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Post by vintageslrs on May 26, 2009 11:41:41 GMT -5
Hi Wayne nice photos...either way...thanks for sharing them! Perhaps we like the B&W when it comes to subjects like this because, although we see in color---we seem to remember old scenes and old buildings in B&W? Bob
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Post by John Parry on May 26, 2009 17:50:11 GMT -5
Andrew,
The terms footings and foundations are pretty interchangeable here. On our estate, the houses are built on concrete rafts, because we're on clay in a mining area. Extensions use strip foundations (footings), which have to go down to bedded clay. Because the estate was graded, extensions at the top only need to go down two feet, while some of those at the bottom have had to go down twelve feet.
The M62 motorway crosses several areas of subsidence, and it's like riding a roller-coaster at times - new hollows can appear overnight.
Wayne
One possible cause for the cracks... How deep does the ground freeze there? If the foundations/footings don't go below the frost level, that would cause it. I didn't think about that as we never have a problem here, but I remembered my brother-in-law in Canada telling me that's why all the houses there have basements (if you have to go down that deep anyway, you may as well throw in a basement at minimal cost).
Regards - John
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2009 19:15:51 GMT -5
The frost level can go down a couple of feet here but its normally not that deep. I think code now calls for footings to be at least 36 inches deep but that certainly wasn't the case when this was built. Another possible factor for the cracks: The Railroad mail line from Portland, Oregon east to Omaha, Nebraska is abot 250 yrdas away on the farr side of the Intestate. The vibrations generated by the trains (and the big trucks on the Interstate) may have helped make the cracks.
Wayne
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SidW
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Post by SidW on May 31, 2009 18:23:02 GMT -5
Fascinating pictures Wayne.
I wonder if that crack was due to a hit, like by some big vehicle. It looks pushed in, rather than displaced downwards by subsidence. Accident, or an attempt to knock it down.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2009 21:07:16 GMT -5
Sid:
Never really noticed that before but it does liik like someone could and run into the corner of the building. But the foundation is so poor, settling is most likely the cause.
Wayne
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