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Review of historical buildings' foundations

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DOI: 10.1680/geot.55.5.363.66017

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Przewłócki, J., Dardzińska I. & Świniański, J. (2005). Géotechnique 55, No. 00, 1–10 No. 5, 363-372

Review of historical buildings’ foundations

J. P R Z E W Ł Ó C K I * , I . DA R D Z I Ń S K A * A N D J. Ś W I N I A Ń S K I †

FS
The paper presents in brief some aspects of the history (French summary)
of foundation engineering, with particular regard to its
development, applied techniques and materials. This
study concentrates on medieval and modern foundations
and is limited to the Europe area, with special emphasis
on Poland. Several types of historical foundation in
various soil conditions are considered. Basic methods of
preservation of such foundations, their drawbacks and
advantages are discussed. Several examples of historical
foundations as well as past and contemporary preserva-
tion techniques are presented in the paper.

KEYWORDS: footings/foundations; historical review

INTRODUCTION foundation, and its interaction with the structure and under-
OO
The construction of foundations is one of the oldest arts of
human activity. The Neolithic inhabitants of Switzerland
lying subsoil. Analysis of that interaction, together with the
structural aspects of intervention, is much more complex
possessed knowledge of deep founding more than 12 000 than the design of a new structure. The existing historical
years ago. They built their houses on long wooden piles foundations have already passed through different, usually
driven into the soft bottoms of shallow lakes, high above unknown, stress levels. So even modern tools of geotechni-
dangerous animals and hostile neighbours. A few thousand cal investigation are unable to give a reliable model of the
years later, the Babylonians found only deep alluvium in mechanical soil–structure behaviour.
their floodplains between the Tigris and Euphrates, which Preservation projects should be undertaken by technical
settled under the weight of their constructions. Therefore teams consisting of structural engineers, architects, histor-
they raised their great monuments on mats made from reed, ians, archaeologists and geotechnical engineers, where the
allowing for high settlements. The ancient Egyptians sup- last have an important, and precisely defined role. Several
ported pyramids on stone blocks resting on the bedrock. stabilisation methods, in relation to the historical nature of
Also, the ancient Greeks founded their buildings mainly on the foundation and soil–structure interaction, should be con-
stones, even if soil conditions were not favourable. The sidered. The preferred technique should lead to the least
greatest development in foundation engineering took place modification of both the object and the interacting soil,
in ancient Rome, where suitable rules were laid down and although it may often be a very expensive solution.
pozzolanic concrete was utilised. The principles established There is a noticeable lack of literature concerning the
in the ancient treatise by Vitruvius were being applied in foundations of historical buildings. Most papers either deal
Europe up to the 18th century, until the new ones, gained with singular cases and their specific problems, or are
from knowledge based on practical experience, superseded limited to particular periods and regions. Only a few papers
them. Medieval builders supported their structures on stones try to approach the subject in a more general way (e.g.
and brick masonry foundations, on rafts of timber, or on Jappelli & Marconi, 1997; Kerisel, 1975, 1985). A concise
wooden piles. Sometimes buildings had no foundations at review of foundation development over the last millennium,
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all, in the modern sense. based on a study of the structures of the Old City of Gdańsk
A variety of architectural styles in successive periods, as in Poland, is given in Dardzińska & Przewłócki (2002). The
well as various soil conditions in particular geographical aim of the present paper is to present more information on
regions, contributed to the development of different founda- this subject, and to discuss some of its aspects, including
tion techniques. However, the design of historical founda- foundation development, foundation types and preservation
tions was based entirely on previous experience, ancient methods.
rules and intuition. In fact, foundation engineering was
almost always the most neglected topic of building technol-
ogy. FOUNDATION TYPES
Many historical buildings collapsed because of wars, Most medieval buildings were founded on shallow founda-
floods and earthquakes; others, which still exist, suffer from tions. Usually they were constructed of stone or brick, and
cracks and more or less serious stability problems. Some of various types of mortar. In the pre-Romanesque period (5th
them badly need preservation. This requires, most of all, a to 10th centuries), the common way of making foundations
good knowledge of the character and actual state of the on bearing soils was to drop rubble or debris into an
excavation, equal to or slightly wider than the underground
part of the building, and pour poor mortar onto it. Founda-
Manuscript received
tion size usually depended more on the available space than
Discussion on the active loading and bearing capacity.
Typical Romanesque foundations (11th to 13th centuries)
* Gdańsk University of Technology, Gdańsk, Poland. were made in such a way that large boulders were put at the
† Keller Polska Sp. z o.o., Gdańsk, Poland. outer sides, and debris or smaller stones were dropped into

