NAME: LEMAR JHON V.
MANZANO SUBJECT: GEO 1 CODE: N44 Page 1 of 3
ACTIVITY: PS 1: Structure which failed due to Geotechnical Condition DATE: March 30, 2021
All structures that are founded on earth rely on our ability to design safe and economic foundations. Because of the
natural variations of soils, failures do occur. DO INTERNET RESEARCH on structures which failed due to geotechnical
conditions and identify the type and cause of failure.
RETAINING WALL FAILURES:
• This was a part of the infamous retaining wall failure in San Antonio that damaged
many homes that were above the wall system.
CAUSE:
The design earth pressure was not reasonably estimated, or even worse the wall was not
engineered and the as-built condition did not account for the proper earth pressure.
• This was an MSE wall failure
CAUSE:
Caused by expansive clay backfill or native cut face behind the backfill zone exerting
earth pressure exceeding value used in design.
SETTLEMENT FAILURES:
• Lakeport, California, 2013. Approximately 20 homes are abandoned and
settlement of up to 10 feet destroy homes and make subdivision worthless.
CAUSE:
Fissures shown on the surface of the ground.
ROCKFALLS and ROCK SLOPE or BLUFF STABILITY:
• A limestone bluff failure occurred in Lake Whitney in Texas in 2014. The
exterior covered patio collapsed with the failed rock mass and the house had to be
abandoned and demolished by burning.
CAUSE:
The picture is another view of the Lake Whitney site that shows the cause which is
a fracture (fissure) exposed at the surface of the rock mass.
EXPANSIVE CLAY SOIL PAVEMENT FAILURES:
• The City of Hutto reconstructed some of their downtown streets in 2005-2006.
CAUSE:
The design and construction ignored the geotechnical recommendations concerning
subgrade improvement (due to cost), and the results were predictable (expansive clay
cracking the streets), much to the chagrin of the complaining populace.
SLOPE STABILITY FAILURES:
• View of the 2010 landslide in Italy.
CAUSE:
Heavy rainfall saturated the soils and reduced shear strength to low levels.
• This house in Camden County Missouri experienced severe settlement. The
house split into two along a central pivot alignment.
CAUSE:
Due to global slope stability failure along the lake.
SOIL PIPING FAILURES:
• 2010 Milwaukee. This sinkhole formed then eventually collapse the street
above.
CAUSE:
There is leaking or broken sewer pipe that allowed loss of soil through pipe.
• This sinkhole in San Antonio, Texas, in 2016, claimed the life of one person.
CAUSE:
The sinkhole appears to be due to a soil piping failure (storm sewer line).
SOIL LIQUEFACTION:
• Failure of Building Structure in Izmit, Turkey.
CAUSE:
After Liquefaction, the soil no longer behaves as an inactive grid of particles. The
strength and stiffness of the liquefied soil are significantly decreased, often
resulting in a variety of structural failures.
OTHER TYPES OF FAILURE:
• Highland Towers, Selangor, Malaysia. At 1:35pm, on December 11,
1993 a landslide with the force of 200 jumbo jets slammed into the
foundations of Block One of the Highland Towers apartment complex.
CAUSE:
The land was stripped and exposed to erosion, and some of the drainage
pipes were blocked with branches.
• Toppled apartment building, Shanghai, 2009.
CAUSE:
The area was unstable because they are in the process of excavating a 4.6m
deep underground car park on one side of the bldg. and piled the arisings
in a spoil heap up to 10m high on the other side and also, the soil was loose
because of the heavy rains before the incident happen.
• This was a cheap single-block width screen wall at the sun field
development in Buda, subsequently torn down because of failures.
CAUSE:
It was placed on expansive clay soil.
Reference/s:
https://www.capitalgeotechnical.com/geotechnical-failures.html
https://theconstructor.org/geotechnical/soil-liquefaction-causes-importance/2340/
https://www.google.com/amp/s/vineetpost.wordpress.com/2012/09/22/10-worst-high-rise-building-collapses-in-
history/amp/
https://www.imia.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/EP45-2011-Systemic-Causes-in-Geotechnical-Works.pdf
https://izw.baw.de/e-medien/geotechnical-safety-and-risk-
2011/PDF/6%20Practical%20Applications%20and%20Case%20Studies/6_08.pdf
https://www.bestonlineengineeringdegree.com/the-10-worst-high-rise-building-collapses-in-history/
