Reanalysis of a Vacuum Distillation Unit Foundation

This paper deals with the reanalysis of the foundation of an already existing Vaccum Distillation Unit in an oil refinery. The reanalysis is required to suggest if the existing foundation of the unit would be capable enough to withstand an additional pressure intensity to which it would be subjected due to proposed expansion of the unit. The paper therefore discusses the geotechnical investigation program undertaken for evaluating the relevant design parameters and the methodology adopted to compute the sustainable pressure of the foundation

Study of Co-seismic Planetary Conditions for Earthquake Prediction

The periodicities in the occurrence of earthquakes, as indicated by the cosmic conditions, have been traced by analysing the planetary data at the time of occurrence of more than 1100 earthquakes of magnitude, M 27.0, which occurred during the period 1896 to 1965. Correlation between the transits of planets in the sensitive areas and at sensitive longitudes in the zodiac and the seismicity of California and adjoining area has been shown. Based on the analysis, a method for forecasting earthquakes is also proposed

Taj Mahal – An Appraisal of Foundation Performance

Because of severe restrictions placed by the National Authority, no authentic data on subsoil details below Taj Mahal - a protected monument - is available. For the first time, an attempt has been made to fill in gaps that exist in our knowledge of subsoil profile below the structure and present a plausible appraisal of foundation performance during the existence of the structure. Since details of foundations cited in literature on Taj Mahal really fall into the realms of architectural conjecture, in the present analysis, engineering intuition and judgement have gone into making certain premises regarding the probable type, dimensions and the depth of the existing foundations of Taj Mahal. These premises, complimented by borehole data and laboratory tests have enabled the assessment of the foundation performance to be made in as realistic a manner as is practically possible