1 363
Article number = 3374
2 364 PRZEWŁÓCKI, DARDZIŃSKA AND ŚWINIAŃSKI
the middle. Lime or clay-lime mortar was then poured. 4·09 m
Facing
Photographs of such foundations of Polish churches in marble Inner
wall wall
Głogów (Ś wiechowski, 2000), Mogilno (Chudziakowa & 6 0·00 m
Czaharowski, 1977) and Trzemeszno (Józefowiczówna, Inner
1964), are shown respectively in Fig. 1(a), (b) and (c). Stone floor
filling 21·80 m
Taking into account the low quality of the mortar, it is Stonerubble
1·60 m

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obvious that such foundations could not interact properly with mortar 2·7 m
with the structure.
2·02 m Calcareous
The Tower of Pisa is an example of the most famous 4·09 m
1·43 m stones
Romanesque building founded on soft soil (Jamiołkowski et 7·54 m
al., 1994). Its foundation was constructed by limestone faced Silty sand
with clay layers
with marble, resting on a layer of cemented debris, with an
underlying stone layer (Fig. 2). Fig. 2. Romanesque foundation of the Tower of Pisa
Gothic foundations (12th to 16th centuries) were, in
general, more adequate, with mortar of good quality and
better-cut blocks, or later with regular bricks. Often, the place in Neoclassical period (18th to 20th centuries). It was
external layers of foundations were lined with ashlars. Also, strongly connected with technological advances, and the
the building’s location was usually (but not always) well application of new materials, such as hydraulic mortar—
selected, and the soil conditions were checked. called Roman concrete—and steel.
Three examples of Gothic foundations in Poland are Most historical cities were situated along rivers in places
shown in Fig. 3 (Borusiewicz, 1985). The widening type of where high groundwater levels occur. The techniques of the
stone foundation is presented in Fig. 3(a). Moreover, soil medieval period did not allow for excavation below ground-
conditions indicate that the soil–structure interaction was water level in order to construct foundations. It was there-
taken into account. Many historical buildings had no founda- fore also not possible to replace soft or organic soils
tions in the modern sense, because their footings were made underlying foundations with sands or gravels. The effective
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by extension of the cellar walls, generally without any or
with very little widening. An example of such a foundation,
underlying the Saint Maria Church in Kraków, is given in
Fig. 3(b). There is no widening of the foundation of the
methods of dewatering of excavation pits were also un-
known. So short and closely spaced timber piles (like a
brush) were often driven into the weak ground in order to
compact it, to transfer load to the deeper layers and so to
Teutonic castle of Gdańsk (Fig. 3(c)), and its brick walls are improve the bearing capacity of the foundation. Such a way
founded directly on the stone layers. In effect, the unit of founding became commonly used in the Gothic period,
pressure of the foundation wall on the ground was very although it was already known in ancient times. Sometimes,
intense. when weak and compressible soils were encountered at the
Gothic buildings were sometimes supported on shafts and depth of the excavation, the builders tried to improve the
arches. These were employed mainly in cases where small soil conditions by forcing stones into it or by placing on its
sources of groundwater or archaeological remains were bottom a layer of flat claystones or cobblestones. At other
encountered during excavation. In this technique, regularly times no improvement at all was made, and the foundations
spaced deep excavations in the form of columns were made were placed directly on such subsoil.
and filled with masonry. Then arches were constructed, Generally, buildings situated on soft soils had foundations
which joined the tops of the columns at a given level. Two in the form of several beds of large stones or bricks resting
examples of such arch foundations—the castle of Wrocław on wooden piles and/or rafts. Often, foundations in the form
(Małachowicz, 1994) and the church of Saint Bartholomew of masonry walls increasing in width with depth were
in Gdańsk (Strzelecka, 1958)—are shown in Fig. 4(a) and founded on gravel or large flints put directly over the peat,
(b) respectively. into which short vertical timber piles were driven. Some-
Some Gothic foundations were sealed off above ground- times gravel, stones and weak mortar were placed inside a
water level, often with clay, which prevented the capillary wooden form, which was then pushed into the peat layer.
rise of moisture to the brickwork of the facades and walls Timber foundation elements were always placed below the
above. In Venice, Istrian marble (an impermeable calcareous lowest, expected groundwater level, because builders from
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rock) was commonly used as the sealing agent during this the oldest times had known that timber does not decay in
period. water. Piles were made from various types of wood (oak,
The Renaissance (13th to 16th centuries) and Baroque era pine, alder, beech), which after little or no treatment, except
(16th to 18th centuries) saw the use of foundation methods for debranching, were hammered into the ground with the
similar to those applied in previous periods, and even some thinner top-end downwards. Timber rafts were situated hor-
regression. The turning point in foundation engineering took izontally beneath layers of bricks or stones. Different types

(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 1. Romanesque foundations of Polish churches in: (a) Głogów; (b) Mogilno; (c) Trzemeszno
 REVIEW OF HISTORICAL BUILDINGS’ FOUNDATIONS 365 3
0·28 m 1·46 m 0·28 m
0·25 m 1·30 m 0·25 m Brick
masonry
Brick
masonry Masonry
10·00 m with dressed 1·07 m
limestone
facing
Ashlar
1·45 m limestone 0·60 m

