Site Name

Location

: Minard Hall
: Southern area, North Dakota State University,
Fargo, North Dakota
Type of building : Science hall
Type of foundation: Spread footing
Soil Type
: Fargo silty clay
History of the site
Minard Hall is located on the campus of North Dakota State University
(NDSU). The first stage, built in 1902, was 68x80 feet of ground plan and
consisted of three stories. The second
stage of the construction project, built in
1918, was a four storey structure, which
became the central portion of the hall.
This portion encompassed 92x66 feet of
ground space. The third stage was built
in 1929 and was meant to mirror the
construction of the first building. When
the three stages were completed, the
building was 80 feet deep and 224 feet
long, making it one of the most artistic
buildings on campus. Subsequent
additions have been added to Minard
Hall. In 2003, a wing connecting the now
historic Minard Hall and Music
Education building was completed. In
2009, another renovation to Minard Hall
was started. The project included
building additions to the north and west
side of the 1918 and 1929 sections, as
well as, rebuilding the roof of the 1918
facility, a new main building entrance,
and site improvements.

Conditions of the Site

Minard Hall was constructed using a spread footing; a foundation type
that transfers loads to the soil through bearing. Minard Hall was built on soil

called Fargo Silty Clay. (Fargo Silty Clay is comprised of 50% clay, 44.7%),
silt, and 5.3% sand. Based on the soil composition (falling into the poorly
drained soil class and soil group D), the soil would conservatively have a
bearing capacity of 1500 psf. The two primary types of foundation failures that
can occur are a failure of the foundation element (footing or pilings), or a failure
of the soil. A soil failure can result from a loss of bearing or a disturbance from
adjacent work, as was the case in the Minard Hall collapse.

Cause of Failure
The most recent phase of renovation on Minard Hall required excavating
along the north wall and northwest corner of the building. Meinicke-Johnson
Construction was performing the excavation work. The excavation went down
about 25 feet into the ground, and remained open for several weeks before the
collapse occurred. Even though the buildings foundation was exposed, a number
of sources concluded that the building was stable. In addition to the adjacent
excavation, pilings were being driven into the ground nearby to protect a steam
tunnel and the stair tower at the buildings north entrance. As a result of the pile
driving, Minard Hall was subjected to vibrations in the ground. The
combination of the adjacent deep excavation and the soil vibrations caused
one of the exposed structural pillars to fail, thus leading to the facade collapse
along the northwest wall of Minard Hall.

Explanation
Failure occurred near the center of the wall where one of the pillars was
located. The building had a wood floor system, and interior and exterior wood
stud bearing walls with a brick masonry facade. Dead and live loads from the
building were being transferred to the pillar, which were then transferred to the
foundation. In the location of the excavation along the wall, the central pillar
was the source of greatest load on the foundation, hence being the point of
failure. The foundation transfers the loads radially away from the foundation
and into the soil. The shape of the load distribution is referred to as a pressure
bulb. The excavation occurring adjacent to the building removed some of the
soil that was distributing load from the structure.

As a result, there was a loss of lateral

restrain, which decreased the amount of
vertical support from the soil acting on the
foundation. Small vertical settlements could
have resulted from the excavation leading to
some of the cracking that was observed in
the concrete foundation walls. However,
since no visible signs of damage were
reported that would have indicated a
collapse was imminent, the facade collapse
could not solely be attributed to the
excavation
that
took
place.
Vibrations in the soil from the pile driving on the site were the second
factor that contributed to the collapse. As stated earlier, Minard Hall was built
on a silty clay soil. Liquefaction is a phenomenon that can occur when certain
soil types are subjected to vibrations. In liquefaction, the soil behaves like a
liquid and any bearing support being provided to the structure is lost. While
liquefaction did not occur at the site, because an immediate failure would have
occurred during pile driving, it does elude to the ease at which soft soils, like
silts and clays, can move in the ground. The piling driving would have caused
some horizontal movements in the soil below the foundation, since the lateral
restraint was removed. Lateral movement of a foundation will cause more
damage than an equivalent amount of vertical movement. Thus the combination
of the potential for vertical settlement from the excavation and horizontal
settlement from the pile driving vibrations resulted in the soil failure that caused
the facade collapse along the northwest wall of Minard Hall.

Prevention
The collapse of Minard Hall could have been prevented if the proper
precautions had been taken. When an excavation is being done adjacent to an
existing structure, especially in this case where the excavation was directly
exposing the building foundation, proper shoring measures need to be taken.
The most common reason foundation failures occur is from undermining of safe
support. A well designed bracing and shoring system is often needed to prevent
a lateral shift, and a permanent support structure should be installed in places
where new construction will undermine an existing support system. Therefore,
the foundation of Minard Hall should have been underpinned. The foundation

should have been supported and permanent underpinning supports should have
been installed. This is important because the foundation was originally
constructed on undisturbed soil, meaning the soil retains full bearing
capacity. Now that the excavation has taken place, the soil no longer qualifies as
undisturbed, and in order to maintain the original bearing conditions extra
support needs to be added. Additionally, the excavation cut off the pressure
distribution path through the soil, which removed the lateral restraint. The
presence of a bracing system would have provided the lateral support needed to
prevent movement of the foundation.