HINT: Why is this new apartment building laying on its side in Shanghai?
Answer: Someone violated the Cone of Compression. It seems someone decided to dig out a hole next to the building to build an underground parking garage. That is where the Cone of Compression is. The space below and adjacent to the foundation at a 45 degree angle cannot be tampered with or the Cone loses its structural integrity.
They put the dirt on the other side of the building for short term storage. The weight of that dirt put lateral pressure on the foundation which was compounded by rain and voila, the lateral pressure pushed the building towards the hole and sheared off the foundation piers. If there had been another building next to the one that fell, a domino effect would have occurred.
The Cone of Compression must be checked on every Home and Commercial Building Inspection. For the complete story, visit the following website at the Wall Street Journal.
Full story: http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2009/06/29/shanghai-building-collapses-nearly-intact/
Thank you,
Richard Acree
Comments in this blog posting are the copyrighted intellectual property of Richard Acree, President, HABITEC Home and Building Inspections, LLC, and contributing members of the Active Rain Real Estate network, and are intended to educate and otherwise assist home owners, sellers and buyers, building owners, sellers and buyers, realtors, real estate investors, property managers, and lenders in the process of owning, buying or selling homes or commercial buildings. HABITEC is a residential (home) and commercial building inspection company serving Middle Tennessee including Nashville, Brentwood, Franklin, Murfreesboro, Smyrna, Mt. Juliet, Hendersonville, Dickson, Belle Meade, Columbia, Spring Hill and more! In addition to building inspections HABITEC offers Environmental Services for mold assessments, radon testing and water quality analysis. Additional information about HABITEC can be found on our website at http://habitecinspections.com, or call 615-376-2753.
Richard Acree is the author of the HABITEC Home and Building Inspections Blog and founder of the ActiveRain Group Tennessee Home and Building Inspectors. All are welcome to join and see more blogs like this one.
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