FS
0·25 m 1·60m 0·25m
Rubble
60·00 m limestone
masonry
Humus
0·85 m 0·10m 2·10m 0·10m 3·55 m
Boulders Fill
masonry material
1·00 m
NN
CLAY
24·15 m
22·40 m Sand
with silt 2·02 m
2·30m Sand
(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 3. The Gothic foundations of: (a) the church in Trzemeszno; (b) the Saint Maria church in
Kraków; (c) the Teutonic castle of Gdańsk

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(a) (b)

Fig. 4. Gothic arch foundations: (a) castle of Wrocław; (b) church of Saint Bartholomew, Gdańsk

of timber construction were used over the centuries (Borr-

mann, 1992; Ladjarevic & Goldscheider, 1997). The simplest
consisted, independently of soil layers, of sharpened short GW
GW
piles (1.5–3 m long) driven close to one another into the
soil (Fig. 5(a)). This type of foundation was used until the
18th century. Other types of timber foundations commonly
used in the Middle Ages consisted of horizontal timber
sleepers put lengthwise and crosswise under the foundation
base (Fig. 5(b)), or a combination of short piles with an
overlaid grillage of sleepers (Fig. 5(c)). Later, such construc-
tion methods were improved by joining the timber elements
with tendons, clamps or iron flaps, in the form of a grillage. (a) (b)
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In the 16th century, longer and thicker piles, combined

with different kinds of grillage, started to be used (Fig. 6). Fig. 6. Timber deep foundations
Such sophisticated structural systems were able to transfer
the load to the deeper layers of the hard soils below.
The scheme presented in Fig. 7(a) is an example of a loose sand. Fig. 7(b) represents the so-called ‘Cistercian’
Gothic foundation laid down on a soft subsoil (Dembicki et foundation, as used in the Cistercian Lure Abbey in France
al., 1995). It shows the western brick wall of the castle of (Bustamante & Gianeselli, 2000). The masonry wall is here
Malbork in Poland, which is founded on a stone layer, built directly on the timber platform, resting on oak piles
resting on the timber construction. The latter consists of two (120–150 mm in diameter and of unknown length). There
rows of piles of 3 m length, and a large number of short are no signs of stepping out of the wall to form a footing.
piles in the middle, designed to compact the underlying So the foundation appears to be inadequate, with little
awareness of the part played by the underlying soil. It is
worth noting that the 18th-century architects in charge of
restyling the Abbey showed no better understanding.
GW GW Two examples of modern foundations are shown in Fig. 8.
GW
The first (Fig. 8(a)) confirms the conclusion that no progress
,3 m was made during the Baroque period (Ortolan et al., 1988).
In contrast, the foundation of the Reichstag building (Fig.
(a) (b) (c)
8(b)) is an example of good modern foundation engineering
(Quick et al., 1997). Different foundation elements were
Fig. 5. Timber shallow foundations and on short piles used in this case. The connection between adjacent deep-
4 366 PRZEWŁÓCKI, DARDZIŃSKA AND ŚWINIAŃSKI
4·00 m
Brick Sandstone 2·10 m
60·00 m
masonry masonry
0·40 m with lime
Humus mortar 60·00 m

Limestone Fill 20·50 m

with lime 3·00 m Stone
Limestone Fill 1·50 m fragments
mortar Fill

FS
on the clay material with lime mortar
Clay layer 0·40 m
22·20 m
2·50 m
Medium Timber
Dense clayey
sand gravel with platform
Wooden 0·50 m peat lenses
piles Oak piles
18–22 cm in 3·80 m
Wooden piles 24·40 m 120–150 mm
diameter 4·50 m Silty clay with
30 cm in diameter
5·50 m lenses of soft clay

(a) (b)

Fig. 7. Foundations of: (a) castle of Malbork (14th century); (b) Cistercian Lure Abbey (sixteenth century)

60·00 m Stones

0·40 m 60·00 m

0·90 m
Fill 22·20 m 2·45 m
material
Stones
with 22·10 m
Chalk 1·40 m

Clay
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1·95 m

0·80 m
mortar
Fragments
of wood
Timber piles
Fine–
stone wall

medium
sand
0·15 m

Wooden
sheet
wall
3·85 m

10–15 cm
Sand·
gravelly Timber
medium dense 1·00 m
1·40 m piles

(a) (b)

