Investigation Methodology of a Sinking Building

摘要

The change in use of five stories of a 15-story vintage building to library usage appeared to have caused an increase in the settlement and tilt of the building. An investigative process is described in this paper to determine the cause and origin of the original tilt, as well as of the increased tilt and settlement, due to the change in use of some of the building's space to library. It was eventually determined that the construction of an adjacent building many years ago had changed the groundwater profile and lowered it due to the deeper basements of the newer construction. This caused the deterioration of the timber piles supporting the building under investigation, and the consequential settlement.