Assessment of excavation-induced building damage

Ground movements during excavation have the potential for major impact on nearby buildings, utilities and streets. Increasingly ground movements are controlled at the source. They are assessed by linking the ground loss at the excavation wall to the volume change and displacements in the soil mass, and then to the lateral strains and angular distortion in structural bays or units, and are related to damage using a damage criterion based on the state of strain at a point. Numerical and physical models of excavation-induced building damage were used to vary parameters and develop procedures for assessing distortion and damage. Examples of building distortion and damage are presented for brick bearing wall structures of the 1800’s and early 1900’s, as well as later frame structures, that illustrate how geometry, era of construction, stiffness, and condition influence building response to ground movement.