Fig. 8. (a) North wall foundation of Greater Savina Monastery in Herzegovina (18th
century); (b) foundations with inverted arches and timber piles of Reichstag building in
Berlin (19th century)

reaching, highly loaded parts of the building and the shal- interesting to see the large deformation of the timber
lower, less loaded foundations was achieved through the grillage.
continual transition in the foundation thickness and through
an ordering of inverted arches, in the best interest of saving
material and regular pressure transfer. The foundation PRESERVATION METHODS
scheme indicates the designer’s great knowledge of structural Causes of preservation actions
and soil mechanics. It is worth noting that, before the Many historical buildings are still undergoing various
construction of the foundations of the Reichstag building changes. Some of them were badly constructed and founded.
started, several boreholes and excavations had been per- Their performance is greatly affected by soil properties, type
formed, and the soil condition was carefully analysed. In of foundation and soil–structure interaction. The main pro-
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addition, some foundation elements were dug under the blems are poor characteristics of the subsoil, low quality of
protection of wooden sheet walls. mortar in the masonry structure and in its foundations, and/
Photographs of two Baroque foundations for the historical or deterioration of supporting wooden constructions.
granary in Gdańsk (Poland), founded on the swampy subsoil, Many buildings were severely damaged as a result of rain
are shown in Fig. 9. The timber and arch foundations were and changes in the groundwater, subsidence produced by a
constructed beneath different walls of the granary. It is decrease of water level caused by pumping from deep wells,

Fig. 9. Timber and arch foundations of the historical granary in Gdańsk

 REVIEW OF HISTORICAL BUILDINGS’ FOUNDATIONS 367 5
dissolving of bedrock minerals, mining cavities, movements According to Calabresi & D’Agostino (1997), and some
of nearby slopes, failure of sewage systems or careless modifications by the present authors, the appropriate meth-
occupation. ods of preservation can be divided into the following
In many cases the load distribution on the bearing mem- groups:
bers was significantly modified by various later events, such
(a) replacing the whole historical structure or its foundation
as restoration works or the construction of adjacent build-
(b) widening the load-transmitting surfaces, lowering the

FS
ings. Extensive destruction of historical buildings was also
foundation level, strengthening the existing foundations
caused by industrial pollution, or by deterioration of the
(c) inclusion in the soil of structural elements such as
construction materials of walls and foundations that usually
piles, micropiles and tendons, and underpinning or
occurred in places exposed to long-lasting, extensive moist-
substituting foundation structures
ure. Many historical buildings, especially churches, were
(d) improving the subsoil by chemical or cement grouting,
erected on the foundations of previous objects. Very often
or electro-osmosis
this led to large differential settlements induced by non-
(e) modifying the effective stress field in the soil by
uniformity of contact pressure.
drainage or consolidation
Groundwater level has a significant influence on the
( f ) restoring or preserving the original conditions of soil
durability of timber piles. Usually, piles show strong decay
and structure (soil water content, masonry moisture
after groundwater lowering. Even a temporary change in the
conditions, anti-bacterial protection of wooden struc-
environment around the piles may cause rapid and severe
tures).
decay of the foundation. However, whether such decay
develops depends strongly on the type of soil surrounding a The main problem in the preservation of historical foun-
wooden element. There are ideal conditions for decay in dations, given the present state of technology, is to make an
sandy soils. For clay, capillary lifting of water in combina- adequate choice out of the many methods available that can
tion with the superficial activity of clay particles lessens the produce satisfactory results. The preferred method should
possibility of the process. In peat, the development of decay lead to the least modification of the object and the interact-
is in fact not possible, because it contains natural wood ing soil, although it may not be the cheapest one. If the aim
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preservatives, which are able to hold up the moisture. of the preservation works is to save the material history of
the building, then any redundant change of its characteristics
should be avoided. In any case, the various methods should
Preservation strategy be analysed, and the advantages and disadvantages of each
In order to protect historical buildings, an exact picture of of them must be considered in relation to the particular
the structural state of the existing structure is required, and, foundation.
in particular, the nature of its foundations. To define the It should be emphasised that there is no one universal
current situation, the first step is to analyse the historical method that can be uncritically applied in every circum-
background of the construction in connection with the load stance. Even the most modern, effective and reliable techni-
processes it has undergone. Unfortunately this is often ques, such as micropiles or jet grouting, can in some cases
difficult, as old documents are rarely available, past survey cause deterioration of the foundation and eventually lead to
measurements are frequently unreliable or non-existent, and the collapse of the building. Sometimes it is better to do
restorations following damage have often masked the origi- nothing than to try to improve the structure in an unsuitable
nal construction. When dealing with historical foundations it way, which, unfortunately, is what happens sometimes.
is important to have precise data about the dimensions of
the existing foundation, and the characteristics of its material
and underlying subsoil. In the case of pile foundations, Replacing the whole historical structure or its foundation
knowledge of the state of preservation of the timber and of In sporadic cases, the material history and intrinsic value
the piles’ dimensions is of the utmost importance. Archae- of historical buildings determine the method of intervention.
ological studies play an essential role in understanding the For example, because of the construction of the dam, the
behaviour of historical foundations. The type, dimensions only way to save the Izyda Temple in File Island (Egypt)
and depth of the foundations have to be determined by was to dismantle it and rebuild elsewhere, at the cost of
subsurface exploration. Exploratory pits and trenches are losing part of the original structure. Despite the enormous
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most suitable for this purpose. Some other important data, financial cost of this enterprise, the tremendous historical
used in analysis, may be obtained with modern technology worth of this great heritage of Egyptian civilisation more
and sophisticated in-situ methods. Coring and video camera than justified such a procedure. Another way of saving the
surveys may be applied first to determine the structural intrinsic value of historical buildings may be their relocation
characteristics of the foundation or the masonry. without dismantling. The first such case took place in the
Geotechnical problems usually play an important part in 15th century, when the 25 m high masonry bell tower of the
the past behaviour of historical buildings, and they influence Saint Maria Church in Bologna was displaced a distance of
the design of preservation works. The geotechnical engi- almost 25 m.
neer’s role is to assess the behaviour of the foundation and Available records describe numerous ‘engineering’ at-
the underlying subsoil, and to make proper use of modern tempts to improve the foundations of historical buildings to
foundation engineering techniques. Foundations of historical stop differential and excessive settlements. Some of these
buildings must fulfil the requirements of sufficient bearing attempts were very complex. An example of the total
capacity and serviceability. If the bearing capacity is insuffi- replacement of the foundation underlying one of the pillars
cient, suitable strengthening of the foundation is essential. A of St John’s Church in Gdańsk (Poland), executed a few
certain amount of additional settlement can be accepted centuries ago, is shown in Fig. 10 (Bukowski, 1948).
(mainly in the interests of cost savings), and action should
be taken only if it endangers the serviceability of the
structure. Strengthening, deepening or widening the foundation
In order to preserve an historical building subject to the Some historical foundations can be effectively recon-
harmful influence of geotechnical factors, the foundations structed by grouting, using a cement–sand–clay–water mix-
and/or the underlying subsoil must generally be improved. ture. Cement grouting can also in some cases strengthen the
6 368 PRZEWŁÓCKI, DARDZIŃSKA AND ŚWINIAŃSKI
Bricks Bricks
with lime with lime
60·00 m mortar 60·00 m
mortar
Small stones, Bigger Refill
brick pieces, stones (sand
lime without Large and
lime stones peat)
with lime
Wooden mortar Wooden

