INVESTIGATIONS ON A NEW BUILDING WITH PILE FOUNDATION DAMAGED BY THE HYOGOKEN-NAMBU (KOBE) EARTHQUAKE

Seemingly without damage at first glance, the new building near Kobe h ad its pile foundation extensively damaged by the Hyogoken-Nambu (Kobe ) earthquake. A comprehensive plan for rehabilitation was successfully implemented to jack up and repair the foundation-building system. The experience gained from the project is vital for future rehabilitation of pile foundations damaged by extreme earthquake events. Simple 1-D free-field nonlinear analysis indicated large velocity and displacemen t of the ground surface on the side of the building that underwent lar ge differential settlement, and 1-D soil-pile-building interaction ana lysis showed consequently large response actions on the piles. Simple 1-D response analysis can explain the nature of pile damage and differ ential settlement attributable to the local variation in soil conditio ns under the building. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.