3114
Proceedings of the 18
th
International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013
The elements of foundation system of ancient Khmer structure
in Bayon may be characterized as follows,
1) Deep trench and backfilled foundation
2) Materials for foundation system; sandy and clayey soils,
laterite block, and sand stones
3) High and steep retaining system for dense compacted
mound that composes from sand stone, laterite block, and
clayey soil
3.3 Great Gate of Itsukushima Shrine, Hiroshima
Photo-1 shows Great Gate for Itsukushima Shrine.
Photo-1 Great Gate for Itsukushima Shrine, Hiroshima
In 1950, during restoration work, foundation of the gate was
excavated for study the foundation system, which is in Photo-2.
Photo.2 Thousand pile foundation for Itsukushima Shrine
Wooden pine piles with about 30cm in diameter were found as
driven in dense condition. The surface soil is weathered granite
with15m in thickness followed by granitic base rock.
The diameters of the piles are around 30cm and some piles of
the existing foundation were pulled out and were measured as
about 2m. The ground around the site consists from loose and
medium dense soils of weathered granite with about 15m in
depth followed by granitic rock.
(
Itsukushima Shrine
Restoration Committee,1958).
The wooden pine piles were not rotten under sea water and
reused for conservation work.
The characteristic element of foundation system for the Great
Gate is thousand piles foundation, which composes of many
densely driven piles with short length compared to depth to base
rock.
Figure 10 Schematic section of thousand piles for the Great
Gate
4 CONCLUSIONS
So far, we discussed with characteristic element of foundation
system for three World Heritage sites.
Shallow direct foundation and soft soil condition for Pisa Tower,
Deep foundation trench and unique conbination of geo-
materials for Angkor, and thousand piles system of Great Gate
for Itsukushima Shrine are discussed as the characteristic
element of the foundation. Since the foundation sysytem is
usually hiddened underground and never exposed to public. We,
geotechnical professon, need to explain these specialities to
public.
5 REFERENCES
Burland J.B., Jamiolkowski M.B., Viggiani C.2009. Leaning Tower of
Pisa: Behaviour after Stabilization Operations. International Journal
of Geoengineering Case histories,
. geoengineer.
org, Vol.1, Issue 3, p.156-169
Narita.G.,Nishimoto.S.,Shimizu.N.,Akazawa.Y.2000.Trench at Outer
Gallery of Bayon Temple, JSA Annual Report.2000.3-18, Color
Fig.1, 317
JSA.2000, Chapter 5 Restoration Work, JSA Report on the
Conservation and Restoration Work of the Northern Library of
Bayon, Angkor Thom, Kongdom of Cambodia, JSA, 211-320
Itsukushima Shrine Restoration Committee.1958, Report on National
Treasure of Itsukushima Shrine from1948 to1957
