A study on the possible effects of ground subsidence to structures in Malabon and Navotas

• Main Authors: Dy, Anthony Jude C., Lucas, Sherwin Mervin Burton E.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2008
• Subjects: Civil Engineering
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/11442
• Institution: De La Salle University

The city of Malabon and the municipal of Navotas are two places which are in the outer ring of Metro Manila. They are also some of the cities that experiences frequent flooding due to typhoons, and even during the occurrence of high tides (Galagana et al, 2004). Siringan and Rodolfo, in their research, stated that another problem is that the ground itself is lowering, or subsiding. Ground subsidence is the loss of surface elevation as a result of the removal of the subsurface support (Prince et al., 1992). A major cause of ground subsidence but not necessarily the highest contributor is the excessive use of groundwater, which is also known as groundwater overuse. The study aims to look for the relationship of ground subsidence to structural damage in Malabon and Navotas. The main objective of this research is to investigate the effect of ground subsidence to different structures. The relationship between these effects and the structural damage will say what could be the worst-case-scenarios that ground subsidence can do to structures over a period of time. The methodology has three parts: data gathering, analysis of structures, and prediction of the future damage. For data gathering, the group used survey forms and conducted ocular inspection. Survey forms were used to provide the group a background on how the residents first observed the cracks that were present in their houses and its progression as time goes by. Using the threading method in ocular inspection was done to measure length and width of cracks, changes in elevation of roads, and their sagging. Using checklists, the analysis were done and given the data the group has obtained from conducting ocular inspection, the prediction for the further damage was done. The results were several linear equations predicting the changes that can occur over a period of time. These equations can be used also to see the progress of damage as subsidence is also progressing. The values obtained were considered significant at 0.05 level. It was concluded that ground subsidence is an important phenomenon that should be considered in designing structures, especially those which are horizontal like roads, where the lowering of the ground can produce sags, lowering, and cracks on it.