Proceedings of Pile 2013, June 2-4th 2013

HISTORICAL PILED STRUCTURES AND

LAND SUBSIDENCE ASSESSMENT FOR NORTHERN JAKARTA

Widjojo A. Prakoso 1

ABSTRACT: Land subsidence has been identified as one of major geological hazards of northern Jakarta, as indicated
by some geodetical measurements. It has been hypothesized that natural consolidation, groundwater extraction, and land
development related loads are the major factors, but it is argued by the author that the land subsidence in this area is
primarily due to the consolidation of soft soil layers induced by the land development of the areas. To elaborate further
this argument, the author explores the long-term behavior of two historical piled structures. The first structure is the
lighthouse built prior to 1862 located in currently known as the Port of Muara Baru, and the second structure is the Kali
Besar draw bridge built prior to 1890. Though there is no direct information about the as-built conditions of these
structures, the soil profiles in neighboring areas and the coast line development indicate that these structure would be
most likely piled structures. To support this assumption, some historical evidence of the use of pile foundations during
this era is discussed. Based on photo analyses, these historical structures appear not to experience excessive settlement,
indicating that the land subsidence observed in the area is primarily a shallow phenomenon.

Keywords: : Piles, land subsidence, settlement, historical review.

INTRODUCTION known as Hoenderpasarbrug during the colonial era,

Land subsidence has been identified as one of major
geological hazards of Jakarta, specifically some areas in
northern Jakarta as indicated by geodetical
measurements (e.g., Abidin et al. 2011). The GPS-
derived maximum ground surface settlement of one of
the sites between December1997 and September 2007 is
0.8 0.9 m, and the settlement rates for two stations in
the area between 2007 and 2010 varied between 0.08
m/year to 0.28 m/year. Such observations are
subsequently used to project the future settlement of
Jakarta, leading to a suggestion of northern Jakarta
completely inundated by year 2050 (e.g., Abidin et al.
2012).
It has been hypothesized that natural consolidation,
groundwater extraction, and land development related
loads are the major factors. However, Prakoso (2013)
argues that the land subsidence in this area is a relatively
shallow phenomenon primarily due to the consolidation
of very soft to soft soil layers induced by the land
development of the areas. To elaborate further this
argument, the author explores the long-term behavior of
two historical piled structures. The first structure is the
lighthouse built prior to 1862 (more than 150 years old)
located in currently known as Port of Muara Baru, and
the second structure is the Kali Besar draw bridge,
built prior to 1890 (more than 120 years old). The
locations of these structures are shown in Fig. 1.
This paper starts with a discussion on historical
evidence of the use of pile foundations, followed by a
discussion on the geotechnical conditions of the area. To
introduce the authors argurment, some his earlier results
are briefly discussed, while to enhance the argument,
photo analyses of the lighthouse and the Kali Besar draw
bridge are examined. This paper concludes with a
discussion on the overall findings.
HISTORICAL PILE FOUNDATIONS
Pile foundations have been used in Jakarta at least for
about 200 years, and some of known piled structures are
discussed. The Daendels palace, currently known as
the Ministry of Finance building, was built prior to 1811
(Merrillees 2001), and its foundation is brick strip
footings supported by timber piles (PDA 2005). The
first waterfront structure in the Port of Tanjung Priok
complex completed in 1886 was a caisson structure
supported by piles (Anon. 1888). In addition, in a
construction project near the Kali Besar draw bridge,
several timber piles used to support brick footings of

