Interpreting Damage to Existing Structures Adjacent to Construction Sites: Fid-Bau Portal

Interpreting Damage to Existing Structures Adjacent to Construction Sites

Smith, N. B. / Vatovec, M.

Damage to buildings adjacent to construction sites in congested or urban environments often results from improper construction planning, methodology, and sequencing. The resulting costs associated with damage mitigation and repairs, schedule delays, altered construction approaches, insurance claims, and potential litigation often affect all involved parties. Properly interpreting the distress that occurs during adjacent construction is a critical step in understanding what activities contributed to or caused the damage. Specifically, being able to understand the expected building behavior, as well as to correlate the observed distress and mechanisms to the type and extent of the construction activities are keys to identifying the underlying cause of the damage. This paper focuses on forensic engineering aimed at understanding, diagnosing, and opining on damage caused by construction types often associated with the most severe adjacent-property damage: earthwork and foundation activities. Typical distress to adjacent structures is discussed, as well as the mechanisms that cause damages. Risks associated with general excavation, earth-support systems, drilling and pile driving operations, dewatering, and underpinning are also discussed. The authors draw on their experience of investigating numerous claims of reported damage due to adjacent construction in New York City.