Use of Pile to Reduce Induced Settlement in Existing Adjacent Building Following Construction of New Building (Case Study: Abadan)

Objectives: Estimating the impact of high-rise building on the adjacent building foundation of existing older building with few floors. Methods: Transfer of load from foundation to the earth not only spreads vertically but also transversely; thus, following increased tension, additional earth subsidence occurs in adjacent structures, which may damage them. Results: This is especially important when it comes to saturated fine grained soils due to high potential for consolidation subsidence. Failure to consider said mechanism has caused many old buildings with structural and masonry materials to undergo damage and cracking every year. A practical method to address this is to shift stress to lower layers using pile. Herein, a six-story building adjacent to a one-story one in Abadan was selected for case study. Using PLAXIS 3D Foundation, effect of pile and its role in reducing of adjacent building’s subsidence was studied. Conclusion: Results revealed that proper arrangement of piles in the first row of piling and with axis-axis spacing of 3 m and length of 15 m next to the old building can rule out structure cracks.