Underpinning

Nitesh Agrawal,111CE0498
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY,ROURKELA

Abstract
In construction or renovation, underpinning is the process
of strengthening the foundation of an existing building or
other structure. Underpinning may be necessary for a
variety of reasons such as the original foundation is simply
not strong ,the usage of the structure or the properties of
the soil supporting the foundation has changed or it is more
economical, due to land price. Underpinning may be
accomplished by extending the foundation in depth or in
breadth so it either rests on a more supportive
soil stratum or distributes its load across a greater area. An
alternative to underpinning is the strengthening of the soil
by the introduction of a grout which are expensive and
elaborate. Through semantic change the word
underpinning has evolved to encompass all abstract
concepts that serve as a foundation.

Necessity of underpinning
1. The building itself becoming unstable through age and
general wear and tear
2. The building usage has changed which means it needs
to be stronger
3. The soil in the ground has changed and is no longer
strong enough
4. The ground beneath it is becoming unstable through
subsidence
5. The soil was never strong enough and was built
incorrectly to start with
6. Rather than build a new building from scratch you want
to build up an old one
7. Buildings nearby going up, which has changed the
property of the supporting soil

Safety Issues for Underpinning

Introduction
It stands to reason that when it comes to building work you
need to make sure everything is done correctly. It is
common sense that you want everything to be to a high
standard especially from a safety point of view.
Underpinning is a large part of this. Underpinning works in
such a way that it helps to strengthen an existing building.
There can be any number of reasons that a building's
foundation becomes unstable however that doesn't mean
that they have to stay that way. It is obvious that an
unstable building is unsafe and so should be looked at
immediately. Be contacting an expert building company to
carry out underpinning for you, you can get your building
back to its former state. Underpinning is great because it
means that you can use a buildings existing structure to
build up. This can save you both time and money on your
building project, essential if you have a budget that you
need to stick too. Underpinning is an important part of
improving a buildings structure and so is something that
should be taken seriously. You should also make sure that
any work carried out is done so by a professional, reputable
company. If you are unsure of a company to use then just a
quick search online should help you find what you are
looking for

Underpinning railway bridge.

The safety issues that have to consider:

Investigate services before digging

Check that underpinning pits cannot flood or be gassed
Strengthen superstructure before digging
Check that walls above are strong enough to support
themselves over pits
Support sides of excavations
Ensure that workers can escape from pits easily
Use threaded couplers instead of dowel bars to connect
reinforcement rods between sections of shallow mass
concrete underpinning
Ensure safe access and ventilation to pits
Use a Banks man to oversee safety.

Jack Pile Underpinning

Jack Pile Underpinning method can be used when the
depth of a suitable bearing capacity subsoil is too deep to
make traditional underpinning uneconomic. Jack pile
underpinning is quiet, vibration free and flexible since the
pile depth can be adjusted to suit subsoil conditions
encountered.
The existing foundations must be in a good condition since
they will have to span over the heads of the pile caps which
are cast onto the jack pile heads after the hydraulic jacks
have been removed.

Jack pile underpinning

Discussion
A lot of not so good commentary are made regarding
houses that went through reinforcement. In fact, there are
whole forums that can be found on the internet that discuss
about the topic of underpinned houses and everything that
involves those houses. See, these houses seem to have
gotten a bad rep and not without basis of course. But
contrary to common notion, these houses are completely
okay but because they have been underpinned, they are
difficult to sell and what's more, acquiring an underpinned
house insurance can be difficult for the owner.
Underpinning may be accomplished by extending the
foundation in depth or in breadth so it either rests on a
more supportive soil stratum or distributes its load across a
greater area

Conclusions
This may be done in case a developer wants to add more
storeys to a building. Also the foundation could be
damaged by tree roots and thus this method used for
correction.
You can ask an underpinned house owner and for sure, you
will hear tragic testimonies regarding their property
insurance. These type of houses or structures are
challenging to sell and obtain an insurance because they
are marked as hazardous and you have to understand that
no insurance company would be willing to cover a property
that will potentially stash money from them in the future.
This can be also the same reason why underpinned houses
are so difficult to sell in the market

Brick underpinning in structures.

Contact

References

<Nitesh Agrawal>
<NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY,ROURKELA>
<111CE0498>

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^ "International Society for Micropiles". International Society for Micropiles. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
^ Falcon Structural Repairs Underpinning Specialists
www. http://civil-engg-world.blogspot.in/2011/04/jack-pile-underpinning.html
www. http://civil-engg-world.blogspot.in/search/label/underpinning