Geotechnical Analysis of Foundations

I think we all would be totally interested to see the engineering of righting the grain bins. This video was very educational, because I was not aware of how the shear plane forms.

This is somewhat similar to what could have happened at my old University. They were planning a big, major campus upgrade. The old veteran geologist professor warned the construction survey team of the ground condition at the planned site and that their proposed foundation would not hold and that they would need to dig deeper for the concrete rebar piles and further down for the foundation. They brushed him off and began laying the piles and foundation, only for the ground to give in in some places as they were drilling the holes for the piles and de-level the early parts of the foundation being set (that layer of dirt and rock meant to be flattened and built on top of). They were forced to correct their mistakes at their expense, which delayed the grand opening of the new science hall by a year as a more comprehensive survey was done, which ended up matching the old geologist professor's claims.

It is amazing that they salvaged the silos, especially for that time period.

I grew up in South Transcona on the wrong side of the tracks ( or wrong side of the CN shops). I can concur that this is a very wet location. Every spring the floods would fill up the streets around my house. I have fond memories of floating around on rafts made from scrap wood or the occasional wooden bridge that floated away from someone's front sidewalk ( we had ditches on both sides of the road. Fun for the kids, but the parents were less impressed. If the city didn't get sand bags covering the manholes for the sewers in time we were treated to sewer backups in our basements. The city finally built a storage pond big enough to capture all the spring runoff which cured that problem. My parents bought a house here in the first phase of what was to be a subdivision of roughly 4500 houses. The tar roads and ditches were just temporary until the rest of the development was to be built with storm sewers and paved roads. That didn't happen and the original hundred or so home owners were screwed. No schools or shops or any amenities. They stopped when the developers found out how water logged and unsuitable this place was. The soil here is top soil on heavy clay with a gravely wet mix blow that. My father was digging out a hole (sink hole really ) in our front yard by the ditch. The shovel got stuck down in the hole and just got sucked in never to be seen again. Still there somewhere down below. I can see how a ,ess than perfect foundation would end in disaster here. Sorry for the long post but it isn't everyday a story that is literally in my childhood backyard comes up in my feed. Thanks for the video.

I love the format of these videos. As a visual learner, the graphics and demonstrations, like with the straws, helps me a lot to understand. Thankyou!

Geotechnical, I grew up in East End of Transcona, and had NO IDEA what this vid was about. I just saw a cool tilted structure! Something interesting for you maybe? Transcona was built on a dried out (for the most part) swamp. The entire suburb was once owned by a few farming families. There is a section about a mile and a half away that was a swamp when I was a kid. Freshwater springs brought water up to surface. In 60s, occasionally, the stupider kids (me?) would swim in there. When land prices increased. developers bought and drained the land, and rerouted the spring. Fast forward 20 years, and foundations were breaking on all the streets located above where the spring was. If I remember there were well over 100 houses involved. Imagine coming home after work, and you can't open your front door, as the door is jammed in the frame. This exact scenario played out over and over and over again. Developers denied all responsibility.

It would be interesting to hear what you have to say about the Milenium Tower in San Francisco and the efforts to stabilise /save it.

I'm reminded of two similar failures relatively nearby, in the Fargo area, also on the Glacial Lake Agassiz lakebed - the Stockwood Fill east of Glyndon MN in the same timeframe as the Transcona failure, and a Fargo grain elevator built in the 1950's that failed similarly to Transcona but was unsalvageable.

I actually used to work in this grain elevator, as a subcontracted electrician for maintenance. Have lots of photos on my phone of all the old pulleys and DC motors. As far as I know, this elevator is now vacant as of 2021 or so, serious foundation issues I heard, and the owners have moved to a brand new elevator out East of Winnipeg, past the town of Dugald.

Interesting video. Kind of nostalgic for me. This was pretty much "right in my backyard'. I grew up just north of Transcona and took my civil engineering degree from the University of Manitoba (way back). We studied this failure as part of the geotechnical curriculum. Thanks for posting. I also have that exact steel design and wood design manual in my 'library'. Although I don't practice engineering any longer, they are still great reference manuals.

Fascinating! This video explains why the plates and blocks I used to lift up a combine harvester in a field not just settled, but tilted as I operated the jacks. A much larger plate would have helped to increase the stability, and thus the safety.

What a great video! I learned more through it than in the lectures I received in my geotechnical engineering classes 25 years ago.

Oh I would happily watch a video on the righting of the silos! :)

Thanks for the video. I have a failed home foundation on the north slope of Astoria, Oregon. I am continuing to study our options...we are at the top of one of 75 active landslides in Astoria. I read in (I think in: Brown's Foundation Engineering Handbook) about a rather famous settlement of a public building in Mexico. The building settled evenly making the second floor the first floor! And, I believe it is still in use today. PS: our geologist tells us that our fabulous view of the Columbia River, gets better every day.

If you enjoyed this video, you may also enjoy the next video in this series on: The Leading Cause of Foundation Failures ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR5PrbDBCLw )

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I have passed near this structure many times. I've never heard of this failure before

7:27 Much of the parts of New Orleans and it's suburbs that were built up after 1950 suffer serious subsidence problems, since new land was created by filling in marsh and reclaiming the edge of the nearby lake. I remember driving down cracked and undulating streets, while seeing two foot gaps under house slabs.

That building is about 5 kilometers from our house , here in Winnipeg . I'm still amazed that they got a handle on this mess in 1913 .

Really awesome video! Well explained. Look forward to more videos soon.