Analysis and design of foundations in Mexico City, 20 years after

the 1985 earthquake

G. Auvinet
Instituto de Ingeniería, UNAM, Mexico

ABSTRACT: The paper presents a general panorama of the solutions commonly adopted for foundation of buildings in the
difficult soft soil conditions of the lacustrine zone of Mexico City, 20 years after the 1985 earthquake. The most common types
of foundations are discussed together with the design criteria generally adopted, most of which have been included in Mexico
City building code (2004). Special foundation systems developed specifically for Mexico City subsoil conditions are also
examined.
RESUMEN: Este trabajo presenta una revisión general de las soluciones comúnmente adoptadas para la cimentación de
edificios en las condiciones difíciles de la zona lacustres de la ciudad de México, 20 años después del macrosismo de 1985. Se
presentan los tipos más comunes de cimentaciones con los criterios de análisis y diseño mas aceptados, la mayoría de los cuáles
han sido incorporados al Reglamento de Construcciones de la Ciudad (2004). Se examinan asimismo los sistemas especiales
desarrollados para las condiciones especiales del subsuelo de la Ciudad de México.

Keywords: Foundations, soft soils, earthquake, analysis, design, reliability

1 INTRODUCTION

The urban area of Mexico valley can be divided in three

The high compressibility and low strength of the lacustrine main geotechnical zones (Marsal and Mazari, 1959):
clays of Mexico City, together with the existence of regional Foothills (Zone I), Transition (Zone II) and Lake (Zone III).
subsidence and high seismic activity, have made of this city a Figure 1 shows the three zones as defined in the present
full-scale laboratory where it has been possible to ponder the building code. In the foothills, very compact but
influence of many factors on foundation behavior. heterogeneous volcanic soils and lava are found. These
materials contrast with the highly compressible soft soils of
This document presents an overall picture of the subsoil of the Lake Zone. Generally, in between, a Transition Zone is
Mexico City and of the problems encountered in design of found where clayey layers of lacustrine origin alternate with
foundations, which depend upon the type of structure to be sandy alluvial deposits erratically distributed.
built and the kind of foundation adopted. The multiple
serviceability and failure limit states to be considered in Due to exploitation of underground water for supply to the
design are examined. population and to other factors, in the course of the present
century, Mexico City has suffered a subsidence that in some
The special conditions existing in Mexico City have led to locations reaches 10m. Recent data show that the rate of
the adoption of different types of foundations and to the subsidence tends to decrease in certain areas. However, in
development of specific solutions in which an impressive newly developed urban zones such as the center of the
amount of creativity was involved. These foundation systems Texcoco Lake and of former lakes of Xochimilco and
are briefly described herein and their respective merits are Chalco, in the south of the valley, the consolidation process
evaluated. is only in its first stage and the rate of subsidence attains
30cm per year (DGCOH, 1994).
The lessons learned from the 1985 earthquake induced some
significant changes in the analysis and design techniques of Since 1985, the geotechnical zoning of Mexico City (Fig. 1)
all types of foundations in Mexico City. Many factors are has been updated taking into account a data base consisting
now better evaluated and taken into account. of more than 10,000 boreholes and pits. This data base was
incorporated in a Geographical Information System focused
on geological and geotechnical problems.
2 SUBSOIL OF MEXICO CITY
 scattered in the different zones of the city and the results of
microtremors measurements.

3. TYPES OF FOUNDATIONS

3.1 General design considerations

Foundations of buildings in the lacustrine zone of Mexico

City must be designed taking into account the high
compressibility and low shear strength of the thick soft clays
layers of the subsoil. Design must also consider, among other
factors, the general subsidence induced by pumping of water
from the deep strata, the fracturing of the soil frequently
observed in some areas, and the site effects that induce a
strong amplification of the seismic waves that periodically
affect Mexico Valley subsoil.

Using the terminology of the Federal District (Mexico City)

Building Code (G.D.F., 2004), it can be said that foundations
must present an adequate safety against a large number of
limit states that can be divided as follows:

a) Failure limit states: flotation, plastic local or general

displacement of the soil below the foundation and structural
Figure 1. Geotechnical zoning of Mexico City (2004)
failure of footings, slabs, piles, drilled shafts or other
foundation elements.

b) Serviceability limit states: vertical average movement,

settlement or emersion with respect to the surrounding
ground, average tilting and shear deformation induced in the
structure.

