A case study of foundation failure of a residential building: From diagnosis to reparation

The pathology that appears in reinforced concrete structures, old and new, is inevitable and involves all stakeholders at all levels of responsibility, from the technician to the decision maker at the highest level. It also concerns engineers from design offices and experts from offices responsible for diagnosing existing structures, as well as engineers from repair companies. Like all countries in the world, the study of the pathology and safety of civil engineering buildings is one of the big problems encountered in the field of construction in Algeria. The foundations are among of the structural elements of the buildings most affected by this damage, these constitute the link between the structure and the soil, they allow the transmission of loads from the structure to the soil. If these structural elements are damaged, they affect the general stability of the building. Depending on the severity of the damage, it can cause the building collapse. The main objective of this paper is to study a pathological case of foundation failure of a residential building: from diagnosis to reparation. This repair was carried out according to an intervention plan comprising stages spread over time, this allowed the strengthening of the infrastructure and gave the building an acceptable level of security.