Using micropile to retrofit of tilting building rested on alluvium deposits: Case study of inclined elven stories building at egyptian delta

Abstract

Although Egypt has a wide area, nearly 1,000,000 m2, the population concentrates at Delta of the River Nile. Recently, no space for horizontal expansions, so the tall buildings are commonly used to recover the demands. The demonstrated topsoil of Nile Delta is a transported alluvium deposit; high plasticity clay and high compressibility silt; which considered problematic soils. Many buildings in Egypt have no accurate soil investigation programs, so many geotechnical problems appear during and after the construction. The most common geotechnical problem is tilting of structures which make them not serviceable and cause damages for surrounding buildings. Elven stories building has tilted after nearly ten years of its construction. The building has constructed at El-Mahalla El-Kubra city which locates in the middle of Delta Zone. In this research, the micropile technique used to prevent more tilting of the eleven stories building without any harmful effects on surrounding buildings. This technique is not a usual solution for same problems in Egypt, but it seems like an effective and suitable for such constructions in town centers as no space for large drilling machine.