A Case of Pathology of Foundations

Juliane Cristina Gonçalves

Federal University of Juiz de Fora, UFJF, Juiz de Fora, Brazil

Abstract: It is clear that in foundation plans, in general terms, the settlements control the sizing of shallow foundations, while load capacity controls the deep ones. However, it is crucial to estimate settlements not only for shallow foundations but also for deep foundations aiming to assess their magnitude and evaluate the amount of settlement a structure can tolerate — allowable settlements. Instrumentation should also ideally be used since the beginning of the building construction process. Besides being a contribution to an increasing understanding of tolerable settlements of the structure, it may also act as a warning to the designer for decision making concerning the potential strengthening of foundations in a timely manner and surely at lower costs than if it was performed later. This work provides an evaluation of distortional settlements for deep foundations in a building under rupture since a tilt of 8 cm was detected from the top of the building to the garage level at the first floor due to elevators installation. Tilt is a consequence of differential settlements, although no signs of crack have been identified in the building. Distortional settlements values ranged from 1/10429 between columns P10 and PG15 to 1/338 between columns P2 and P7. Reinforcement of the foundations was required.