Real Estate

Reconciling visible damage with measured foundation settlement

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Two towers showed damage of disputed origin. Satellite measurement established what had actually moved, by how much, and when.

Visible structural damage had been reported across two adjacent towers, and visual inspection alone could not establish whether it reflected ongoing foundation settlement or historical movement that had since stabilised.

PS-InSAR reconstructed the displacement history of both buildings, with ascending and descending geometries decomposed into vertical and lateral components. Seasonal deformation amplitude was separated from persistent trend — the distinction that determines whether ground is cycling or consistently settling. Surficial soil moisture was assessed alongside, to test whether the movement pattern was consistent with a moisture-driven mechanism.

The measured deformation was reconciled against the documented damage pattern, giving the engineering team a basis for attributing the damage that inspection alone could not provide.