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22·80 m box beams on
fascine
0·30 m mattress
Field stones 23·50 m
with clay 3·00/3·00 m
0·35 m
3·00/3·00 m
(a) (b)

Fig. 10. Foundation under a pillar of St John Church in Gdańsk: (a) initial (1460);
(b) rebuilt (1693)

soil under the foundation and around it. In addition, tradi-

tional improvement methods include such techniques as
increasing the depth of the foundation or enlarging its base Sea
and underpinning. level
Reconstruction of the foundation by deepening it is widely
used when sumps, filled-up wells or subsoil-loosening zones
exist under the building or in its vicinity. Increasing the
foundation depth by underpinning with bricks may be Old foundation
applied in cases of considerable fissures and cracks in the
building construction.
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Enlarging the base of the foundation while maintaining
the existing depth should be used when only small damage
to the building has occurred. It permits the enlarged founda-
New foundation New foundation

Fig. 12. Foundations of the bell tower of St Mark’s in Venice

tion to remain on weak subsoil, as a result of the consider-

able reduction of the unit pressure on the ground. The the new piles, pile-caps are constructed and attached to the
concept of conventional underpinning of the foundation by old foundation with prestressing tendons. However, such a
increasing its effective bearing area for the Cathedral of St system depends mainly on the quality of the historical
Martin in Landshud (Germany) is presented in Fig. 11 foundations. Also, this solution could cause undesirable
(Hilmer, 1981). The advantage of this technique is that the ‘hard spots’ beneath the strengthened foundations, which
new concrete foundation embraces and confines the old one. could lead to redistribution of stresses in the structure if
The bell tower of St Mark’s in Venice is a spectacular additional ground settlement occurs.
example of foundation reconstruction (Colombo & Collesel- At present, micropiles are the most commonly used
li, 1997). The original tower had collapsed, and was to be method for underpinning. They can be applied for almost
rebuilt exactly in the same place. Because the original any kind of restoration of the foundations of monuments and
foundation was found to be in good condition, it was historical buildings. This method is often chosen because of
retained and enlarged by a grafted outer wall (Fig. 12), its supposed minor risk of uneven settlement during installa-
which consisted of over 3000 larch piles. Additionally, a tion and its relatively low cost. The application of micropiles
new grid formed of three layers of oak planks penetrated allows for operation of a rig in a confined space (such as a
and overlapped the old ones, strengthening the historical cellar), and usually results in a considerable reduction of soil
foundation. disturbance. The technique does not disturb the existing, old
foundation, and is relatively free from vibration. The dis-
advantage of the method is that it relies entirely on the old
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Underpinning with piles foundation to transfer the load to the new pile-caps. Also,
In underpinning by piling, vertical shafts are bored to the the low capacity of a single pile may necessitate the installa-
top of the rigid soil layer, or a little deeper, and filled with tion of a large number of piles, which may tend to weaken
concrete reinforced with steel bars. To transfer the load to the historical foundation. Increased pile length, required if
the load is to be transferred to deeper hard soil layers,
Brick makes the method more expensive. It should be pointed out
Cemented
gravel masonry that underpinning with micropiles destroys the soil under-
lying the foundation, and decreases the possibility of analy-
Concrete
sis of the sedimentary layers of the historical construction.
1·50 m To connect the micropiles to the structure supported by
them, piles can be drilled through the old foundation. They
can be also drilled either on one side or at both sides close
1·00 m to the old foundation and then connected to the wall with
anchors, crossbeams or concrete plates. The choice of the
0·50 m appropriate connection depends on the dimensions of the
supported wall or pillar, on the spatial conditions, and on
Cross-beam the bearing capacity of the subsoil layers. The very ‘rigid’
1·25 m 1·70 m 1·25 m behaviour of micropile underpinnings is often welcomed, but
becomes unfavourable if neighbouring, untreated foundations
Fig. 11. Underpinning of Cathedral of St Martin in Landshud will continue to settle, resulting in additional differential
with a new concrete foundation settlement. If the foundation of the historical building with
