Remedial Measures to a Building Settlement Problem

A ten storeyed building, built on a subsoil of an onshore marine soil, was observed to be tilting away from the vertical. Extensive field and laboratory investigations were carried out to establish the reasons for the differential settlement causing the tilting. Though, nearly uniform pressure has been achieved at the foundation level, presence of a soft marine clay layer with varied thickness and location has caused the differential settlement. To arrest further increase in differential settlement, micropiling in the zone of higher settlement and additional loading and lowering of water table in the zone of lower settlement have been carried out as remedial measures. Controlled removal of the silty soil from below the foundation in the low settlement zone has reduced the differential settlement. The performance of the remedial measures has been monitored for more than two years