A 12-story building topples over in China.
(1) An underground garage was being dug on the south side, to a depth of 4.6 meters.
(2) The excavated dirt was being piled up on the north side, to a height of 10 meters.
(3) The building experienced uneven lateral pressure from south and north.
(4) This resulted in a lateral pressure of 3,000 tones, which was greater than what the hollow pilings could tolerate. Thus the building toppled over in the southerly direction.
Another view
Engineering sketch.
Wow! You find the most amazing pictures EVER! Clap-clap-clap. Was anyone hurt? Did it crash down in a second, or do a leaning PIsa for a while...
Posted by: retriever | Wednesday, December 09, 2009 at 05:21 PM
I can't take credit for finding this one. It came from a reader.
Posted by: Dr. X | Wednesday, December 09, 2009 at 05:33 PM
Google search reveals only one worker died. It was apparently a new building so I'm guessing that it was still empty.
great find!
Posted by: Dennis | Wednesday, December 09, 2009 at 06:13 PM
Holy Guacamole! Not that it fell down, but that it looks like it was laid over sideways like a slice of cake on a plate. Amazing!
Posted by: Noni Mausa | Thursday, December 10, 2009 at 12:03 AM
1. Those pilings look like PVC pipe.
2. Didn't we all just hear China paying lip service to better building codes after that mass-casualty producing earthquake?
Posted by: Habeas Canum | Monday, December 14, 2009 at 02:58 AM
"Didn't we all just hear China paying lip service to better building codes after that mass-casualty producing earthquake?"
And we have to trust China on global warming too...
Posted by: JJM | Monday, December 14, 2009 at 04:49 PM
Hey, nothing wrong with THEIR building codes. The building stayed intact after all, it just fell over! Does anyone know if it happened suddenly or if there was some warning [leaning] before it went over?
Posted by: Bruce Crain | Thursday, December 17, 2009 at 01:44 AM