 REVIEW OF HISTORICAL BUILDINGS’ FOUNDATIONS 369 7
ongoing settlements requires only partial stabilisation, a to the type of treated soil, the type and parameters of
‘soft’ underpinning is recommended. The settlement rates Soilcrete process, and may reach from 0.3 m up to 2.5 m. In
can be reduced step by step, according to the settlement practice, the jet grouting method allows the creation of
rates of the non-restored areas, and can thus be smoothly Soilcrete columns up to 3.5 m in diameter, and of inner
adjusted. For this purpose, micropiles are recommended with unconfined strength from 1 MPa for organic soils and up to
a short and enlarged foot, or with an adjustment device. 20 MPa for sandy-gravely soils.

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An example of underpinning by means of micropiles for The application of jet grouting requires both experience
the castle of Malbork (Poland) is presented in Fig. 13 and flexibility in the design, and a particularly careful
(Dembicki et al., 1995). execution of the work. The beginning of the Soilcrete works
Photographs of some details of underpinning with micro- is usually the most difficult stage of the operation, because
piles of the castle of Malbork, such as pile-caps or prestres- of the risk of additional unacceptable settlement or local
sing tendons, constructed in succeeding stages, are shown in failure of the existing foundations. It is important to make a
Fig. 14 (Najder, 2004, private communication and unpub- proper survey of the subsoil and an inventory of the existing
lished data). foundations before jet grouting begins. Further checks and
monitoring should be made during the construction period.
A few examples of the application of jet grouting methods
Underpinning with jet grouting are presented in the following.
The Soilcrete jet grouting process (¼ soil + concrete, Because of heavy floods along the Odra River in 1997,
name introduced by Keller Company) is a type of soil increased damage and differential settlement were observed
stabilisation with cement. With the help of high-pressure on the chapel walls of the old castle in Raciborz (Poland).
(20–40 MPa) cutting jets of water or cement suspension, Organic deposits (peat and mud) reaching a depth of 3 m
with a nozzle exit velocity of 100 m/s or more, the soil were found. The observed damage was attributed to a de-
around the borehole is eroded. The eroded soil is rearranged, crease of some of the soil parameters, and to the decay of
mixed with cement suspension and partly flushed out to the timber piles and organic soil compounds due to long-lasting
top of the borehole through the annular space between the moisture. Originally, the castle was founded on short wooden
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drilling and jet grouting rod and the borehole. Different
geometrical configurations of Soilcrete elements, such as
piles situated directly under the stone foundations. The
underpinning of the foundation by means of two rows of
lamellae or panels, quarter, half and complete columns, can piles in a form of pile trestle made with the help of the jet
be produced. The erosion distance of the jet varies according grouting technique is shown in Fig. 15 (Noga & Kościk,
2001). First, small-diameter drilling and grouting rods were
0·90 m 3·00 m 0·90 m
driven through the brick and stone masonry. Then jet grout-
0·60 m Brick 0·50 m 60·00 m ing piles 60 cm in diameter, reinforced with steel pipes,
masonry were constructed under the existing foundation level. Pile
0·90 m trestles were spaced at 1.0–1.5 m along the chapel walls. It
Prestressing Brick Drainage0·90m is worth noting that all stone foundations had previously
ropes in and stone
plastic tube masonry Reinforced been strengthened by a cement injection. Then, the partly
girt beam decayed wooden piles were cut and flushed out.
24·00 m Brick 3·20 m The important difference between the latter case and that
Wooden rubble
grid
presented in Fig. 15 is that the jet grouting piles fulfilled
Sand their static function without the additional caps or reinfor-
Wooden cing beams that are usually necessary when using micro-
piles
piles.
Micropiles The second example refers to the already mentioned St
c/c 85 cm John’s Church in Gdańsk, where prevention attempts under-
40 cm in
diameter 5·80 m taken a few centuries ago (Fig. 10) had failed. The eastern
part of the walls and a few pillars of the church located
Micropiles
c/c 85 cm closer to the river and founded on deeper organic deposits
40 cm in had settled over the centuries by up to 75 cm, and the
diameter
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settlement rate has nowadays increased owing to the lower-

