Long-term mechanical behavior of wooden pile foundation in Venice

摘要

Many historical buildings of the historic city of Venice are founded on short and closelyrnspaced wooden piles used to improve the shallowest layers of very soft silty clay. Some recent evidencesrnhave shown that anaerobic bacteria may, in some cases, seriously deteriorate these piles even in anoxicrnconditions, significantly reducing wood stiffness and strength therefore providing a possible explanationrnof some observed building settlements. To investigate the effect of such degradation on the overall foundationrnmechanical response, a series of finite element analyses has been carried out, coupling the woodrndecay with creeping response of surrounding clayey soil. The model is applied to simulate, along withrncenturies, the response of the foundations of the ancient Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, that showedrnimportant displacements of the external masonry walls.