The impact of groundwater lowering on pile bearing capacity in Hanoi – Vietnam

Abstract

In recent decades, over-exploiting water wage has lowered dramatically the groundwater level in Hanoi city and other major cities in Vietnam. This may result in geotechnical hazards in changing the mechanism of the underground environment, especially risks relate to the deep foundation. As a result of lowering groundwater, the bearing capacity of the existing piles could be reduced significantly due to development of the negative skin friction. To evaluate the influences of lowering grocundwater for the bearing capacity of the piles in the areas of the Hanoi city, the classical and finite element methods were employed to back analyze the actual monitoring data. The results of the analysis have showed a good agreement with the actual monitoring data and the areas of Hanoi City influenced by lowering groundwater for the bearing capacity of the pile have been established to assist the deep foundation design.