Security against these different limit states must be

guaranteed under different load combinations including
extreme and average static loading but also accidental
conditions including wind and seismic actions. It is accepted
that foundations should be designed mainly for the following
load combinations:

a) Permanent loading plus variable loads with average

intensity. This combination should be used to compute long-
term soil deformation and to evaluate the excavation required
for load compensation.

b) Permanent loading plus the most critical variable loads

with maximum intensity plus other variable loads with
instantaneous intensity. This combination should be used to
assess failure limit states.

c) Permanent loading plus variable loads with instantaneous

intensity plus accidental loads (earthquake or wind). With
Figure 2. Seismic zoning of Mexico City (2004) this combination, failure limit states and serviceability limit
states (including transient and permanent soil deformations)
In the same way, the seismic zoning has been modified (Fig. should be evaluated.
2). The lacustrine zone has been divided in four subzones
according to the soil response observed during seismic Estimation of each of the loads entering these combinations
events using a web of more than 100 accelerometers is far from trivial. Too often, design is in fact based on
preliminary estimations of the permanent, live and accidental
loads. Even when a careful final review of the actual loads is Estimation of the seismic loads for foundation design is also
made, design loads retain generally a large random a complex matter. Design spectra cannot be developed
component. readily nor reliably. In the last years, however, some
important advances have been registered towards a more
For Mexico City buildings, Meli (1976) has suggested that rational approach to this problem through a better
the coefficient of variation of permanent loads is understanding of site effects and dynamic soil-structure
approximately constant and typically equal to 0.08. The interaction. (Romo, 2002).
coefficient of variation of live loads is larger and is a
function of the area on which they act; yet it generally has
only a small effect on the coefficient of variation of the total 3.2 Main types of foundations.
load. Not included in these considerations is the case of gross
variations of live load due to changes in the utilization of the The solutions adopted for foundation of buildings on soft
buildings or occurrences such as flooding of the basement of soils in Mexico City have evolved progressively since the
compensated buildings, which further increase the pre-Columbian and colonial periods due to the necessity of
uncertainty on the loads at the foundation level. All these building increasingly larger, higher and heavier constructions
factors make it highly commendable that a reliability (Fig. 3).
analysis be performed for design of important buildings.

Figure 3 Types of foundations in soft soils

The most common solutions used today include footings, made it necessary to review the traditional foundation
rafts, and box-type foundations for relatively light systems taking systematically into account the seismic factor.
constructions and precast driven point-bearing piles and, to a
lesser extent, bored piles and drilled shaft for heavier 3.2.1 Surficial and compensated foundations
buildings, especially in the transition zone. A number of
special systems, including friction piles, have also been used Foundation on masonry footings or general raft, sometimes
or developed. In many cases, the choice between these with short wood piles, was the first system tested by the
different solutions is not obvious and their functional and founders of the city, with very little success at that as attested
economical advantages and inconveniences have to be by the spectacular problems registered in the foundation of
carefully compared. In all cases, the selected foundation the “Templo Mayor”, the main pyramid of the Aztecs, and of
must meet the safety requirements imposed by the building many heavy colonial temples such as the Metropolitan
code. Cathedral and the Vera Cruz, Profesa, Santísima and Loreto
churches, to name only a few. It is now accepted that
It must be recognized that, with some notable exceptions surficial foundations on footings or surficial mats are only
(Zeevaert, 1973), foundation design in Mexico City before acceptable for light constructions occupying a relatively
the macro-earthquakes of 1985 was almost exclusively aimed small area. It must be taken into account that a load of only
at controlling the magnitude of total and differential 20kPa applied on a large area of the lake zone can be
settlements or the apparent emersion of foundations in static expected to induce a total settlement close to 1m with
conditions. The lessons learned during the 1985 earthquake differential settlements of about 50cm. Moreover, these
foundations are vulnerable to movements induced by threshold, and that the combination of permanent plus mean
adjacent buildings. live loads is a random variable, the reliability of typical
buildings on compensated foundations was computed by
Some of the problems faced when using surficial foundations Auvinet and Rossa (1991). A very low reliability index β
can be managed recurring to compensated or “floating” was obtained, especially regarding the second criterion.
foundation. Reliability decreases with the magnitude of the compensation
(weight of soil excavated). If a load factor of 1.1 is
The well-known compensated foundation technique consists introduced in the compensation calculation, reliability
of designing the foundation, generally a box-type structure, improves only slightly for the second criterion. Accepting a
in such a way that the mass of excavated soil will be differential settlement twice as large (0.008, third criterion),
comparable to the mass of the building (Cuevas, 1936). as was proposed by some engineers, does not increase
Theoretically, if both weights are equal, the soil below the significantly the reliability either. Introducing load
foundation is not submitted to any net stress and no eccentricities in two perpendicular directions as additional
significant settlement should develop. When the weight of independent random variables leads to a further decrease of
the soil is smaller than the weight of the building, the reliability. It can thus be concluded that compensation,
foundation is partially compensated; in the opposite case, it theoretically an ideal solution, can in fact be unreliable,
is overcompensated. especially when the loads are not known with precision.

