The Underestimated Study of the Geology and Historical Topography of the Construction Site as a Factor in the Cracking of a New Building Near a Small River

Cracks in several places in a large new luxury massive residential building gave us ground to study the reasons that gave rise to them. In addition to the analysis of the reinforced concrete structure and the geological report, a historical review of site topography has been made. It is this historical review that provides the key to clarify the causes of the cracks in the building. It turns out that an underground river is passing through this place, which bed had been displaced by a canal, but the weak alluvial soils remained in place without being properly assessed in the building design. The new building has been built more than forty years after the riverbed was relocated. During this period, the area became part of the city and an urban zone, but the fact about a buried riverbed has gradually faded and has been omitted from designers’ work. Therefore, the engineering-geological study of the construction site remains incomplete and even erroneous; it has grounded the prerequisite for cracks appearance in the new building. Estimates of structure state and recommendations for its stabilization have been given bellow.