Repairing a Damaged House by Watering Foundations: The MACH Project

Changes in volume of clayey soils during periods of drought lead to considerable repair costs in France and around the world. Individual dwellings are particularly damaged and, so far, technical repairing solutions used are expensive and can be sometimes traumatic for owners (as they are sometimes undertaken inside the house…). Cerema proposes an innovative approach, which consists in watering the foundation soil of a house in order to neutralize natural shrinkage during critical droughts. A damaged house was chosen and equipped with a device, that recovers rainwater and injects it under the foundations. A soil moisture monitoring was also set in order to follow evolution of soil suction. Works took place in Fall 2016 during a severe drought (in France). Early observations suggests encouraging results with, on one hand, suction reduction as the device was used, and on the other hand, closing of existing wall’s cracks. The monitoring is planned for 3 years long.