In practice, even perfectly compensated foundations undergo It must also be stressed that overcompensated foundations
some absolute and differential vertical movements due to soil tend to present upward movements due to elastic strains and
elastic deformation, to soil disturbance during construction volumetric expansion of the unloaded soil. On the other
and to static soil-structure interaction thereafter. hand, the unloaded soil below an overcompensated
Furthermore, constructing this type of foundation is not foundation moves into the recompression range of the
straightforward since a deep excavation in soft soil is compressibility curve while the soil in the surroundings
generally required with the associated problems of stability remains on the virgin branch. As a consequence, the regional
of earth slopes or support systems and to bottom expansion subdidence process less affects the preconsolidated soil
or failure (Auvinet & Romo, 1998). Water tightness of the below the foundation than the soil located in the surrounding
foundation is also a critical factor for compensated area, and an apparent emersion of the foundation is observed
foundations; in many cases, this type of foundation must be (Diaz Cobo, 1977). This has led to spectacular protruding of
equipped with a permanent pumping system to control some light structures such as underground parking lots and
infiltrations. underpasses in the city.

Settlements and soil deformation Bearing capacity

The methods for estimating absolute and differential The bearing capacity of shallow and compensated
settlements of shallow or partially compensated foundations foundations under static vertical loads is rarely critical, since
in static conditions have not progressed much during the last the design is generally governed by soil deformation.
years. The standard procedure consists of determining the Moreover, it can be estimated with good accuracy using for
vertical stress increments induced in the soil by the example the well-known Skempton formula. Verification of
construction using elasticity theory and estimating the the bearing capacity of a particular foundation can thus be
corresponding strains from one-dimensional laboratory made checking the following inequality:
consolidation tests. Results obtained by this widely used
method are slightly on the conservative side and can be
considered as adequate at least to detect the possibility of ∑Q F i c / A ≤ cN c FR + pv (1)
grossly excessive settlements. Stress increments are now
easily determined using computers instead of traditional tools where
such as Newmark's chart. The development of closed A area of the foundation
solutions for stresses induced by linearly loaded polygonal c soil cohesion (undrained shear strength)
areas (Damy and Casales, 1985; Rossa and Auvinet, 1991) NC Skempton coefficient
has also been helpful. pv vertical stress within soil at foundation depth
Fc load factor, as specified by building code
In highly compressible soils, the computed settlements are of FR strength reduction factor, idem
course extremely sensitive to uncertainties on load
magnitude and eccentricity. Mexico City Building Code Methods for estimating the bearing capacity under seismic
specifies that total settlement of foundations should not conditions are not so satisfactory. As a matter of fact, the
exceed 30cm (first criterion) and, for concrete structures, present state of practice consists of comparing the maximum
differential settlement per unit length between any two points load on the foundation, estimated assuming rigid, elastic or
should be less than 0.004 (second criterion). Accepting that visco-elastic behavior of the soil, to the static bearing
the maximum allowable settlements constitute a critical capacity. The effect of the earthquake is represented by an
overturning moment and a base shear force at the foundation Within the limitations of the present methods, it can be
depth. These mechanical elements are in turn considered shown that bearing capacity in seismic conditions is
equivalent to an inclined resultant force with a certain principally a problem for slender structures. Auvinet and
eccentricity, e. Eccentricity is generally taken into account Rossa (1991) have shown that, for Mexico City conditions
by substituting the actual width B of the foundation by a and considering the local seismic coefficient as a random
reduced equivalent width equal to B-2e (Meyerhof criterion). variable, the reliability index regarding possible overturning
Accepting that static bearing capacity is representative for rapidly decreases to unacceptably low values when the
seismic conditions is implicitly equivalent to accepting a slenderness ratio of the structure increases.
compensation of effects, namely, the increase of the soil
strength in dynamic conditions on one hand (between 20 and During the 1985 earthquake, for a small number of surficial
40% for Mexico City clay according to Jaime, 1988) and, on and partially compensated foundations, punching of the soil
the other hand, its decrease as a result of cyclic loading when and tilting were observed (Auvinet and Mendoza, 1986).
