Reliability updating for lateral failure of historic quay walls

The historic canal walls of Amsterdam, stretching 200 km in total, are constructed as a masonry wall on a timber deck supported by vertical timber piles. Understanding the resistance against lateral failure of these quays has been challenging due to uncertainties in their working principles, geometry, soil and structural properties. This...

Collapse of the Grimburgwal, a historic quay in Amsterdam, the Netherlands

A quay wall directly next to a building, both dating from around 1870, collapsed along the Grimburgwal in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on 1 September 2020. The historic quay wall consisted of a masonry wall, built of a timber deck supported by several rows of timber piles of about 12 m long. As over 200 km of such quays exists in Amsterdam and...

Analytical model for laterally loaded pile groups in layered sloping soil

The historic canal wall structures in many Northern European cities have been built as masonry walls on a timber deck founded on timber piles. For analysis of the resistance of those structures and assessment of their remaining service life, suitable and accurate calculation models are needed. Thereto an analytical method was developed for...