Analysis of the Behavior of Foundations of Historical Buildings

The article is devoted to the analysis of the behaviour of the foundations of historic buildings. Some basic aspects of foundation engineering are discussed, with an emphasis placed on its development, applied techniques, and materials. Several different approaches and methods for the analysis of foundations of historical buildings are presented. A particular analysis has been focused on an example of a typical stone foundation from the sixteenth century. First, the calculations have been performed using the finite element method, then the bearing capacity and the settlement analysis has been determined according to EC-7. Next, the bearing capacity has been evaluated using simplified analysis. A settlement of the foundation has been also estimated using Kerisel's proposal. The information should allow for a better understanding of the behaviour of foundations discussed in this research, and especially of methods of their analysis. A comparison analysis has been performed and possible directions for further research in this field have been indicated.