Lessons Learned from Designing High-rise Building Foundations

Abstract

The design of tall building foundations involves a systematic process which incorporates ground investigation, ground characterization, preliminary design of the foundation system for the anticipated structural loads, detailed foundation design, load testing of the proposed foundations, modification of the foundation design, if appropriate, and monitoring of the foundation performance as construction proceeds. This paper will describe this process and some of the tools available for implementing the process. It will then set out a series of lessons learned during the design of such foundations, and illustrate these lessons with examples from projects in Asia and the Middle East.