This paper presents the result of the settlement observations of a six-story building built on raft footing on a compressible organic clay deposit known as Kalomato in Kathmandu, Nepal. Settlement was recorded through elevation readings on markers on several reinforced concrete columns spread along the periphery of the building. Readings, taken weekly by means of a leveling instrument, commenced on February 21, 2006, or 136 days after the construction started, and ended on day 441, more than two months after the final application of the construction load. The records suggest that the building settled in a non-uniform fashion, and that the settlement pattern changed gradually over the monitoring period. The building dipped initially towards the northwest then towards the west direction at the end of the monitoring program, with the highest settlement at one part of the building being 121 mm while the lowest being 48 mm. Finite difference analysis used to provide settlement estimation at the initial, unrecorded stage of the construction, resulted in estimated 144 mm maximum settlement at the end of the monitoring program, well beyond the conventional standards set for maximum allowable settlement for mat foundation on clay.
Keyword : Raft Footing, Soft Organic Clay Deposit, Settlement,