TECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF THE PHILIPPINES – MANILA

College of Engineering and Architecture

Civil Engineering Department

ASSIGNMENT NO. 1
ASSIGNMENT #1 (by group)

CE 510

SUBMITTED BY:
Aguinaldo, Andrea Ann 1511033
Casidsid, Allan 1710014
Coronado, Erika 1720039
Gaspar, Aramaine 1610170
Perello, Kyle Matthew 1820019
Rebadavia, Melvin 1511022
Sesma, Chris Angelo 1411998
Sta. Ana, Jet 1720035
Severino, John 1720027

Foundation Engineering/CE51S2

SUBMITTED TO:
ENGR. KEZIAH REUEL B. TANGALIN

DECEMBER 04, 2020

Research 5 different events around the world that a foundation failure occurred. Describe the event as defined as
you can. After presenting the 5 different events that you have researched, provide a conclusion answering the
following question.
What is the importance of Foundation Engineering? Defend your answer based on what you have researched.

REPORTS ON OCEAN TOWER (31-STOREY CONDOMINIUM):

Construction: April 05, 2006

Demolition: December 2009 by Controlled Implosion
Failure: The Building sinks about 14 in. and the pier supports about 100 ft below
in contact with shifty clay began to experienced failure due to buckling, stressing
beams and columns resulting to the sinking of the building towards its northwest
corner.

Ocean Tower SPI was an unfinished, 31-story condominium in South Padre Island, Cameron County,
Texas, United States, that was imploded when it was deemed unsafe to remain standing. Construction was halted
in May 2008 when cracks formed in the building's supporting columns, and investigations revealed that the core of
the skyscraper had sunk by more than 14 inches (360 mm). Though the developers initially vowed to fix the
problem, studies discovered that repairs would have been too expensive, and plans for its demolition were
announced in September 2009. At the time of its controlled implosion in December 2009 the building weighed
55,000 short tons (50,000 t), and it was the tallest reinforced concrete structure to be demolished in that way. It was
nicknamed "Faulty Towers" and "The Leaning Tower of South Padre Island".

In July 2008 the developers filed a $125,000,000 lawsuit against Raba-Kistner geotechnical engineers and the
structural engineer and the general contractor Zachary Construction. Zachary however was later dismissed from the
lawsuit.
Conclusion:
Foundation is important because it helps the structure stabilize its weight to the soil. Correct computation must be
strictly implied when designing foundations in order to prevent unequal settlement of the structure when the loads
are applied. Failure to manifest proper designs may yield to the failure of the Building which will have negative
impact to the building’s integrity that will eventually yield to loss of money.

“THE JULY 16 1990 LUZON EARTHQUAKE”

Damage to buildings, infrastructures, and properties amounted to at least P 10B, a part of which was caused by
ground rupturing. Structures directly straddling the ground rupture were totally damaged as a result of large lateral
shifting and substantial vertical displacement. However, some houses within 1-2 m on either side of the ground
rupture survived owing to their light-weight construction while those built of reinforced concrete within this zone
suffered partial damage. Damages beyond 2m depended mainly on the structural integrity of the building and
effects of local topography and ground conditions. These observations underscore the advantage of using
lightweight materials for construction purposes as well as the need to observe sound construction and design of
buildings particularly in areas close to the ground rupture and in places that may be affected by future movements
along active faults.

Conclusion:
Foundation distributes the weight of a building to the ground. It is important to have
a good and strong foundation to keep the building standing while the forces of nature wreak havoc. Well-
built foundations keep the occupants of the building safe during calamities such as earthquake, flood, typhoon and
strong winds. And that’s the reason why it is important to have knowledge in foundation engineering, it applies
theoretical knowledge concerning the behavior of the soil and rocks and the construction of load-bearing structures
to the planning and construction of foundations for infrastructure. At the most basic level, a foundation engineer
would consider the kind of soil on which construction is to begin, allowing for the selection of the best material for
the job, taking into account variables such as the manner in which such materials would need to be reinforced.
 “THE LEANING TOWER OF PISA”

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is a magnificent piece of Romanesque Architecture. The tower gained much publicity due
to its southward incline of roughly 5.5 degrees. But restoration officials and engineers did not want the tower to meet
the same fate as the tower in Pavia. Without the tilt, this tower would lose most of its tourists and hence even the
officials did not dare to completely remove the tilt, but instead reduced it to 3 degrees.

Failure: The foundation of the Tower of Pisa was built on soils having fractions of sand, clay and silts in proportions
that result in a poor bearing capacity because of the sensitive and compressible nature of the resulting sub-soil. This
layer is not strong enough to support the huge load coming from such a heavy structure. Due to weather and
precipitation fluctuations, the water table rises up and down. It has been observed that the water level rises more on
the northern side leading to more settlement on the southern side.

