One should always err on the side of caution and assume that there is always a potential from a waterproofing perspective for concrete not to perform as required, whether it be due to any of the following issues: workmanship, plastic shrinkage, thermal cracking, heave, settlement, premature drying or even overloading. Obviously, any of the above are not conducive to a successful outcome and they can also be costly to deal with and dramatically slow down a build programme, if not also sometimes even be ruinous in a worst-case scenario when they occur in a below-ground-level, high-end structure. Along with good, robust engineering, all the above need to be designed by suitably qualified structural engineers - and often with a good piling and well-planned/ executed temporary works/shoring programme regime in place to retain the surrounding strata (which also all needs to be designed and placed by relatively experienced companies) and according to risk, use, finances, soil/ground conditions or heights of water tables. One can use several variants of piling too, such as secant, contiguous, sacrificial steel, or coffer dam types as common examples.
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