heavy weights on the ground surface to densify granular soils at depth.
A reinforced concrete wall system constructed in the ground to provide earth retention and water cutoff for deep excavations.
A continuous, reinforced concrete wall constructed in deep, narrow trenches, used to retain soil and control groundwater in deep excavations. It is ideal for basements, shafts, tunnels, and high-rise foundations in dense urban areas or soft ground.
Diaphragm walls are built in individual panels, typically 2.5m to 7m wide, using a stop-end system to allow sequential casting and joint formation.
A vertical trench is excavated using a mechanical or hydraulic grab, often under slurry (bentonite or polymer) to stabilize the walls before concreting.
A suspension used to prevent trench collapse during excavation by exerting hydraulic pressure against the trench walls.
A preassembled steel rebar cage is lowered into the trench before concreting to provide structural strength to the wall.
Concrete is poured into the trench from the bottom-up using a tremie pipe, displacing slurry while avoiding segregation and ensuring continuity.
A shallow concrete wall cast at the surface to guide excavation machinery, maintain trench alignment, and secure stop-end systems.
A prefabricated steel or polymer element used between panels to create a construction joint and ensure water tightness between diaphragm wall panels.
A processing system that cleans and recycles slurry, removing soil particles before reusing the support fluid.
A heavy-duty excavator tool suspended by crane and used to excavate diaphragm wall trenches vertically with precision.
Typical wall thickness ranges from 600 mm to 1500 mm, selected based on excavation depth, soil condition, and design load.
Diaphragm walls serve a dual purpose of earth retention and groundwater cutoff, especially effective in high water table areas.
Diaphragm walls are often used in top-down basement construction, where slabs are cast level by level while excavation continues below.
Essential machinery, rigs, and tools used in piling, grouting, monitoring, and geotechnical construction.
A core machine used to bore holes into the ground for soil investigation, micropiles, caissons, or grouting works. Available in various sizes for low headroom, slope access, or heavy-duty operations.
A compact, manually operated three-legged drilling setup used for light-duty boreholes, particularly for soil investigation or micropiles in tight or hard-to-reach areas.
Used for boring through soft to medium soils by circulating drilling fluid (usually water or bentonite) to carry cuttings to the surface.
A self-propelled machine mounted on crawler tracks, used for slope stabilization, ground anchor installation, and horizontal drain boring.
A specialized compact drilling machine capable of installing small-diameter piles in confined or restricted-access areas (e.g. basements or behind existing buildings).
Used in jack-in piling or underpinning, this system drives precast or steel piles using hydraulic pressure rather than impact hammers.
High-pressure pump system used to inject grout into soil or rock, suitable for TAM grouting, cavity filling, or soil strengthening.
A machine that uses high-pressure fluid jets to mix soil in-situ with cement slurry, forming soilcrete columns to improve strength and reduce permeability.
Hydraulic equipment used to tension ground anchors or soil nails during installation. Essential in retaining wall and slope stabilization projects.
A monitoring system installed in boreholes to track lateral ground movement over time, commonly used near retaining walls and slopes.
A device used to measure groundwater pressure or pore water pressure in soil layers. Critical for slope safety and dewatering evaluation.
A surface or subsurface point used to monitor vertical movement (settlement) of soil or structures during and after construction.
Used in bored pile construction, it allows concrete to be poured from the bottom up inside water- or slurry-filled boreholes, preventing segregation.
A steel frame used in workshops or on-site to assemble steel reinforcement cages accurately and efficiently for piles or columns.
📑 Tender & Pre-Contract Phase
📜 Contract & Legal Terms
📋 Project Operations & Execution
🧮 Claims & Disputes
🧰 Procurement & Materials
📊 Project Reporting & Handover
A curated list of organizations that govern, support, or influence construction and geotechnical practices in Malaysia and beyond.
🇲🇾 Key Malaysian Industry Bodies
Acronym - Full Name - Role / Relevance
CIDB Construction Industry Development Board
Regulates and develops Malaysia’s construction industry. All contractors must be registered with CIDB.
BEM Board of Engineers Malaysia
Governing body for professional engineers and engineering firms; licenses engineers and monitors professional ethics.
DOSH (JKKP) Department of Occupational Safety and Health
Enforces safety regulations in construction and ensures compliance with OSH standards.
JPS Jabatan Pengairan dan Saliran (Dept. of Irrigation & Drainage)
Oversees drainage, flood control, and erosion matters, often involved in slope and water-sensitive projects.
JKR Jabatan Kerja Raya (Public Works Department)
Malaysia’s federal technical agency for infrastructure development; often the project owner for public tenders.
LPBM Lembaga Pembangunan Industri Pembinaan Malaysia
Malay term often used interchangeably with CIDB, especially in Bahasa Malaysia documents.
Lembaga Arkitek Malaysia (LAM) Board of Architects Malaysia
Regulates the architectural profession and works closely with engineers on built environment standards.
Acronym - Full Name - Role / Relevance
ICE Institution of Civil Engineers (UK)
Prestigious professional body for civil engineers; many Malaysian engineers hold ICE or IStructE qualifications.
IStructE Institution of Structural Engineers (UK)
Governs structural engineering profession worldwide, with Malaysian chapter presence.
ASCE American Society of Civil Engineers
Publishes widely used standards for structural, foundation, and geotechnical design.
ACI American Concrete Institute
Sets global concrete construction and materials standards; used in pile design and concrete QA/QC.
G-I (ASCE) Geo-Institute
ASCE’s division dedicated to geotechnical engineering professionals and education.
IFCEE International Foundations Congress & Equipment
ExpoInternational geotechnical and foundations event, connecting contractors, designers, and suppliers.
Acronym - Full Name- Role / Relevance
MBAM Master Builders Association Malaysia
Trade association representing contractors, especially general builders and civil contractors.
REHDA Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia
Influential in residential and commercial property development
MIID Malaysian Institute of Interior Designers
Often works with builders and structural teams during finishing and conversion projects.
MGBC Malaysia Green Building Council
Promotes green and sustainable construction practices in Malaysia.
FEM Federation of Engineering Institutions of Asia and the Pacific (FEIAP)
Regional body promoting engineering excellence and mobility among ASEAN/APAC countries.
Entity - Purpose - MS Standards
(SIRIM / DSM)
Malaysian Standards used for concrete, pile testing, earthworks, and safety (e.g. MS 1199 for pile tests).
Eurocode 7 / EC7
European standard used in geotechnical design, increasingly applied in Malaysia.
ISO 9001 / ISO 45001
Quality and safety certifications relevant to construction firms seeking international standards.
Ir Tan Chin Shu is a Geotechnical Engineer with over 40 years’ experience in the foundation and geotechnical engineering industry. He is the founding Director of Shinei Geotechnique, a specialist contractor in Malaysia.
Address: No 15A, Jalan USJ 1/20, 47600, Subang Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
BRN: 198901006414 (183719-A)