Strengthening Design for a Masonry and Timber Structure Affected by Excavation Construction Nearby

With the development of high-rise building, underground railway and tunnel, the excavation construction in downtown area is becoming more and more common. Shanghai City is in mollisol region, excavation construction will arise serious soil disturbance and hence have great influence on the existing buildings nearby. Usually constructed in an early age, the masonry and timber structure buildings have relatively poor integrity and low strength due to the design standard at that time. This kind of building is sensitive to the soil disturbance. The structural safety will be greatly affected by excavation nearby. This paper mainly introduces the design approaches for the repair and strengthening of the brick-and-timber structural buildings, which were damaged by the neighbouring excavation construction. Reasonable strengthening measures were put forward for the foundation, bearing walls, timber members and reinforced members in order to improve the integrity and get more strength margin for the masonry and timber structure.