the deviator cyclic stress exceeds a critical threshold of about This type of behavior could be traced to excessive contact
0.85c (Córdoba, 1986; Díaz, 1989). The partial mobilization pressures at the foundation level in static conditions, loading
of the shear strength of the soil by the seismic waves and the eccentricity, and infiltration of water in the substructure.
inertia forces in the foundation soil, that can contribute to Some cases of structural collapses of the substructure were
failure (Rosenblueth, 1985; Cordary, 1987) have been also observed showing that designers wishing to use
neglected in the most recent versions of Mexico City compensated foundation tend to structurally underdesign the
building code. The reduction suggested by Terzaghi for substructure to gain some weight. It was also obvious that
sensitive soils is not taken into account either. compensation is a poor solution for slender buildings
submitted to large overturning moments since it may lead to
Much research is needed on this problem, which happened to an unstable equilibrium.
be relevant during the 1985 Mexico earthquake. As a matter
of fact, as proposed by Romo (1990), the bearing capacity 3.2.2 Foundation on point-bearing piles.
should be evaluated in two different conditions: during the
earthquake, when dynamic effects are present, and Precast or cast-in-place end-bearing piles embedded in a
immediately afterwards, when the pore pressure induced by deep hard stratum are an apparently obvious solution for
the shaking may have reduced the available soil strength. foundations on soft soils. Moreover, this solution has proven
to be more reliable than other types of foundation in seismic
The bearing capacity problem under eccentric loading has conditions in Mexico City. However, foundations on
been reexamined recently (Pecker and Salencon, 1990; point-bearing piles may present some serious problems and
Auvinet et al., 1996) using the plastic flow theory. their design faces many difficulties.
Considering parameters N (vertical load), T (base shear), M
(overturning moment) and Fx (inertia force within the The bearing capacity of the hard layer in which the piles rest
potentially sliding soil mass), the cinematically admissible is a first source of uncertainty. The shortcomings of classical
mechanism that leads to the best inferior limit of the bearing analytical methods for evaluating this capacity have long
capacity is determined. The results are presented in a been recognized. Most of them assume rigid-plastic behavior
normalized form in terms of the vector: of the soil ignoring the essential role of soil deformability.
Bearing capacity estimations thus tend to be based
⎧N T M Fx B ⎫ principally on in situ tests (cone penetration test,
F =⎨ ⎬ (2) pressuremeter) or on loading tests. Heterogeneity of these
2
⎩ Bc Bc B c c ⎭
hard strata is difficult to assess and may originate tilting of
buildings with such a foundation (Ovando et al, 1988).
where B is the width of the foundation and c is the undrained Another source of uncertainty is the scale factor that should
shear strength of the soil. In the space of normalized be considered when piles of large diameter are used, to take
variables, a domain is defined where the behavior of the into account soil deformability, curvature of the Mohr
foundation is expected to be satisfactory. The overturning envelope for high confining pressures, and progressive
moment can be divided in a normal force N and a load failure. Some of the scale factors proposed in the literature
eccentricity e, so the results can also be presented in the (Meyerhof, 1983) lead to unrealistically low bearing
space of normalized (N, T, e, Fx). It can be established that capacities.
for N/Bc < 2.5 ands a safety factor larger than 2 under central
loading, the effect of the inertia forces can be neglected. On In consolidating subsoils, negative skin friction develops on
the contrary, for low safety factors, these forces induce a the pile shaft, reducing its net bearing capacity (Auvinet &
drastic reduction of the bearing capacity. Moreover, the Hanell, 1981). Moreover, an apparent emersion of the
results indicate that, in certain conditions, the B-2e criterion structure is generally observed and damage can be induced in
for eccentricity, generally considered as overconservative, adjacent buildings supported by other types of foundation.
can actually be unsafe. Consolidation has also the effect of separating the slab of the
substructure from the soil. In that condition, the head of the
piles is no longer confined and can be structurally vulnerable
under the combined effect of overturning moment and base principal systems have been regrouped according to the
shear (Auvinet & Mendoza, 1986). position of this fuse (in the upper or lower part of the pile, or
both). The type of fuse used is characteristic of each system.
As recognized in Mexico City building code, when
estimating the forces induced in piles by negative skin
friction, the following elements should be taken into account Table 1 Principal types of special foundations.

