Industrial Pavement Settlement: The Case of a Logistics Platform in Barcelona
When a company invests in the urbanization of its facilities, it expects the infrastructure to withstand its daily activity. However, in civil engineering, hidden errors in the subsoil eventually come to light, paralyzing operations and generating serious safety risks.
At Perito Barcelona, we were contacted by a major logistics operator to investigate the premature appearance of severe pathologies in the pavement of their new platform, located in an industrial estate in Baix Llobregat.
1. The Challenge: A pavement collapsed by heavy traffic
The plot required the execution of a large embankment for topographic leveling. After the commissioning of the facilities, intended for the continuous traffic of heavy vehicles and static storage, alarming symptoms began to appear:
- Asymmetrical deflections and settlements in the driving areas.
- Fatigue cracks in the bituminous mixture (asphalt).
- Severe punching in the static load support areas.
- Water accumulation due to counter-slopes and perimeter failures in the manholes.
The property needed an independent technical diagnosis with judicial validity to demand responsibilities from the construction company before the warranty periods expired.
2. Our Intervention: Technical and Geotechnical Audit
Under the technical direction of Albert Vilardell (Civil Engineer Col. No. 16448), we implemented a structural forensic analysis methodology, cross-referencing the initial executive project documentation with in situ tests.
Through the coordination of dynamic penetration tests (DPSH) and the extraction of pavement cores, the data obtained in the subsoil revealed a reality very different from what was projected on paper.
3. The Diagnosis: Execution errors and deficient design
Our expert report concluded that the structural damages were not due to ordinary use or a natural settlement of the ground, but to demonstrable construction negligence:
- Deficient Embankment Compaction: Although the project required highly restrictive compaction (95-100% of the Modified Proctor), the tests showed that excessively thick layers were poured. Only the surface layer was compacted, leaving the interior in an unstable compaction state with a critical bearing capacity.
- Insufficient Pavement Design: For the heavy traffic category required by the activity, current road regulations demand minimum granular layer thicknesses that were not respected, accelerating the depletion of the asphalt.
- Inadequate Choice of Materials: Flexible pavement (asphalt) was used in areas for storing concentrated loads, whereas good civil engineering practice dictates the use of concrete slabs (rigid pavement) to prevent punching.
4. The Result: A solid legal basis to claim
The detected pathologies threatened the total collapse of the lower granular layers if the root cause was not addressed.
From our firm, we prepared a comprehensive repair budget that included demolition, deep excavation to the sound level, and the proper reconstruction of the subgrade and pavement. We economically valued the damage at over €115,000.
With this signed and endorsed Technical Expert Report, the company obtained the definitive evidentiary tool to demand the repair of the urban hidden defects from the contractor, passing the case to its legal team with full technical guarantees.
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