ABSTRACT
The paper describes some geotechnical aspects of the reconstruction of the Russian State Academic Bolshoi Theatre, which was undertaken in the period of 2005-2008 with direct authors’ involvement. The reconstruction of the underground section of the Theatre was carried out under the preserved superstructure. A 20 meters deep excavation was constructed in close proximity of other buildings. An observational method for strengthening foundation was applied. The method involved constantly performed monitoring and settlements management on the base of the monitoring results. The paper discusses design problems of supporting structures with regard to changes in their stress-strain state during reconstruction. A case history of the application of the observational method throughout the entire reconstruction period is considered.
