Saw this link about excavation near a large apartment building. Apparently the article is saying the engineers decided to do an underground parking lot after they had already built the building. Apartments are already occupied too. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...park-AFTER-finished-original-block-flats.html
Wow, that looks like a new Komatsu hoe getting out of the way...that's some good thinking on part of the hoe driver...
Looks like he's building a road out, They will have to have a driveway anyhow, i'am sure that the forms and concrete trucks will be there soon or before the next rain, Yee Ha!!
I thought it was a repost of an earlier event, but it seems that this is a brand new one. A couple of years back, exactly the same thing was done, and the apartment building rolled over into the excavated hole. The past one was on similar pilings. They snapped like matchsticks due to the differential in soil pressure, and over it went. Looks like this might be a replay in the making. I would be concerned digging the supporting soil out from around the pilings. There should be a substantial shoring plan in place to prevent the soil around the concrete pilings from slipping.
hope he has a FROPS cab the operator .... but on another note seen them do the same thing over here a few times and it turned out ok in the past but then again everyone knows about shanghai but the thing with shanghai was they where also dumping the dirt onsite behind the building adding to the problem. (in no way am i saying this is a good idea though)
Usually they shore up the existing buildings with tiebacks or something, or drive sheet piles around the excavation. It looks like there is a grade beam in front of the building on piles. The article states the cut is 3 meters (9 feet) deep. It looks like they're about 10 feet from the face of the building. So about a 1 to 1 slope to the building. I don't know, you would have to ask someone who engineers such things. I wouldn't get too close to it just in case.