1) the shear stress developed on the shaft of a pile Fuse in Fuse in

cannot be larger that the limit soil shear strength Type lower upper part
determined in CU triaxial tests under a confining part
pressure representative of the conditions of the soil Friction piles X
in situ. Piles with penetrating point X
P3 piles X
2) this limit shear stress can only be reached when the Telescopic piles X
soil attains the corresponding required shear Negative skin friction piles X
deformation. Control piles X
Overlapping piles X X
3) the axial force developed in a pile due to skin
friction within a pile group cannot be larger than the Another solution, not included in the above table, consists of
weight of the soil located within the tributary area using piles placed within a flexible case (Támez et al,
of the pile. Sedesol, 1992). These piles are designed to avoid
overloading of point bearing piles by negative skin friction.
4) the unloading stresses induced by the skin friction
within the soil cannot be larger than those that are a) Friction piles
sufficient to stop the consolidation process that
originates the skin friction in the first place. Friction piles are generally used to transfer stresses induced
by shallow or partially compensated foundations to deeper,
Curiously, many of the methods available to take into less compressible layers of the subsoil, and to reduce
account the negative skin friction do not consider all of the settlements. Not so often, they constitute the main foundation
above conditions, especially the last one. It seems that the system and the stability of the structure is made dependent
best way to take into account all of these factors is using on the bearing capacity of the piles. A clear distinction must
numerical (finite element) modelling as shown in a be established between these two types of design (Fig. 4;
companion paper presented in this workshop (Auvinet and Auvinet & Mendoza, 1987)
Rodríguez, 2002).
Type I: Design in terms of bearing capacity
As mentioned above, foundations on point-bearing piles
presented generally an acceptable behavior during the 1985 In this first type of design, the number and dimensions of the
earthquake. However, some cases of structural damages in piles are selected with the aim of guaranteeing that they will
the upper part of the piles were detected. They were be able to support the load from the structure under static as
attributed to load concentration in the perimeter of the well as dynamic conditions, with a safety factor generally
structure due to the overturning moment and to the base larger than 1.5. In areas affected by regional subsidence, this
shear. type of friction pile is submitted to complex loading
conditions (Fig 4a). It has been shown (Reséndiz & Auvinet,
3.2.3 Special deep foundation systems 1973) that negative skin friction can develop on the upper
part of the piles while positive friction develops in the lower
Objective part. A "neutral" level can then be defined where no relative
displacement occurs between soil and piles.
Special deep foundation systems have been developed with
the principal aim of avoiding both excessive settlement and The position of the neutral level can be approximately
apparent emersion associated to consolidation of the upper determined by a simple equilibrium equation (Reséndiz and
clay formation. Some systems also allow controlling the load Auvinet, 1973):
transmitted to each pile.
W + FN = FP + Cp + U (3)
Foundation systems
where
The different systems all have in common the inclusion in W weight of the construction
the piles of a “fuse” (an element presenting large U water uplift pressure on the substructure (if any)
deformations when a critical load is exceeded) allowing the Cp end-bearing capacity of piles
construction to follow the regional subsidence. In Table I, the
FN negative skin friction on the upper part of the piles Jaime et al. (1990) have shown that piles fail when the
FP positive skin friction on the lower part of the piles combination of sustained plus cyclic loading exceeds the
static bearing capacity during more than ten cycles. When
When the neutral level is in a low position (large number of the total loading exceeds this value by more than 20%, the
piles or high strength of the lower layers), the negative skin subsequent sustained bearing capacity decreases to a value as
friction may induce significant compression in the piles. low as 50% of the static capacity, while a penetration of the
Moreover, with time, the head of the piles can be expected to pile of 10 cm or more is observed.
protrude due to the consolidation of the surrounding soil
located between the surface and the neutral level. In the laboratory (Ovando, 1995) some direct shear tests of
the soil concrete interface have also been performed. The
When this design philosophy is adopted, the bearing capacity results show that static friction can decrease significantly
of piles must be estimated taking into account the possibility after cyclic loading
of group behavior. When the density of piles is high, soil
friction available on the perimeter of the pile group plus its
base capacity can in effect be smaller than the sum of the a) TYPE I b) TYPE II

