• Foundation

Bottom most part of the structure which carries the load of the
structure including its own weight and transmits it to the underlying /
surrounding soil and /or rock safely.

• Foundation Engineering (deals with sub-structures)

An art that deals with (i) determining the ability of the earth to
support the load (ii) designing the proper transition member to
transmit the super-structure load into the ground safely.

• Purpose of the Foundation

The enlarged base area of the column/wall (i.e. footing) reduces the
contact pressure between the footing and soil. This prevents
excessive settlement and shear failure (BC failure).

• Basic Foundation Types

Shallow Df/B  1 (after Terzaghi)
Generally Df  3 m
Deep Df/B > 4+ or depth > 3 m
 TYPES OF FOUNDATION
1) Shallow Foundation System
a) Spread Foundation
b) Mat / Raft Foundation

2) Deep Foundation System

a) Piles b) Piers
c) Caissons
 1.SHALLOW FOUNDATION
Advantages
a) Cost effective (affordable)
b) Construction Procedure (simple)
c) Material (mostly concrete, masonry)
d) Labor (doesn’t need expertise)
It can be of two types
1a: Spread Footing Foundation
1b: Raft/Mat Foundation
 1-a SPREAD FOOTING/FOUNDATION

 Also known as a footer or footing

 It’s an enlargement at the bottom of a column/ bearing wall
that spreads the applied structural loads over a sufficiently
large soil area.
 Each column & each bearing wall has its own spread
footing, so each structure may include dozens of individual
footings.
 Most common type of foundation used due to their low cost
& ease of construction.
 Most often used in small to medium size structure with
moderate to good soil condition.
 Spread footings may be built in different
shapes & sizes to accommodate
individual needs such as the following:
a) Square Spread Footings
b) Rectangular Spread Footings
c) Circular Spread Footings
d) Continuous Spread Footings
e) Combined Footings
f) Ring Spread Footings
g) Strap footings
Types of Spread Footing
Types of Spread Footing
Pad Footings in a row

Column

Footing
Strip/continuous footing

Retaining
wall

RC Wall Footings
 SPREAD FOOTING /FOUNDATION

a) Square Footings / Pad Foundations

- support a single centrally located column
- use concrete mix 1:2:4 and reinforcement
- the reinforcement in both axes are provided to
resist/carry tension loads.
b) Rectangular Footings
- Useful when obstructions prevent
construction of a square footing with a
sufficiently large base area and when large
moment loads are present in one direction
c) Circular Footings
- are round in plan view
- most frequently used as foundation for light
poles, flagpoles and power transmission lines.
 SPREAD FOOTING / FOUNDATION
d) Continuous / Strip Foundation
- Used to support bearing walls
e) Combined Footings
- support more than one column
- useful when columns are located too close together for
each to have its own footing
f) Ring Footings
- continuous footings that have been wrapped into a circle
- commonly used to support the walls above-ground
circular storage tanks.
- The contents of these tanks are spread evenly across the
total base area and this weight is probably greater than
that of the tank itself.
- Therefore the geotechnical analyses of tanks usually treat
them as circular foundations with diameters equal to the
diameter of the tank.
g). Strap Footing
-When spread footing is to construct
near the property line, the footing is
loaded eccentrically
- The exterior eccentrically loaded
footing is connected with first interior
footing using a grade beam known as
Strap.
- This arrangement which is very similar
to combined footing provides the
necessary moment in the exterior footing
to counter the eccentric load.
- Most of the times, all the spread
footings are connected with grade/tie
beams in a structure to provide more
rigidity to the foundation system.
 1b. RAFT FOUNDATION
 A foundation system in which essentially the
entire building is placed on a large continuous
footing covering the whole footprint building area.
 It is a flat concrete slab, heavily reinforced with steel,
which carries the downward loads of the individual
columns or walls.
 Raft foundations are used to spread the load from a
structure over a large area, normally the entire area of
the structure reducing differential settlement.
 They are often needed on soft or loose soils with low
bearing capacity as they can spread the loads over a
larger area.
RAFT/MAT FOUNDATION
 Conditions demanding Mat Foundation

a) The structural loads are so high or the soil condition so

poor that spread footings would be exceptionally large.
As a general rule of thumb, if spread footings would
cover more than 50% of the building footprint area, a
mat or some type of deep foundation will usually be
more economical.
b) The soil is very erratic & prone to excessive differential
settlements. The structure continuity and flexural
strength of a mat will bridge over these irregularities.
The same is true of mats on highly expansive soils
prone to differential heaves.
Conditions demanding Mat Foundation

c) The structural loads are erratic and thus

increase the likelihood of excessive
differential settlements. Again, the structural
continuity and flexural strength of the mat will
absorb these irregularities.
d) The lateral loads are not uniformly distributed
through the structure and thus may cause
differential horizontal movements in spread
footings and pile caps.
The continuity of a mat will resist such
movement.
 Conditions demanding Mat Foundation

e) The uplift loads larger than spread footings can

be accommodated. The greater weight and
continuity of a mat may provide sufficient
resistance.
f) The bottom of the structure is located below the
groundwater table, so waterproofing is an
important concern. Because mats are
monolithic, they are much easier to waterproof.
The weight of the mat also helps in resisting the
hydrostatic uplift forces from the groundwater.
 DEEP FOUNDATIONS
1. PILES
• A slender, structural member consisting of
steel or concrete or timber.

• It is installed in the ground to transfer the

structural loads to soils at some significant
depth below the base of the structure.

• Piles (typical) extend to depth of 50 ft. or

more.
 APPLICATIONS OF PILES

Various applications of pile foundation Frame structure supported on pile foundation

 PILES FOUNDATION IS USED WHEN:

 The soil near the surface doesn’t have sufficient bearing

capacity to support the structural loads.
 The upper soil subjected to scour or undermining as in
case of foundations of bridges.
 A large uplift capacity is required (the uplift capacity of
shallow foundation is very limited due to lesser weight).
 A large lateral load capacity is required.
 There will be a future excavation adjacent to the
foundation and this may undermine the shallow
foundation.
 LOAD CAN BE TRANSFERRED BY PILE
TO THE GROUND IN TWO WAYS:

a) End Bearing Piles

- Pile will transmit load into the firm soil layer of the ground such as rock,
gravel, very dense sand
b) Friction Piles
- Pile transmits the load from the structure to the penetrable soil by
means of skin friction or cohesion between the soil & the embedded
surface of the pile. (generally in clays)
 DEEP FOUNDATIONS
2. PIERS
 It’s a vertical bridge support resting on
bed rock or pile supported cap slab.
 It’s a foundation for carrying a heavy
structural load which is constructed in site
in a deep excavation.
Pier
Pier
DEEP FOUNDATIONS

3. CAISSON FOUNDATION
 WHAT IS CAISSON?
 It’s a prefabricated hollow box or cylinder.
 It is sunk into the ground to some desired
depth and then filled with concrete thus
forming a foundation.
 Most often used in the construction of
bridge piers & other structures that require
foundation beneath rivers & other bodies of
water.
Caissons can be floated to the job site and
then sunk into place.
Caissons
Reinforced Concrete Caissons
Caisson as one of the elements in this structure