Foundation Stabilization and Repair – Portland, ME

October 17, 2009

Settling Foundation Problem: This 4-story building, located in the historic district of Portland, Maine, was rapidly settling. The building was experiencing structural and cosmetic problems from the foundation settlement.

Foundation Repair: A soil investigation revealed the building was built on about ten feet of unsuitable fill soils, with bedrock encountered about 20 feet below grade. An underpinning system consisting of hydraulically driven resistance piers (push piers) was utilized to shore the foundation. This system utilized the heavy weight of the structure to drive piles down to the bedrock.

Project Details: Site access was very limited in that a busy public sidewalk fronted the building with minimal working room available for equipment. Engineered Foundation Technologies closed the sidewalk during construction and utilized portable equipment to install the piles. Sixteen resistance piers were installed to bedrock, having working capacities in excess of 40,000 lbs.