capacities of individual piles (Reséndiz and Zonana, 1969).

W W
For piles working in the conditions indicated in Fig. 4a, WT WT

settlements cannot be calculated by oversimplistic methods U QL + U

such as the "2/3 rule". Depending of the position of the
neutral level, the foundation can in fact present either
settlement or emersion. Details of a more realistic method to FN
estimate foundations movements adapted to these conditions
were presented by Reséndiz and Auvinet (1973).
NEUTRAL
LEVEL
Type II Design in terms of soil deformation
FP

In this case, only a limited number of piles are used with the
principal objective of reducing the settlements of a partially FP

compensated foundation (compensated foundations with

friction piles; Zeevaert, 1956, 1962, 1973 y 1990). Since the
number of piles is low, the neutral level generally coincides
with the piles cap (Fig 4b). In that case, positive friction is
CP CP
mobilized along the full length of the piles, and the piles are
in permanent failure state, which justifies the name of “creep
piles” that they were given by some authors (Hansbo, 1984). W + FN = FP + C
P+U W = QL + FP + CP + U

In that case, the equilibrium equation is written:

Figure 4. Friction piles
W = Q + FP + Cp + U (8)
For this type of design, it should then be clear that it is
where Q is the effective contact pressure at the interface of commendable to ignore the contribution of the piles to the
soil and slab. global bearing capacity. The bearing capacity to be
considered under seismic conditions should merely the
Problems similar to those discussed for compensated capacity of the soil to take the slab contact pressure. The
foundations may occur. Reliability is low against excessive presence of the piles should only be taken into account in the
settlements in static conditions (Auvinet and Rossa, 1991). static settlement estimation

Without any doubt, the foundations of this type were those There have been a number of proposals aiming at increasing
that suffered most damages during the 1985 earthquake. 13% the efficiency of friction piles by modifying the shape of
of all buildings between 5 and 15 stories, most of them on their cross section (triangular, H, etc.). Jaime et al. (1991)
compensated foundation with friction piles, experimented have shown that this is generally not achieved. Among the
settlement, tilting and, in one case, total failure. research work aiming at improving friction piles, the
attempts to develop high adherence electro-metallic piles
“Creep piles” piles cannot be expected to absorb cyclic using electrosmotic treatment should also be mentioned
loading during earthquakes, since soil-pile adherence is (Tamez, 1964; Solum, 1966)
already fully mobilized, and can even decrease due to
remoulding as cyclic shear stresses develop at the interface To improve further the understanding of the behavior of
between soil and pile. Full scale experiments performed by friction piles, a foundation of this type has been instrumented
as described in another contribution to this workshop sometimes been installed during the life of the structure as
(Mendoza 2002) part of an underpinning process (González Flores, 1964,
1981; Auvinet, 1989). The different available control
b) Pile with penetrating point. mechanisms have been reviewed by different authors
(Martínez Mier, 1975; Correa, 1980; Aguilar, 1990; Rico,
This type of pile (Reséndiz, 1964) was conceived to increase 1991). In Table 2 a list of the best known systems is
the bearing-capacity of friction piles with a controlled presented.
contribution of the point. The diameter of the point is smaller
than the rest of the pile in order to facilitate penetration in the En seismic conditions some of these special systems can be
hard layer under the combined effect of loading and negative vulnerable and suffer damage going from simple
skin friction and to avoid emersion. The point can be made deformations to total collapse. Lack of maintenance can also
of reinforced concrete (Reséndiz, 1964; Ellstein, 1980) or be a problem.
steel (Reséndiz et al., 1968). In the latter case, the bearing
capacity of the pile can be better controlled by using a point Several proposals have been made to improve the design of
with a pre-established failure load. Flexibility of the point control piles (Aguilar y Rojas, 1990). Overturning of the
constitutes however a problem during installation of piles. loading frame can be avoided using a new type of anchors.
The mechanism can also be transformed to absorb tensions.
c) Negative skin friction piles
e) Telescopic piles
Those are simply point-bearing piles that penetrate freely
through the foundation slab (Correa, 1961). They can These are tubular piles with a piston-like cylindrical point
contribute to reduce significantly the settlements due to lying on the hard layer (Correa, 1969). The tubular portion of
negative skin friction that develops on the shaft of the piles the pile is partly filled with sand. When sand reaches a
under the combined effect of the structural load and the certain level, an arching effect develops and both parts of the
consolidation of the clay layer. Finite element modelling of piles work as a unit. If necessary, sand can be removed to
this type of piles has been presented recently (Rodríguez, free the point and avoid emersion of the foundation.
2000). Spacing of the piles appears to be the most significant
design parameter. f) Overlapping piles

