Traditional Solution for Foundations in a Lake Environment: Case of the Village Ganvié in the Republic of Benin

Authors

  • Babilas Hountondji

    Laboratory for Water Sciences and Technology, Department of Water and Sanitation, National Water Institute, University of Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou P.O. Box 526, 01, Benin
  • Lambert K. Ayitchéhou

    Laboratory for Water Sciences and Technology, Department of Water and Sanitation, National Water Institute, University of Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou P.O. Box 526, 01, Benin
  • François de Paule Codo

    Laboratory for Water Sciences and Technology, Department of Water and Sanitation, National Water Institute, University of Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou P.O. Box 526, 01, Benin
  • Martin P. Aina

    Laboratory for Water Sciences and Technology, Department of Water and Sanitation, National Water Institute, University of Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou P.O. Box 526, 01, Benin

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/jees.v7i3.7583
Received: 4 November 2024 | Revised: 12 November 2024 | Accepted: 27 November 2024 | Published Online: 12 March 2025

Abstract

The problems noted in the structures built on wooden foundation piles in a lake environment required various works to strengthen over time. This work mainly consists of the recovery of the foundation mass by micropiles due to the increase in loads on the structures, or the recovery of the foundation mass by injection, which is carried out when voids form between the ground and the wooden foundation elements. The high cost of foundation reinforcement methods led the National Agency for the Development of Tourist Heritage in Benin (ANPT) to replace the wooden foundation piles with reinforced concrete piles in the implementation of the project “reinventing the lakeside city of Ganvié”. This article presents an artisanal technology for the creation of reinforced concrete foundation piles in a lake environment. On-site examples made it possible to evaluate the performance of this artisanal implementation technique. The installation of these piles is carried out following manual drilling, followed by the installation of reinforcement and the pouring of concrete on site. The implementation of reinforced concrete foundation piles in place of the wooden ones studied in this article only impacted the infrastructure of the homes of the lakeside town of Ganvié but not the superstructure, which preserved the old traditional wooden architecture and thatched roofs. Thus, the ambition to move this city of Ganvié from the stage of a lake village to that of a floating city is very successful. This will contribute to improving the environment and living conditions of the populations and will promote economic development through tourism.

Keywords:

Wooden Foundation Piles; Disorder of Foundations; Reinforcement of Foundations; Manual Drilling; Reinforced Concrete Piles; Habitat

References

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How to Cite

Babilas Hountondji, Lambert K. Ayitchéhou, François de Paule Codo, & Martin P. Aina. (2025). Traditional Solution for Foundations in a Lake Environment: Case of the Village Ganvié in the Republic of Benin. Journal of Environmental & Earth Sciences, 7(3), 316–328. https://doi.org/10.30564/jees.v7i3.7583

Issue

Vol. 7 , Iss. 3 (March 2025): In Progress

Article Type

Article

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Copyright © 2025 Babilas Hountondji, Lambert K. Ayitchéhou, François de Paule Codo, Martin P. Aina

Creative Commons License

This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.

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