Damage of Structures due to Tree Roots
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 5, Issue 3
Abstract
There are two main forms of damage due to tree roots. The first involves the growth of tree roots beneath sidewalks, patios, roads, and block walls, where the physical increase in size of growing roots causes uplift and differential movement of the structure. The second type of damage is from tree roots that grow beneath shallow foundations. As the tree roots extract moisture, the clay shrinks and the structure settles. For tree‐root uplift, it is observed that damage more frequently occurs to lightly loaded structures. Damage seems to be less severe for soft or loose soil that can deform as the roots grow, rather than dense or hard soils such as road base. For the example of tree‐root shrinkage presented in this paper, a large Pepper tree caused significant desiccation of the upper 2 ft (0.6 m) of a very highly expansive clay deposit. Laboratory tests recorded expansion of the desiccated clays when they were given access to water. Two solutions to the problem are to plant the tree well away from the structure or to use deepened perimeter footings to restrict roots from gaining access beneath the foundation.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Biddle, P. G. (1979). “Tree root damage to buildings—An arboriculturist's experience.” Arboricultural J., 3(6), 397–412.
2.
Biddle, P. G. (1983). “Patterns of soil drying and moisture deficit in the vicinity of trees on clay soils.” Geotechnique, London, England, 33(2), 107–126.
3.
Cheney, J. E., and Burford, D. (1975). “Damaging uplift to a three‐story office block constructed on a clay soil following removal of trees.” Proc. Conf. Settlement of Structures, Cambridge, Pentech Press, 337–343.
4.
Cutler, D. F., and Richardson, I. B. (1989). Tree roots and buildings. Second Ed., Longman Scientific & Technical, England, 1–67.
5.
Driscoll, R. (1983). “The influence of vegetation on the swelling and shrinkage caused by large trees.” Geotechnique, London, England, 33(2), 93–105.
6.
Hammer, M. J., and Thompson, O. B. (1966). “Foundation clay shrinkage caused by large trees.” J. Soil Mech. and Found. Div., ASCE, 92(6), 1–17.
7.
Holtz, W. G. (1984). “The influence of vegetation on the swelling and shrinkage of clays in the United States of America.” The influence of vegetation on clays, Thomas Telford LTD, London, 69–73.
8.
Perry, D., and Merschel, S., (1987). “The greening of urban civilization.” Smithsonian, 17(10), 72–79.
9.
Ravina, I. (1984). “The influence of vegetation on moisture and volume changes.” The influence of vegetation on clays, Thomas Telford LTD, London, 62–68.
10.
Tucker, R. L., and Poor, A. R., (1978), “Field study of moisture effects on slab movements.” J. Geotech. Engrg. Div., 104(4), 403–414.
11.
“Uniform building code standards.” (1988). International Conference of Building Officials, Whittier, CA, 979–981.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 1991 ASCE.
History
Published online: Aug 1, 1991
Published in print: Aug 1991
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.