1
Lecturer, Universitas Indonesia, Civil Engineering Department, Kampus UI Depok 16424, INDONESIA
unknown age were recovered during the excavation of an
underground facility.
The Jakarta Kota Railway Station opened in 1929 is
known to be supported by octagonal concrete driven
piles, exposed during excavation of an adjacent
construction project. The NHM Head Office building,
currently known as Museum Bank Mandiri across the
railway station, completed in 1933 is known to be
supported by 0.33 m wide and 15.8 m long, octagonal
reinforced concrete driven piles based on design
drawings dated year 1929 exhibited in the museum. The
main reinforcement of the piles was 8 19 mm-bars, while
the stirrups were spirals of 8 mm bars with 50 mm
spacing in the pile tip and head areas and of 6 mm bars
with 100 mm spacing in the middle section.
GEOTECHNICAL CONDITIONS
The surface geology of the area is alluvial deposits,
consisting of mangrove swamp deposits and nearshore
marine deposits (P3G 1995). The geotechnical
conditions are also evaluated from the changes of
coastline of the area, as shown in Fig. 1b. Historical
maps from years 1627 (KIT 2013a), 1669 (PU 2013),
1770 (BNF 2013), 1846 (Wikipedia 2013), and 1894
(Etsy 2013) were reviewed, and coastlines from those
maps were plotted relative to the current coastline taken
from the Google Map satellite photo.
The coastline between years 1627 and 1770 appears
to change mostly on east side of the sea wall of Port of
Sunda Kelapa. It did not appear to change significantly
between years 1770 and 1846. However, the coastline
between years 1846 and 1894 appears to change very
rapidly on west side of the sea wall. Between years 1627
and 1894, the coastline progressed less than 1.0 km on
east side of the sea wall and about 1.5 km on west side of
the sea wall.
The sea wall of Port of Sunda Kelapa did not exist
yet on the 1627 map, and it could be seen apparently for
the first time on a map dated 1667. The sea wall appears
to progress towards the sea relatively simultaneously
with changes of the coastline. The east sea wall at
present can not be observed in the field.
The geotechnical data from four (4) sites relatively
close to the structures are evaluated (site 1: Pluit, site 2:
Port of Sunda Kelapa, site 3: west Ancol, site 4: Jakarta
Kota Railway Station Bank Mandiri Museum). The
data were collected from the library of Soil Mechanics
Laboratory of Universitas Indonesia and authors file.
The soil boring and N-SPT logs of all sites are shown in
Fig. 2, and the very soft to soft silt-clay deposits are
identified as well in the logs. By comparing the changes
of coastline and the four sites, it can be concluded that
sites 1 to 3 are geotechnically very young, while site 4
appears to be geotechnically somewhat older as it was
already onshore as shown on an map dated year 1627.
ESTIMATED LAND DEVELOPMENT INDUCED
SETTLEMENT
Prakoso (2013) compiled recent geotechnical data
from three sites in the area were compiled, including
those from Sites 2 and 3. Field and laboratory soil
parameters including their statistical properties were
evaluated. The estimation of land development induced
settlement was performed using the classic Terzaghi's
1-D consolidation and secondary compression theories,
coupled with the Monte Carlo approach to consider the
soil parameter variabilities.
The final settlement mean and standard deviation
values were 1.6 m and 0.7 m, respectively. The
subsidence rate mean and standard deviation values for a
period between year 1 and 5 were 0.22 m/year and 0.16
m/year, respectively. The simulation results are in the
same range as the observed subsidence rates for the three
GPS stations ranging from 0.07 to 0.28 m/year.
The observed subsidence rate tends to decrease with
time, and additional analyses were conducted to evaluate
this trend. Subsidence rates for the period between year
1 and 2 (from 56 to 76 percent degree of consolidation)
through the period between year 4 and 5 (from 93 to 96
percent degree of consolidation) were individually
analyzed. The general trend is that the subsidence rate
decreases with time; for the period between year 1 and 2,
the mean and standard deviation are 0.45 m/year and
0.30 m/year respectively and, between year 4 and 5, the
mean and standard deviation are 0.07 m/year and 0.05
m/year, respectively. It is postulated that the period
between year 1 and 2 after fill placement would likely be
the construction period, and that the estimated
subsidence rate would not be observed as the ground
surface level might be adjusted during construction.
However, the subsequent values of subsidence rate of
0.25 m/year to 0.07 m/year are in the same range as the
observed subsidence rates of 0.07 to 0.28 m/year.
The long term subsidence rate was estimated
assuming that the secondary compression theory applies
and no additional loads are imposed. The mean and
standard deviation for the period of between year 5 and
20 are about 0.01 m/year and 0.005 m/year, respectively.
The probability of subsidence rate of greater than 0.02
m/year is only less than 5 percent.
 Proceedings of Pile 2013, June 2-4th 2013

a. Locations of structures and geotechnical data sites b. Change of coastline

Fig. 1 Locations of structures, geotechnical data sites, and change of coastline (sources: see text).

N-SPT (blows/0.3m) N-SPT (blows/0.3m) N-SPT (blows/0.3m) N-SPT (blows/0.3m)

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
0 0 0 0

5 5 5 5
V. Soft to Soft Layer V. Soft to Soft Layer
V. Soft to Soft Layer
10 10 V. Soft to Soft Layer 10 10

15 15 15 15
Depth (m)

