Amsterdam wasn't built yesterday. These are all old structures. Any new development in Amsterdam has a concrete pile foundation nowadays (probably since the 50's).
Renovation projects or retrofitting mostly uses steel/concrete piles to establish a new foundation.
The old piles don't suffer much from subsidence, the soil in the West of the Netherlands does. The old wooden piles in Amsterdam are driven into the first sandlayer at about 10~13m depth. Most of buildings use the Amsterdam type pile foundation with 2 wooden poles next to each other with a timberr load bearing block over them. These sets of 2 are usually are placed in a row with 2 piles per 1m. Pile rot or fungus infection is more common. The latter mostly because for rot to occur they would have to be exposed to oxygen in the air. Ground water levels in Amsterdam are strictly monitored and kept at the national level of NAP (Normaal Amsterdams Peil).
A translation tool might help with the article, pictures already say a lot though.
If too much settlement and/or, pile degradation has occurred, a structure might need to be retrofitted. This article shows 'De Waag' a building from the 15th century and its retrofitted new foundation.
Worked on such a project in the city center for a while for an old hospital now uni building which was deemed 'not bad enough' to be retrofitted as it is also a national monument and retrofitting would degrade its cultural heritage... With regard to the Waag it its was a relatively new structure from 1880 on 1300 13m piles.
Western part of Netherlands mostly has to rely on bearing capacity of the pile point in denser sandlayers. If piles are deep enough there's skin friction that works positively as well, but piles need to be deeper than the old timber piles for that.
Because the top layers are quite soft, clay and peat like (in Rotterdam the first 17m for example) the soil can actually cling to the pile and create negative skin friction.
The timber piles are driven into the ground and embedded in the sand. Because of the max length for timber piles and the amount of force required, I'd imagine they could never get those to deeper layers until concrete and steel piles were invented. The soil does settle quite a lot, buildings to because of compression of softer sub-first-sandlayer-layers.
Quite visible in this link where the soil is sinking and at what rate. Mostly shallow subsidence in the western part of NL, the old river delta. Deep surface subsidence in Groningen in the north due to gas extraction (3km deep).
As long as the timber is completely submerged it will deprive biodegradants from the needed oxygen to decay it. Scores of colonial buildings in Mexico City have timber foundations and last time we checked (470 years later) they were good as new, as soils there are porridge, being a lake bed. Same with modern mid last century highway bridges, built on treated timber piles.
WWII was fairly recently. Nowadays we wouldn't use wooden piles. Lisbon was rebuilt in the 18th century and I guess Amsterdam was also historically built like this. Not nowadays.
Ah OK. I guess historically, wooden piles are an important technology for building construction everywhere. Romans already used it. I am sure Berlin is not an exception.
Not Amsterdam. 50% of The Netherlands is build on piles. Thats the way to build on thickend watet.
I would say piled foundations are "buildings on land" though.
Egyptians were constructing structures on deep foundations before 2000 BC. Eat your heart out Terzaghi!
Plus 5 flaming sword for mentioning Terzaghi.
Amstradam. The city Sir Clive Sinclair designed and built.
I'm interested if anyone knows more context. I thought that wooden substructure in modern construction is always ruled out for durability.
Are there any problems subsidence due to wooden pile failure in these buildings?
Does anybody specify timber substructure these days?
Amsterdam wasn't built yesterday. These are all old structures. Any new development in Amsterdam has a concrete pile foundation nowadays (probably since the 50's).
Renovation projects or retrofitting mostly uses steel/concrete piles to establish a new foundation.
The old piles don't suffer much from subsidence, the soil in the West of the Netherlands does. The old wooden piles in Amsterdam are driven into the first sandlayer at about 10~13m depth. Most of buildings use the Amsterdam type pile foundation with 2 wooden poles next to each other with a timberr load bearing block over them. These sets of 2 are usually are placed in a row with 2 piles per 1m. Pile rot or fungus infection is more common. The latter mostly because for rot to occur they would have to be exposed to oxygen in the air. Ground water levels in Amsterdam are strictly monitored and kept at the national level of NAP (Normaal Amsterdams Peil).
Check this link for some images, text is in Dutch tho.
Thank you
A translation tool might help with the article, pictures already say a lot though.
If too much settlement and/or, pile degradation has occurred, a structure might need to be retrofitted. This article shows 'De Waag' a building from the 15th century and its retrofitted new foundation. Worked on such a project in the city center for a while for an old hospital now uni building which was deemed 'not bad enough' to be retrofitted as it is also a national monument and retrofitting would degrade its cultural heritage... With regard to the Waag it its was a relatively new structure from 1880 on 1300 13m piles.
Are the piles into a much more resistant layer or does it all rely on the pile skin friction?
Western part of Netherlands mostly has to rely on bearing capacity of the pile point in denser sandlayers. If piles are deep enough there's skin friction that works positively as well, but piles need to be deeper than the old timber piles for that.
Because the top layers are quite soft, clay and peat like (in Rotterdam the first 17m for example) the soil can actually cling to the pile and create negative skin friction.
The timber piles are driven into the ground and embedded in the sand. Because of the max length for timber piles and the amount of force required, I'd imagine they could never get those to deeper layers until concrete and steel piles were invented. The soil does settle quite a lot, buildings to because of compression of softer sub-first-sandlayer-layers.
Quite visible in this link where the soil is sinking and at what rate. Mostly shallow subsidence in the western part of NL, the old river delta. Deep surface subsidence in Groningen in the north due to gas extraction (3km deep).
As long as the timber is completely submerged it will deprive biodegradants from the needed oxygen to decay it. Scores of colonial buildings in Mexico City have timber foundations and last time we checked (470 years later) they were good as new, as soils there are porridge, being a lake bed. Same with modern mid last century highway bridges, built on treated timber piles.
At least it’s not CGI
Schumann Special.
Amstradam, haw...
Same in Lisbon downtown. Where's water, there's wooden piles.
Berlin has a high water table I believe? I wonder if it’s similar for what remained after wwii
WWII was fairly recently. Nowadays we wouldn't use wooden piles. Lisbon was rebuilt in the 18th century and I guess Amsterdam was also historically built like this. Not nowadays.
I mean whatever buildings survived the war.
Ah OK. I guess historically, wooden piles are an important technology for building construction everywhere. Romans already used it. I am sure Berlin is not an exception.
So was the natural state of the land swamp?
As well as Venice.
So is the inner city (and city Hall) of Hamburg... And so venice...
same with venice