What are the considerations for waterproofing a building's first few floors?

My city's founders had the short-sightedness to place it on the coast. Now, for mysterious reasons, the sea level is rising. The municipal government has decided that building dikes is "too Dutch" and wants to let water claim the city, turning streets into waterways. To do this, they will water-proof the buildings' first few floors. External elevators will deliver goods from the current water level to retrofitted entrances above the highest water point.

My city is densely urban, a mix of one third high-rises (10+ floors), two thirds low-rises (4-9 floors), and the rare 1-3 floor building.

What are the factors they have to watch out for? Are any of these an issue, if so, how major, and how might they be handled?

• Erosion from salt water damaging the largely concrete buildings
• Water saturating the ground and compromising foundations, electrical wires, etc
• Buildings sinking into the ground because it's wet now
• Something else?

Assume that the city has as much time as it needs to waterproof their stuff, and wants the waterproofing to be effective for a few hundred years before repairs need to be made. The technology level is modern (early 21st century) but this is not a Hard Science question.

posted about 8 years ago

SPavel‭

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