Dewatering induced settlement of a historic landmark

Construction related dewatering in urban areas often induces damage of existing structures. The following forensic investigation highlights the complexities of such a phenomenon. Somerset plantation, a national historic landmark located in northeastern North Carolina is currently exhibiting distress. At many locations, these wooden structures on brick piers are experiencing sufficient differential settlement to impact building functionality. Heavy visitor traffic was proposed by the site staff as the cause of the building displacements. Given a perched aquifer located within a fatty clay, dewatering based settlement was suspected. Two potential sources of ground water change were investigated – (1) general drought conditions or (2) a nearby mining operation.