TABLE OF CONTENTS Prior chapters have presented a discussion of bearing capacity analyses, settlement analyses, foundations on expansive soil, slope stability, and retaining walls. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss foundation deterioration and cracking, as follows:
Deterioration. All man-made and natural materials are susceptible to deterioration. In terms of deterioration, the National Science Foundation (1992) states:
The infrastructure deteriorates with time, due to aging of the materials, excessive use, overloading, climatic conditions, lack of sufficient maintenance, and difficulties encountered in proper inspection methods. All of these factors contribute to the obsolescence of the structural system as a whole. As a result, repair, retrofit, rehabilitation, and replacement become necessary actions to be taken to insure the safety of the public.
This topic is so broad that it is not possible to cover every type of geotechnical and foundation element susceptible to deterioration. Instead, this chapter will discuss three of the more common types of deterioration: timber decay, sulfate attack of concrete foundations, and frost action. These three topics will be covered in Secs. 12.2 to 12.4. In addition, deterioration of the foundations for historic structures will be discussed in Sec. 12.5.
Shrinkage cracking. Foundation cracks can develop due to soil movement, such as settlement or expansive soil. Foundation cracks can also develop due to the shrinkage of concrete and excessive shrinkage can cause damage to floor coverings, such as brittle tile. Shrinkage of concrete foundations will be discussed in Sec. 12.6.
Moisture intrusion. Moisture can penetrate the...