Conclusion:
Most of the concerns in The Leaning Tower of Pisa had related with geotechnical foundation engineering
matters. Composition of the soil must be observed well. The study of the geological or foundation engineering
material properties on a construction site are important to allow design and construction of stable structures that: do
not settle, deform or crack and. A foundation distributes the weight of a building to the ground. Therefore, by
transferring a building's load far into the ground, it offers stability to the building and helps to avoid any overloading
on other parts of the structure.
 13 STORIED BUILDING IN SHANGHAI, CHINA

At around 5:30am on June 27, 2009, an unoccupied 13-storey block of flat building, still under construction, at
Lianhuanan Road in the Minhang district of Shanghai city toppled over and ended up lying on its side in a muddy
construction field. One worker was killed. The official Xinhua News Agency said that a 28-year-old worker,
surnamed Xiao, had gone into the building to get his tools and tried to jump out the window when the building fell.
He was from Anhui province in eastern China. Construction work on the block appeared to have been nearly
completed, with windows fitted and a tiled facade. Other identical blocks in the same property development were
still standing nearby Initially, it was thought that a 70 m section of the flood prevention wall in the nearby Dianpu
River might have triggered this building collapse. China’s official news agency, Xinhua, reported that officials were
taking appropriate control measures against nine people, including the developer, construction contractor and
supervisor of the project after it was found that the company’s construction license had expired in 2004.
Cause of Failure
The cause of the building collapse in Shanghai was due to a pressure difference on two sides of the structure.
Improper construction methods are believed to be the reason of the building collapse in Shanghai. The investigation
team’s report said that workers dug an underground garage on one side of the building while on the other side earth
was heaped up to 10m high, which was apparently an error in construction.
Conclusion
The rare foundation failure and collapse of the building in China was caused by excavated earth on one side and
piled up earth and water table on the other side, exerting differential pressure on the piles. When the pile capacity
exceeded, the piles failed and the building toppled en mass, resulting in a rare foundation failure. It was mainly due
to the result of careless excavation very near to the building, for the purpose of providing underground car park.
Engineers should take a note of the lessons learnt from this failure and avoid such mistakes in future.
 “THE TRANSCONA GRAIN ELEVATOR”

More than a century ago, a seminal event in the then world of foundation engineering took place in Winnipeg,
Manitoba, Canada, when the mat-foundation-supported Transcona Grain Elevator underwent catastrophic collapse
under initial loading. The failure (and righting) of the structure serves as a symbol of the pioneering days in
geotechnical engineering, and appears in many textbooks and publications on the topic of bearing capacity in
cohesive soils. Although the failure remains a symbol of considerable geotechnical interest, it also serves as a
marker in time to identify the considerable advancements in geotechnical practice over the past century.
Cause of Failure
A century ago, no such tools existed. By necessity, plate load tests and local experience were relied upon to design
foundations. Such was the case of the Transcona Grain Elevator, a structure made famous by its collapse after
bearing pressures during initial loading exceeded the limiting shear resistance of the clay foundation soil. Because
settlement is often the controlling factor in design, cases of ultimate shear failure for large structures are uncommon
today. While it’s almost certain that the mat foundation for the elevator was designed to tolerate large settlements,
its susceptibility to a deep-seated base shear failure was neither understood, nor expected.

Conclusion
This was due to the slope stability. When the slope was increased, the soil was not as stable. When the slope was
increased to 12.68 deg and 14.04 deg, the slope was so unstable that the building fell over each time the ball was
released with the foundation depth at one Lego brick. The foundation depth also affected the building stability.
When the foundation was deeper the building was less likely to be knocked over by the ball. This was due to the
soil bearing capacity.
References
CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN, The Associated Press. (2016, August 29). Sinking Texas Gulf Coast condos to be
demolished - The. San Diego Union-Tribune. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-tx-tower-demolition-
092109-2009sep21-story.html

Ocean Tower Settlement and Implosion. (2009, September 10). Http://Texasgeotechnicalengineer.Blogspot.Com/.

http://texasgeotechnicalengineer.blogspot.com/2009/10/ocean-tower-settlement-and-implosion.html

Raymundo S. Punongbayan, Rolly E. Rimando, Jessie A. Daligdig

Glenda M. Besana, Arturo S. Daag, Takashi Nakata, and
Hiroyuki Tsutsumi, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology
Hiroshima University, Japan.(1990). https://www.phivolcs.dost.gov.ph/index.php/earthquake/destructive-
earthquake-of-the-philippines/2-uncategorised/212-1990-july-16-ms7-9-luzon-earthquake

Content for Pragyan,.(2016,June 18).https://medium.com/pragyan-blog/the-leaning-tower-of-pisa-architectural-

marvel-or-engineering-failure-4ff2f0de3547
Kaminetsky, D., Design and Construction Failures: Lessons from Forensic Investigations, McGraw Hill, New York,
Peter Foster, Nine held over Shanghai building collapse, The Telegraph, 29th June 09, http://
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/ 5685963/Nine-held-over-Shanghai-buildingcollapse.html
Hou Lei, Pressure difference cause of Shanghai building collapse, China Daily, 10th July 09. http://
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James Blatz, PhD, P.Eng., FEC, and Ken Skaftfeld, P.Eng. Mar/Apr (2019) The Transcona Grain Elevator Failure
Revisited https://www.readgeo.com/geostrata/mar_apr_2019/MobilePagedArticle.action?
articleId=1472979#articleId1472979 and https://www.google.com/search?
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bm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjBiN732rPtAhWNBKYKHRN0BB4Q_AUoAXoECAUQAw&biw=2133&bih=1076#img
rc=xxMk9PJELfE9UM

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