d) Control piles This type of foundation (Girault, 1964, 1980) includes

conventional friction piles (A Piles) together with negative
The so-called “control piles” are similar to the previous ones skin friction piles (B piles) lying on the hard layer. This
but they are equipped in their upper part with a mechanism arrangement reduces the increment of stresses in the soil and
that controls the load received by each pile. Each pile can the corresponding settlements. Emersion is also avoided.
also be unloaded by removing the mechanism in order to
correct any tilting of the building. Those systems have

Table 2 Principal types of control mechanisms for piles.

Mechanism Reference
Loading frame with deformable wood cubes González Flores, 1948; Salazar Resines, 1978
Loading frame with jack and automatic relief A, Pilatovsky, cited by J.J. Correa, 1980
valve
Metallic tensors P. González, 1957, cited by Aguilar, 1990
Metallic cap Aguilar, 1960, cited by Aguilar, 1990
Loading frame with flat hydraulic jacks W. Streu, 1963, cited by J.J. Correa, 1980 and
Aguilar 1990
Sand confined within a capsule J. Creixell and J.J. Correa C., 1975, cited by
Aguilar, 1990
Energy dissipator M. Aguirre, 1981; D. Reséndiz, 1976
Mechanical system of self control M.A. Jiménez, 1980
Mobil wedge P. Girault, 1986, cited by Aguilar, 1991
Communicating hydraulic jacks F. Zamora Millán, cited by A. Rico A., 1991
Constant friction cell E. Támez, 1988
Cell with teeth for transmission of tensions A. Rico A., 1991
Several proposals have been made to improve the design of Earthquake”, Proceedings, Eleventh World Conference on Earthquake
Engineering, (CDROM), Acapulco, Mexico, July.
control piles (Aguilar & Rojas, 1990). Overturning of the Auvinet, G. & Romo M.P., 1998, "Deep excavations in Mexico City soft
loading frame can be avoided using a new type of anchors. clay", Invited presentation, ASCE's 1998 National Convention, Boston,
The mechanism can also be transformed to absorb tensions. Massachusetts, USA. Geotechnical Special Publication N0 86, Big Digs
around the world. pp. 211-229.
Correa, J.J., 1961, “The application of negative friction piles to reduction of
g) Telescopic piles settlement”, Fifth International Conference on Soil Mechanics and
Foundation Engineering, Paris, France
These are tubular piles with a piston-like cylindrical point Correa, J.J., 1969, “A telescopic type of pile for subsidence conditions”,
lying on the hard layer (Correa, 1969). The tubular portion of Proc. Specialty session on negative skin friction and settlements of piled
foundations, 7th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and
the pile is partly filled with sand. When sand reaches a Foundation Engineering, Mexico, D.F.
certain level, an arching effect develops and both parts of the Correa, J.J., 1980, “Estado actual del conocimiento sobre pilotes de control”,
piles work as a unit. If necessary, sand can be removed to Memoria de la Reunión Conjunta Consultores-Constructores
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