Soil-Related Damage to Tilt-Up Structures

Abstract

A common form of construction in the United States is tilt-up construction, where the exterior concrete walls are cast in segments upon the floor slab and then tilted up into position. The purpose of this paper is to describe typical damage to tilt-up buildings due to soil movement. Expansive soil can damage the interior concrete floor slab due to center lift. A second type of soil movement that can damage tilt-up structures is slope movement. Slope movement can pull apart adjacent panels and open up the joints in the interior floor slab. A third type of soil movement that can damage tilt-up structures is settlement. In this case, settlement of the exterior wall panels results in diagonal cracks that frequently develop at windows or door corners. Design methods to improve the performance of tilt-up buildings include removing or treating the expansive soil below the floor slab, providing stronger ties at the joints between wall panels and segments of the floor slab, as well as installing piles or piers to support the perimeter footings and transfer the tilt-up wall panel loads to competent bearing strata.