Have you seen something like this happen to a building around you?

It is known as DIFFERENTIAL SETTLEMENT, this happens when a building foundation or piers settles unequally due to expansion, contractions or shifts away of the soil beneath the building. This can

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be caused by :
Drought conditions,
The root systems of maturing trees,
Flooding,
broken water lines,
Vibrations from nearby construction,
Poorly compacted fill soil.

The best way to prevent differential settlement is to analyze the soil you are planning to build on, as well as the surrounding environment. sink piers or piling to stable soil all around.And build on an engineered pad, removing unsuitable soils and replacing with suitable soil.

If, however, the settlement has already occurred (or happening as a continuous process), one of the best ways is to underpin the settled foundation, provide proper ground treatment, and then, release the underpin. Or, effectively underpin the foundation, so that the underpins

carry all the load to bearing strata. Another way is driving piles through the foundation (isolated) and taking piles up to hard rock level, and resting piles there.

There are also many more methods, but they depend on the site condition.
And for some structures it is just cheaper to tear them down and rebuild.

I appreciate your time reading this.

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