Abstract:
As engineers, we must understand all possible failure modes and design structures to avoid or safely accommodate them. “ Value engineering” isn’ t valuable in geotechnical engineering or foundation design. These Case Studies provide insight into catastrophic, dangerous, and costly failures.
Marriot Hotel Retaining Wall/Slope Failure, Carrollton, Texas
A retaining wall was “ designed” based on a TxDOT standard but not built accordingly. Instead, a reinforced concrete cantilever retaining wall was constructed resulting in failure.
Millennium Tower 58-Story High Rise Settlement/Rotation, San Francisco, California
Tilting caused by differential settlement would have been avoided if the foundation piles had reached into the bedrock.
State Highway 130 Pavement Heave/Slope Instability, Seguin, Texas
Design failures caused excessive heaving and cracking in the 42-mile-long, 85 mph asphalt toll road.
Dome Collapse, Convent, Louisiana
Piling 100+ feet of iron ore within a dome with only a 12” slab resulted in failure and over $75mm in damage.
Grain Silo Settlement/Rotation, Northwestern Missouri
Lack of consideration of the subsurface soil conditions, hydrology, and hydrogeology in areas of highly collapsible soil resulted in over $1MM in damage.
Pres. George Bush Soil Mix Column Cut Wall Failure/Pavement Heave, Dallas Texas
A gross failure of testing during a geotechnical investigation led to a retaining wall failure costing approximately $25MM.
Gander Mountain Store Heave/Foundation Movement Of Piers, Corsicana, Texas
The highly expansive nature of kemp clay was ignored, and no soil treatment was performed, thus 18” of heave rendered the building unusable.
House Cliff Collapse, Lake Whitney, Texas
Warnings of cracks and displacements were ignored before catastrophic failures occurred.
Learning from these past failures helps enable us to fulfill our duty and ethical obligation to protect life, safety, and public welfare.