Protective structure for excavations

A protective structure adapted to buttress opposed upright walls of an excavation, comprising:

• (a) a pair of protective panels each formed by a corrugated sheet having lateral side edges and a pair of end edges, a transverse rigidifying member secured along each end edge of said sheet and operative to resist bending of sheet and at least one mounting station disposed on a first side of said sheet, each said sheet formed as a plurality of alternating inwardly and outwardly facing channels extending longitudinally between the end edges thereof, each channel having a bottom wall and a pair of sidewalls with adjacent ones of said channels having a common sidewall therebetween and each mounting station including a support plate extending transversely across a selected inwardly opening channel and a gusset web interposed between said support plate and the bottom wall of the selected inwardly opening channel with said gusset web operative to support said support plate against said bottom wall, said protective panels adapted to be oriented in an opposed relationship such that the mounting stations on one protective panel are in opposed relation to the mounting stations on the other protective panel;
• and
• (b) a plurality of spreader beams adapted to extend between and be supported by opposed ones of said mounting stations and operative to retain said protective panels in spaced-apart relation alongside the opposed upright walls of the excavation with said protective structure having open ends, an open top and an open bottom.

A protective panel adapted to be supported by a brace in order to buttress an upright wall of an excavation, comprising:

• (a) a corrugated sheet lateral side edges and a pair of end edges, said sheet formed as a plurality of channels extending longitudinally between the end edges thereof with alternate ones of said channels opening oppositely one another, each channel having a bottom wall and a pair of sidewalls with adjacent ones of said channels having a common sidewall therebetween;
• (b) a transverse rigidifying member secured along each end edge of said sheet;
• and
• (c) at least one mounting station disposed on a first side of said sheet in spaced relation with respect to said end edges and operative to mount the brace whereby said protective panel may be supported with a second side against the upright wall of the excavation, said mounting station including a support plate extending transversely across a selected channel and a gusset web interposed between said support plate and the bottom wall of the selected channel and operative to support said support plate against said bottom wall.

A protective panel adapted to be supported in an upright manner by a brace in order to buttress an upright wall of an excavation having a bottom ground surface, comprising:

• (a) a corrugated sheet having lateral side edges and a pair of end edges, said sheet adapted to be oriented in an upright position when said panel is upright and formed as a plurality of channels extending longitudinally between the end edges thereof with alternate ones of said channels opening oppositely one another, each channel having a bottom wall and a pair of sidewalls with adjacent ones of said channels having a common sidewall therebetween;
• (b) a tubular transverse rigidifying member secured along each end edge of said sheet;
• (c) a leg member telescopically received in each said rigidifying member and downwardly depending therefrom when said panel is upright and terminating in a ground engaging foot, said leg members operative to support said panel above said bottom ground surface;
• and
• (d) at least one mounting station disposed on a first side of said sheet and operative to mount the brace whereby said protective panel may be supported with a second side against the upright wall of the excavation, said mounting station including a support plate extending transversely across a selected channel and a gusset web interposed between said support plate and the bottom wall of the selected channel and operative to support said support plate against said bottom wall.

A protective structure adapted to buttress opposed upright walls of an excavation, comprising:

• (a) a pair of protective panels each formed by a corrugated sheet having lateral side edges and a pair of end edges, a transverse rigidifying member secured along each end edge of said sheet and at least one mounting station disposed on a first side of said sheet, each said sheet formed as a plurality of alternating inwardly and outwardly facing channels extending longitudinally between the end edges thereof, each channel having a bottom wall and a pair of sidewalls with adjacent ones of said channels having a common sidewall therebetween and each mounting station including a support plate extending transversely across a selected inwardly opening channel and a gusset web interposed between said support plate and the bottom wall of the selected inwardly opening channel with said gusset web operative to support said support plate against said bottom wall, said protective panels adapted to be oriented in an opposed relationship such that the mounting stations on one protective panel are in opposed relation to the mounting stations on the other protective panel
• (b) a plurality of spreader beams adapted to extend between and be supported by opposed ones of said mounting stations and operative to retain said protective panels in spaced-apart relation alongside the opposed upright walls of the excavation with said protective structure having open ends, an open top and an open bottom;
• and
• (c) at least one end panel adapted to extend between said protective panels to enclose a selected one of the open ends, said end panel including latch assemblies each including a latch bar configure to engage a selected one of the inwardly facing channels of each of the protective panels with the side webs thereof retaining said end panel in position transversely with respect to the protective panels.