Behaviour of a friction pile-box foundation in Mexico City during construction

The first geotechnical and seismic instrumentation placed in the prototype of a mixed foundation constituted by a box foundation and friction piles, in the difficult soft clayey soil of Mexico City, is described in this paper. Behavior of the foundation during construction is discussed taking into account the measured applied loads on friction piles, the contact pressure distribution at the raft foundation-subsoil interface, the piezometric heads in the subsoil water, and the foundation movements. Cette communication décrit le premier systeme d’auscultation géotechnique et sismique qui ait été installé sur des fondations mixtes radier-pieux flottants dans les difficiles argiles molles de Mexico. On revise le cornportement des fondations durant la construction à partir de mesures portant sur des variables telles que la charge prise par les pieux, les pressions sur le radier, les pressions interticielles et les mouvements des fondations.