Case Studies

Novel Foundation System Failure

J.S. Held Releases Insights on Risks & Opportunities Expected to Impact Organizations in 2025

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The Situation

J.S. Held performed an engineering evaluation of reported foundation system failure that occurred during construction of a detached single-family residence built with a proprietary adjustable pier-supported foundation system designed to compensate for in-situ soil instabilities. The tiered foundation platform had undergone damaging lateral movement forming concrete cracks and deformation of the proprietary foundation support hardware. Our client asked J.S. Held to develop an opinion relative to causation and quantify the contribution of precipitation, improper construction, and improper design to the failure.

How We Advised

J.S. Held engineers mobilized to document the failure and gather data relative to our engineering investigation. An analysis of the as-constructed system indicated that a combination of inherent foundation system design defects and improper backfilling sequencing contributed to the displacement. An analysis of weather and precipitation records allowed J.S. Held to exclude environmental conditions as causation. Our team provided a sealed engineering report of opinions sufficient for our client to evaluate coverage.

Key Contact

David Drengenberg, PE, SE
Area Lead
Forensic Architecture & Engineering
+1 708 312 4872
[email protected]

Related Practice Areas

> Structural Engineering
Our team is composed of civil and structural engineers who specialize in forensic investigations, repair scopes, code upgrade/compliance evaluations, and repair plans. We provide detailed forensic analysis of property and infrastructure damage by leveraging our understanding of the built environment and the impact of wind, water, fire, deterioration, construction defects, and outside forces.

> Forensic Engineering
J.S. Held’s forensic engineering experts include civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, geotechnical, and biomechanical engineers. Our forensic engineering analyses address what happened, why it happened, when the incident occurred, extent of damage, repairability, and applicable code upgrade/compliance requirements.

Our Experts