Major Foundation Failures
Over the centuries, mankind has seen some pretty shocking foundation failures, from the Tower of Pisa the the recent Ocean Tower resort in South Padre Island. While the root causes may differ, in Dallas, the expansive clay is by far the main reason for a residence’s foundation to settle and crack. As the developers of the major project of the Ocean Tower, the condition of the soil can not be underestimated. After it was all over, the developers sued everyone in sight involved in the project. Here is the crooks of the matter quoted from the lawsuit documents:
The facts are that the soil upon which the building was placed contains a substratum of expandable clay at the 120 to 190 foot level. This clay is also known as compressable clay and, as a result of Raba's miscalculation of the piers necessary to support the building (Raba authorized 95 foot piers, after testing only down 100 feet) the building weight was focused on the clay stratum, which compressed, and allowed the building to settle. The settlement was uneven (differential settling) which stressed the beams and columns designed by Datum, and resulted in cracking, spalling and breaking of the beams and columns.
This is how this luxury project was pitched in the beginning:
Before the building was even completed, it started to lean, just like the Tower of Pisa, due to a 14” uneven foundation settling.
In the end, the the project could not be saved, or maybe it wasn’t worth saving after such bad publicity. Regardless, CDI was brought in to bring it down in a spectacular implosion.
[embed width="500" height="400"]http://youtu.be/QO2q4LErGN4?t=30s[/embed].
Premier Foundation Repair Inc has seen thousands of foundation failures in Dallas over the last 30 years. We can help you like we have helped many others in DFW.
Sources:
http://www.valleymorningstar.com/news/article_9190e0e4-f032-563e-9a44-51bce0505dc4.html