1·00 m ing of groundwater level. The eastern wall suffered tilting,
resulting in 140 cm of horizontal displacement at the top of
Fig. 13. Underpinning by means of micropiles, Malbork Castle the wall. Six of the eastern pillars have shown excessive

Fig. 14. Details of underpinning of foundations of Malbork castle

8 370 PRZEWŁÓCKI, DARDZIŃSKA AND ŚWINIAŃSKI
20° 1·75m 20° were strengthened by low-pressure cement injection to avoid
Floor decomposition of the whole stone structure by the drilling
20·50 m chapel 60·00 m
level 1·00m Drilling and jet grouting. After that, a closed vertical wall made of
1·00m level Soilcrete panels was constructed around the whole founda-
1·90m tion to ensure its stability and minimise additional horizontal
2·70m Planned
floor
displacement. Then the other Soilcrete elements were made

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crypt level according to the design.
To avoid unacceptable additional settlement, jet grouting
Injection piles work under all foundations was carried out step by step, to
60 cm in
diameter allow time for hardening of Soilcrete elements made in a
reinforced of previous sequence. During 100 days of underpinning works,
steel pipe
the foundations of the eastern walls have settled, without
damages, by about 7 mm and the pillar foundations by up to
11 mm. Geodetic measurements taken over the subsequent
four years (1995–2000) have shown significant settlement
Fig. 15. Jet grouting piles made for underpinning of foundation stabilisation within an average deviation of
0.5 mm.
of chapel of castle in Raciborz The application of the jet grouting technique to increase
the bearing capacity of historical foundations due to changed
usage of the historical granary in Bydgoszcz is shown in
settlement, horizontal displacements and dangerous buckling Fig. 17(a). The four-storey, 150-year-old granary building
(Topolnicki, 2004). was to be converted to a modern hotel and commercial
The underpinning of the pillars was the most complex centre, but the old facade and main construction elements
task. Up to 32 Soilcrete elements (panels, sectors and had to be preserved. The new usage increased loads and
complete columns) had to be installed over several weeks to introduced a few new construction elements, such as lift and
stabilise just one pillar, for example No. C7 shown in Fig. stairs shafts. Some of the new shafts had to be erected close
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16. Prior to the jet grouting works, the stone foundations

a
to existing old brick pillars, as shown in Fig. 17(a). Origin-

a–a

60·0

23·5
24·0
Peat
a min.
25·0
max.
25.5
Organic
soil

27·0
Sand
27·5

Fig. 16. Layout of Soilcrete elements made for underpinning, and cross-section of C7
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pillar foundation of St John Church in Gdańsk

1·13 m
1·00 m 0·90 m
Outside 0·20 m 0·20 m
brick wall
Planned slab Present
of reinforced Brick floor
concrete pillar level

0·40 m Brick 0·48 m

foundation
Lean
concrete Planned
B10 2·40 m floor
level
NN 1·20 m
4·80 m 1·80 m 1·50 m
Additional
Soilcrete
Medium strengthening columns 1·00 m 0·30 m 1·00 m
of pillar Soilcrete 100 cm
sand by 4 special columns
Soilcrete in diameter 1·90 m
panels 80 cm in diameter
(a) (b)
Fig. 17. Soilcrete columns underpinning foundations of: (a) historical granary in Bydgoszcz; (b) hotel in
Warsaw
 REVIEW OF HISTORICAL BUILDINGS’ FOUNDATIONS 371 9
ally the pillars were founded on old fills and medium-dense applied with the bentonite. Boron compounds kill all the
sands, locally containing some organic additives. The geo- corroding microbes and fungi, and protect the timber against
technical task was to increase the bearing capacity of the reinfection. The EUROBOR is mixed on site and fed to the
pillar foundations and to avoid additional settlement due to injection pipes through pumps and flexible hoses. Then it is
the construction of new plate foundations for the commu- injected at low pressure into the ground around the corroded
nication shafts. First, four Soilcrete panels under the pillar or threatened piles or rafts. The EUROBOR method is

