It must be realized that there are many factors that affect the performance of the building.  Visible cracking can be caused by shrinkage of roof timbers, crazing of plaster, expansion of brickwork (brick growth), and shrinkage of concrete, as well as the most commonly attributed cause, viz.  soil movement.  Generally, minor cracking is of no significance … Continued

Introduction Foundation movements are a major cause of distress to established buildings. The main cause of such movements in Australia is the swelling and shrinking of expansive clays resulting from soil moisture changes. There are two aspects to this problem. Firstly, buildings must be managed in a manner that reduces the possibility of damage. Secondly, … Continued

Problem Sites and Footings Performance Simplified For builders & owners. Most common onsite issues: – Fill materials on site – Existing building to be removed – Trees on-site or adjacent properties – Site cut deeper than 500 mm Fill material  1) Loose materials on-site exceeds 600-800 mm of sand or 300-400 mm of clay. Suspend … Continued

After several years of discussion and amendments to the Guidelines. And with a considerable amount of input from engineers throughout Australia, AS 2870 was eventually issued in 1986.  The current version is AS 2870 – 2011. AS 2870 provides tables of “deemed-to-comply” footing sizes that can be used without a need to carry out structural … Continued

Matric suction is the pressure dry soil exerts on the surrounding soils to equalise the moisture content in the overall block of soil.  Matric suction conditions in the soil profile were obtained through steady-state unsaturated seepage analyses.  The initial matric suction profile is the same as suction varied from 409 kPa at tree root to … Continued