The story behind this undercroft and the facts around it are quite remarkable.
Neat article.
The soils in this area (and many coastal areas) simply cannot support much weight.
Most of my experience in this area is along the gulf coast (TX, LA, MS, AL, etc.) where foundations for anything heavy, tall or with large moments required a surprising amount of effort to support.
Foundations measuring in 100s of cubic meters or piles pounded down 50m or more to ensure the structure would not simply just sink into the “gumbo”.
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