Measurement of settlements and strains on buildings from the beginning of construction

The Brazilian practice on the measurement of foundation settlements implies that measurements are carried out only in cases of construction faults, like fissures and cracks on the structure. Measurements are also performed to verify the influence of deep excavations on adjacent buildings. Although there are remarkable case histories of measurement of settlements from the beginning of construction in the Brazilian literature, they are very few. Actually, references about this subject are few even in the international literature. As far as measurement of foundation loads are concerned, published results are seldom found in the international literature. This paper presents the settlements and strains measured on columns from the beginning of construction on a 11-storeyed building on piles in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The measured strains aimed at the estimation of column loads. The paper focus attention on settlement measurements from the beginning of construction which is intended to be a routine quality control for foundation jobs.