Mechanics and Deformation Characteristics of an Oversized Inclined Caisson Foundation when Being Reused

Caisson foundation is an important foundation form in river and marine engineering. For the oversized caisson foundation, when the inclination exceeds a certain value, it cannot be rectified by the traditional technical means due to its large buried depth. Especially, when the bearing soil was disturbed, the unpredicted inclination of the caisson foundation may occur, which thereby may affect the construction safety. In this paper, an oversized inclined caisson foundation was considered, and several technical measures for reusing an inclined oversized caisson foundation were discussed, including grouting of the disturbed soil and a new kind of pipe column structure (PCS). By using numerical simulation, the mechanics and deformation characteristics of the new composite foundation have been studied. The results show that the new technical measures for the reuse of the caisson can transfer load more evenly to the bottom of the foundation, and thereby keep the oversized caisson from tilting further.