20 20 20 20

25 25 25 25

30 30 30 30

35 35 35 35

40 40 40 40
a. Site 1 b. Site 2 c. Site 3 d. Site 4

Fig. 2 Typical soil profile from considered area

LIGHTHOUSE IN PORT OF MUARA BARU
The lighthouse in the Port of Muara Baru was built
prior to year 1862, based on a written account by G.
Deynot dated year 1862 (e.g., Merrillees 2001). The
lighthouse was located on the west side of the historic
west seawall of Port of Sunda Kelapa as shown in Fig.
1b. The oldest photo of the lighthouse is dated year
1880 (KIT 2013b). No direct information about the as-
built conditions of the lighthouse is available. Some
sequential photos of the lighthouse are shown in Fig. 3;
the year 1880 photo (looking west) and 1938 photo
(looking south) are the collections of the Tropen
Museum (KIT 2013b,c), the year 2010 photo (looking
south) was taken by Irwan (2013), and the year 2013
photo (looking south) is a collection of the author.
The historic complex of the lighthouse appears to be
built on a reclaimed land, as indicated by the location of
the complex relative to the coastline during that time and
by the existence of trees. Note that the year 1938 photo
indicates that the lighthouse was still separated from the
shore, consistent with the change of coastline shown in
Fig. 1b. The lighthouse and other buildings must have
been built supported by pile foundations as they did not
seem to experience excessive settlement after more than
130 years based on the comparison of photos from years
1880 and 2013 (Figs. 3a and 3d). The historic east
seawall currently can not be observed in the field, and
the west seawall has become apparently the current east
coastline of Port of Muara Baru. The buildings shown in
years 1880 and 1938 photos do not exist at present. The
lighthouse appears currently to be lower than the road,
but this is due to additional fill material placed in year
2012, as reported by Attahiyat (2013).
KALI BESAR DRAW BRIDGE

Kali Besar pedestrian draw bridge, known as the

Hoenderpasarbrug, was built prior to 1890 based on the
oldest photo available (Merrillees 2001), and it connects
at present Jalan Kali Besar Timur and Jalan Kali Besar
Barat. No direct information about the as-built
conditions of the draw bridge is available. The location
of the bridge was about 300 m from the 1627 coastline
as shown in Fig. 1b. Some sequential photos of the
lighthouse are shown in Fig. 4; the year 1905 photo and
1931 photo (looking north) are the collections of the a. Year 1880
Tropen Museum (KIT, 2013d,e) and the year 2013 photo
(looking north) is a collection of the author.
The location of draw bridge appears to be an
excavation area, based on the comparison between the
1627 map (KIT 2013a) and the 1669 map (PU 2013).
The excavation was conducted during the straightening
of Kali Besar around year 1632 (e.g., Heuken 2007).
The draw bridge must have been built supported by pile
foundations, as the high water line has been relatively at
the same level for more than 100 years based on the
comparison of photos from years 1905 and 2013 (Figs.
4a and 4c). This observation indicates that the draw
bridge has not experienced excessive settlement since b. Year 1938
year 1905.

DISCUSSION

The geotechnical conditions of the area include a

layer of very soft to soft silt-clay to depths of from 10 m
to 15 m. This layer is geotechnically very young. As
they have not experienced excessive settlement, the
considered 150 year old and 120 year old structures must
have been supported by pile foundations to the bearing
layers at depths of from 15 m to 20 m. It is noted that
c. Year 2010
piles foundations have been used in Jakarta for more
than 200 years.
The photo analyses suggest that the lighthouse in
Port of Muara Baru and the Kali Baru draw bridge have
not experienced excessive settlement. For the lighthouse,
this can be observed from the lighthouse elevation
relative to the water elevation, while for the draw bridge,
this can be observed from the level of high water line. It
is likely that this satisfactory long term behavior is
related to the presumably use of pile foundations.
This satisfactory long term behavior appears to be
contradictory to the observed ground surface settlement
(e.g., Abidin et al. 2011). Nevertheless, the probable
explanation would be that the ground surface settlement
has been due to a shallow phenomenon, namely the d. Year 2013
consolidation of very soft to soft silt-clay layers induced
by land development, as suggested by Prakoso (2013). Fig. 3 Photos of Lighthouse (sources: see text)

a. Year 1905
b. Year 1931
c. Year 2013
Fig. 4 Photos of Kali Besar Draw Bridge (sources: see
text)
Referring further to Prakoso (2013), the general trend
of the ground surface settlement rate decreases with
time; the rate mean value would decrease from 0.45
m/year for the period of between year 1 and 2 to 0.07
m/year for the period of between year 4 and 5. The long
term subsidence rate would be much smaller, about 0.01
m/year for the period of between year 5 and 20. This
implies that the projection of northern Jakarta
completely inundated by year 2050 may not be realistic.
CONCLUSIONS
The objective of this paper was to elaborate the
argument by the author that the land subsidence in
northern Jakarta is a shallow phenomenon, primarily due
to the consolidation of soft soil layers induced by the
land development of the areas. The long-term behavior
of two historical piled structures was explored in this
context. The first structure is the lighthouse built prior
to 1862 (more than 150 years old) located in currently
known as the Port of Muara Baru, and the second
structure is the Kali Besar pedestrian draw bridge built
prior to 1890 (more than 120 years old). Historical
evidence of the use of pile foundations in Jakarta during
the colonial era and the area geotechnical conditions of
the area were examined, and it was concluded that these
structures must have been supported by pile foundations.
The historical photo analyses suggest that both
structures have not experienced excessive settlement.
This satisfactory long term behavior appears to be
contradictory to the observed ground surface settlement,
and the probable explanation would be that the ground
surface settlement has been due to a shallow
phenomenon.
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