Tall Building Foundation Design

Harry G. Poulos

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN:
  9781498796071
• eBook ISBN:
  9781351652148
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Civil Engineering
• Index: Technology & Engineering

This book provides a comprehensive guide to the design of foundations for tall buildings.

After a general review of the characteristics of tall buildings, various foundation options are discussed followed by the general principles of foundation design as applied to tall buildings. Considerable attention is paid to the methods of assessment of the geotechnical design parameters, as this is a critical component of the design process. A detailed treatment is then given to foundation design for various conditions, including ultimate stability, serviceability, ground movements, dynamic loadings and seismic loadings. Basement wall design is also addressed. The last part of the book deals with pile load testing and foundation performance measurement, and finally, the description of a number of case histories.

A feature of the book is the emphasis it places on the various stages of foundation design: preliminary, detailed and final, and the presentation of a number of relevant methods of design associated with each stage.

Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1Definition of a tall building

Tall buildings, also referred to as high-rise buildings or skyscrapers, are an integral component of modern cities, and these terms will be used synonymously in this book. A definition of a ‘tall building’ as given by Craighead (2009: 1) is as follows: ‘a multi-story structure in which most occupants depend on elevators (lifts) to reach their destinations’. Among the characteristics of such buildings are that the height can have a serious impact on evacuation, and that they extend to a height greater than the maximum reach of available fire-fighting equipment.

The height at which a building becomes a tall building is not universally defined, although it is generally accepted that buildings in excess of about 40 stories can be considered as high-rise. Relatively slender buildings with a smaller number of stories, or buildings within some European cities, may also be considered to be tall.

With the development of very tall buildings over the past two decades, the terms ‘super-tall’ or ‘super high-rise’ denote a building with a height of 300 m or greater. More recently, the term ‘megatall’ has been applied to buildings over 600 m high. The Council for Tall Buildings and the Urban Habitat (CTBUH) has accordingly indicated the following ranges of building height:

•200–300 m: tall buildings

•300–600 m: super-tall buildings

•>600 m: megatall buildings

In 2016, there were over 100 super-tall buildings and 2 megatall buildings fully completed and occupied globally.

1.2Evolution of tall buildings

Modern tall buildings evolved in the United States in the 1880s in Chicago, and over the ensuing decades, the majority of tall buildings were constructed there. Early tall buildings were constructed using load bearing walls, but with the advent of structural steel, tall buildings emerged in such cities as New York, Philadelphia and London. From the end of the nineteenth century until the latter part of the twentieth century, New York took the lead in the construction of tall buildings, and held the world record for building height, first with the Chrysler building, then the Empire State building and then the World Trade Center towers. In 1974, the Sears Tower in Chicago took over the mantle until 1998, when the title of tallest building moved to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, with the completion of the Petronas Towers. Subsequently, this has been taken over by Taipei, and then in 2010 by Dubai.

Tall buildings have become a worldwide phenomenon over the past three decades, but with particular concentrations in Asia and the Middle East. Table 1.1 summarises the tallest modern buildings in the world, starting in 1885, based on the data of Parker and Wood (2013).

Table 1.1Tallest buildings since 1885

Year	Location	Building	Height (m)
1885	Chicago	Home Insurance	55
1890	New York	World	94
1894	New York	Manhattan Life	106
1899	New York	Park Row	119
1908	New York	Singer	187
1909	New York	Met Life	213
1913	New York	Woolworth	241
1930	New York	Bank of Manhattan	283
1930	New York	Chrysler	319
1931	New York	Empire State	381
1972	New York	1 World Trade Center	417
1974	Chicago	Sears	442
1998	Kuala Lumpur	Petronas 1 & 2	452
2004	Taipei	Taipei 101	508
2010	Dubai	Burj Khalifa	828
Source:Based on Parker, D. and Wood, A. 2013. The Tall Buildings Reference Book. Routledge, New York.

The 12 tallest buildings in the world, as at the end of 2015, are listed in Table 1.2.

Table 1.2The world’s 12 tallest buildings, as of 2015

1.3Building components

The main components of a tall building include the following:

1.The foundations: These generally consist of piles and a raft mat or slab.

2.The structure: This must be designed to resist very large wind and se...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Author
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Characteristics of tall buildings
• 3. Selection of foundation type
• 4. The foundation design process
• 5. Building loads
• 6. Ground characterisation
• 6.4 Key foundation design parameters
• 6.7 Preliminary assessment of basic soil parameters
• 6.8 Preliminary assessment of foundation deformation parameters
• 6.9 Deformation parameters derived from small-strain shear modulus
• 7. Design for ultimate limit state
• 8. Design for serviceability limit state loadings
• 9. Design for ground movements
• 10. Design for dynamic loadings
• 11. Design for seismic events
• 12. Design of basement walls and excavations
• 13. Pile load testing
• 14. Performance monitoring and control
• 15. Case histories
• References
• Index