13-storey building collapsed in Shanghai

A 13 STORY BUILDING LYING ON THE GROUND. 

Anybody who bought a condo here sure has a problem. Talk about a collapsed market! YES, IT'S A 13 STORY BUILDING IN CHINA LYING ON THE GROUND. 

• An underground garage was being dug on the south side, to a depth of 4.6 meters. 
• The excavated dirt was being piled up on the north side, to a height of 10 meters.
• The building experienced uneven lateral pressure from south and north. 
• This resulted in a lateral pressure of 3,000 tonnes, which was greater than what the pilings could tolerate.

Thus the building toppled over in the southerly direction.

First, the apartment building was constructed. Then the plan called for an underground garage to be dug out. The excavated soil was piled up on the other side of the building. Heavy rains resulted in water seeping into the ground. The building began to tilt. Then it began to shift and the "hollow" concrete pilings were snapped due to the uneven lateral pressures and thus was born the eighth wonder of the world. If the buildings were closer together it would have resulted in a domino effect. They built 13 stories on grade, with no basement, and tied it all down to hollow pilings with no rebar.

Would you like to know more about collapsing process, go to photo-blog and videos.