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foundation were made step by step to transferring the pillar unique in its flexibility, low cost, and safety to the environ-
loads to deeper, dense sands. In the second stage 80 cm ment.
diameter Soilcrete columns, the supporting slab and plate Some silty soils, such as loess, lose much of their suscept-
foundations of the new communication shafts, were in- ibility to collapse after being wetted. In cases of humidifica-
stalled. tion of such foundation soils due to the infiltration of water,
The application of jet grouting to the general reconstruc- special measures should be taken. They include use of
tion of an historical, six-storey hotel in Warsaw is shown in drainage systems, a rational levelling of the area and/or
Fig. 17(b). The new level of the underground floor after sewer lines, and measures to maintain the groundwater at a
renovation had to be lowered by 48 cm, which significantly constant low level. Traditional or present-day improvement
reduced the bearing capacity of the existing brick founda- methods of strengthening foundations in such soils can be
tions. To avoid foundation failure, underpinning of the less effective or even useless.
foundations with the help of the jet grouting technique was
proposed. To facilitate static analysis for the new design, 40
trial pits and trenches were dug to examine the geometry
and foundation levels. Inventory has shown that the assumed
lowering of the underground floor would reduce the mini- CONCLUSIONS
mum foundation embedment depth Dmin to below 50 cm for Numerous historical buildings were destroyed or collapsed
more than 75% of all foundation types examined in the trial a long time ago, and all that remains is their foundations.
pits. Therefore, under each foundation two rows of short Other historical foundations still support successfully mar-
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Soilcrete columns with length from 1.0 m to 2.4 m were
constructed (see Fig. 16(b)). Pairs of Soilcrete columns of
vellous structures. Many ancient and medieval architects
possessed a knowledge of foundations for structures based
100 cm in diameter were spaced along the walls at between on experience, guesswork and intuition. However, they were
1.0 m and 1.5 m intervals. Using a specially developed not able to anticipate various problems of the soil–structure
calculation sheet, based on the Polish geotechnical standard interaction. Also, they knew little of proper building techni-
for shallow foundations, the column lengths and spacing ques, and they did not have sufficiently good building
were adjusted to satisfy the bearing capacity limit state. In materials. In fact, foundation engineering was one of the
all, 570 short Soilcrete columns have been installed under most neglected topics in the history of architecture.
the foundations of the building. An increase in bearing In general, there was no significant progress in foundation
capacity of 30–50% has been achieved by using the above engineering in the medieval period compared with the
design procedure and solution. ancient period, with the possible exception of Gothic founda-
tions. No significant progress, and even some regression,
took place in modern times. The turning point was the
Other preservation techniques Neoclassicical period, thanks to technological advances and
The Tower of Pisa is one of the most spectacular cases of the development of new materials, mainly Roman concrete
the need for structural protection. The stabilisation of the and steel.
bell tower has proved to be an immensely difficult challenge The methods used to preserve historical foundations
for civil engineers. A permanent solution was sought that should ensure the least possible modification of the object
would result in only a small reduction of inclination. Various and of the interacting soil. Modern techniques with different
methods have been considered to preserve its foundation, kind of piles and soil improvement may save the building,
including drainage, consolidation beneath the north side by but quite often the original foundation, which forms a part
electro-osmosis, consolidation by loading the ground around of the cultural heritage, is lost. These methods do not cause
part of the tower with slabs, and loading with anchors. None considerable violation of the primary state of stresses, so
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of these methods proved satisfactory: there were too many they do not lead to disturbance of the soil under and in the
doubts about their effectiveness. Any disturbance to the vicinity of the foundation. They result in a significant im-
ground on the inclined side could be very dangerous, which provement of soil resistance, and do not pollute the environ-
ruled out such conventional geotechnical processes as under- ment. The expansion of new methods of stabilisation of
pinning and grouting. The technique of soil extraction (Bur- historical foundations depends strongly on the development
land et al., 2002) has provided a gentle method for of special equipment. Traditional methods of underpinning
increasing the stability of the tower, and at the same time is are both laborious and expensive. They require either partial
fully consistent with the requirements of architectural con- or complete exposure of the foundations. This can result in
servation. In this method, small amounts of soil from a significant change of stresses, which may lead to addi-
precisely determined locations beneath the tower foundations tional settlements. Also, deep excavations may be a menace
are slowly and carefully removed. This technique requires to building stability. However, these methods are usually
special equipment, and involves the installation of a number associated with hand excavation, which sometimes results in
of soil extraction tubes just beneath the foundation. Its interesting archaeological finds.
implementation has involved advanced computer modelling,
large-scale development trials, an exceptional level of con-
tinuous monitoring, and an exacting communication and
control system.
The wooden foundations of historical buildings may be ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
saved using the EUROBOR method (Brick & Jerbo, 1997). The authors wish to express their gratitude to Keller
EUROBOR is a suspension consisting of certain boron com- Polska and the Najder Engineering for their kind coopera-
pounds (borate, boric acid). For higher soil porosities, it is tion, and for providing some data used in the study.
 10 372 PRZEWŁÓCKI, DARDZIŃSKA AND ŚWINIAŃSKI
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