Abstract
Damage to structures and loss of life have been more severe on dolomite than on any other geological formation in southern Africa. The subsidence that occurs on dolomitic terrain following development or during dewatering has given dolomite a notorious reputation and engineers and geologists became reluctant to recommend development on the material.
This has led to the pioneering of founding methods for a wide variety of structures aimed at reducing the risk of severity of damage due to subsidence settlement Structures successfully founded on dolomitic terrane include residential and industrial buildings, gold mine reduction works and shaft structures, tailings dams, water retaining structures, and road and rail links.
In this article, various methods of construction, some ot which were developed by the authors, are presented. It commences with a classification of a dolomite site in terms of overburden thickness followed by a discussion of the relevant construction methods The methods include mattresses of compacted soil supported by pinnacles or “floating” in residuum, deep foundations such as caissons, the use of specialized piling techniques, and soil improvement by dynamic consolidation
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Brink, A. B. A., 1979, Engineering geology of southern Africa: Pretoria, South Africa, Building Publications.
Day, P. W. 1981, Dumprock and chert gravel mattresses. Seminar on the engineering geology of dolomite areas: Department of Geology, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
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Wagener, F. von M., 1981, Construction methods and remedial measures. Seminar on the engineering geology of dolomite areas: Department of Geology, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
Wagener, F. von M., 1982, Engineering construction on dolomite: Ph. D. thesis, University of Natal, South Africa, Distributed by Geo. Div. of SAICE, Box 61019, Marshalltown, South Africa.
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Wagener, F.V.M., Day, P.W. Construction on dolomite in south Africa. Environ. Geol. Water Sci 8, 83–89 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02525561
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02525561