,

HARAMAYA UNIVERSITY
HiT
Department of Civil Engineering

Geotechnical Engineering Design-I

Oliyad M. (MSc.)
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2. Foundation Types and Their
Selections

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• Definition: The lowest artificially built part of
a structure which transmits the load of the
structure to the ground is called foundation.
• The foundation of a structure is always
constructed below ground level to increase the
lateral stability of the structure.
• The stability of a structure depends upon the
stability of the supporting soil.
• Two important factors to be considered are:-
– It must be stable against shear failure
– It must not be settle beyond the limit

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firm
ground

bed rock weak soil

bed rock

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Purposes Of Foundations
•Foundations are used for the following purposes:
i. To distribute the load of the structure over a
large bearing area.
ii. To load the bearing surface at a uniform rate so
as to prevent unequal settlement.
iii.To prevent the lateral movement of the
supporting material.
iv.To secure a level and firm bed for building
operations.
v. To increase the stability of the structure as a
whole.

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Types of Foundations
Foundations can be broadly classified into the following two
categories:
– Shallow foundations
– Deep foundations
1. Shallow Foundations :- The foundations provided
immediately beneath the lowest part of the structure, near to
the ground level are known as shallow foundations.
Shallow foundations are further classified into the following
types:
Spread or Isolated footings
Combined footing
Cantilever footing
Continuous or wall footing
Raft foundation
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 Classification of foundation
• Shallow foundation
– Footings
• Spread footing
– Continuous (strip or wall ) footing
– Isolated (individual) footing
• Strap/cantilever footing
• Combined footing
– Rectangular
– trapezoidal
– Rafts(mats)
Deep footings(continuous or isolated)
• Deep foundation Piles
Piers
caissons
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 Spread or Isolated Footings: used to support individual
column.
It is a pad used to ‘spread out’ loads from walls or
columns over a large area of foundation soil.
• These are the most common type of foundation,
primarily because of their cost and ease of construction.
• They are most often used:
– in small to medium size structures,
– on sites with moderate to good soil conditions,
– on some large structures when they are located
at sites underlain by exceptionally good soil or
shallow bedrock.
• Isolated footings are stepped type, simple type or slope
type
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Combined Footing: supports two or sometimes
three column in a row.
• Combined footing is used when property lines,
equipment locations, column spacing or other
considerations limit the footing clearance at the
column locations.
• Combined footing can be:
• rectangular in shape if both the columns carry
equal loads, or
• trapezoidal if there is a space limitation and they
carry unequal loads.
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Cantilever or Strap Footing: consists of two
individual footings connected by a beam called a
strap.
• Cantilever footing may be used:
• where the distance between the columns is so
great that a trapezoidal combined footing
becomes quite narrow, with resulting high
bending moments. Therefore a strap footing is
more economical than a combined footing when the
allowable soil pressure is relatively high and the
distance between the columns is large.
• The strap beam does not remain in contact with soil
so a strap doesn’t transfer any pressure to the soil.
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A
A

a1 a2

b1 b2

Strap beam

D2
D1

b1 b2

Section
Property line
A-A

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Continuous or wall footing or strip
footing:
• In this type of footing, a single continuous
reinforced concrete slab is provided as
foundation of load bearing wall.
• A strip footing is also provided for a row of
columns which are so closely spaced that their
spread footings overlap or nearly touch each
other.

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 Columns
A
C

Wall b b

A
Plan C Plan

Wall
Column
Footing Footing

D D
b
b

Section A.A Section C-C

Wall on footing Columns on footing

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Mat (Raft) Foundation: is a combined footing that
covers the entire area beneath a structure and
supports all the columns.
• Foundation engineers often consider mats when
dealing with any one of the following conditions:
– The structural loads are so high or the soil
conditions so poor that spread footings would be
exceptionally large.
As a general rule of thumb, if spread footings
would cover more than 50 percent of the building
footprint area, a mat or some type of deep
foundation will usually be more economical.
– The soil is very erratic and prone to excessive
differential settlement.
– The structural loads are erratic, and thus increase
the likelihood of excessive differential
settlement.

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– The lateral loads are not uniformly distributed
through the structure and thus may cause differential
horizontal movement in spread footings.

– The uplift loads are lager than spread footings can

accommodate.

– The bottom of the structure is located below ground

water table, so waterproofing is an important
concern. Because mats are monolithic, they are
easier to waterproof.

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Flat plate mat foundation Two-way beam and slab
(Ribbed mat)

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 2.Deep Foundations: When the soil at or near
the ground surface is not capable of supporting a
structure, deep foundations are required to transfer the
loads to deeper strata.
• Deep foundations are, therefore, used
» when surface soil is unsuitable for shallow
foundation, and a firm stratum is so deep
that it cannot be reached economically by
shallow foundations.
• The most common types of deep foundations are piles,
piers and caissons.

• Pile: is a slender structural member made of steel,

concrete or wood.
• A pile is either driven into the soil or formed in-
situ by excavating a hole and filling it with
concrete.
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• Pier: A pier is a vertical column of relatively large
cross-section than a pile.
» A pier is installed in a dry area excavating
a cylindrical hole of large diameter to the
desired depth and then backfilling it with
concrete.
• Caisson: A caisson is a type of foundation of the
shape of hollow prismatic box, which is built above
the ground and then sunk to the required depth as a
single unit.
• It is a watertight box or chamber used for laying
foundation under water.
• A pier and caisson differ basically only in the method
of construction
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GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF FOUNDATION DESIGN
• Before actual design, it is essential to estimate the dead load,
live load and other loads.
• Depth of footing , its length and width should be required
before the actual design.
• The investigation of the site should be first carried out
• And then the footing is designed using the ff procedures
– The safe bearing capacity should be calculated on the basis of soil data
– The footing is proportioned making use of the safe bearing capacity
– The maximum settlement of the footing is determined
– Compare the allowable settlement with the maximum settlement
– The safety of the footing is checked against sliding and overturning
– The factor of safety against sliding should not be less than 1.5-1.75
– The factor of safety against overturning should not be less than 1.5-2.0

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• Loads on Foundation
• A foundation may be subjected to two or more of the
following loads.
• a) Dead load:
• Weight of structure
» All material permanently attached to structure
» Static earth pressure acting permanently against the
structure below ground surface.
» Water pressure acting laterally against basement walls and
vertically against slab.

• b) Live load: temporary loads expected to

superimpose on the structure during its useful life.

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• c) Wind load:- lateral load coming from the action of wind.
-Local building codes provide magnitude of design
wind pressure.

• d) Earth-quake load:- lateral load coming from earth- quake

motion.
-The total lateral force (base shear) at the base of a
structure is evaluated in accordance with local
building code.
• e) Dynamic load:- load coming from a vibrating object
(machinery).
– In such case, separate foundation should be provided. The
impact effect of such loads should be considered in design.

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• Pressure Distribution Beneath Foundations
• This is the distribution of the pressure between the base of the
foundation and the ground.
• The pattern of the distribution varies according to the stiffness
of the foundation.

b)
a)

Pressure distribution under a rigid footing

a) On cohessionless soil
b) On cohesive soil
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a) b)

Pressure distribution under a flexible footing

a) On clay soil
b) On granular soil

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Approximate contact pressure
distribution
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Eccentric Loads or Moments

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Eccentric Loads or Moments

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Two-way Eccentric Loads or
Moments

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 ea
.
b eb

a
max
 = P/ab (16eb/b 6ea/a)
min
For contact pressure to remain (+) ve
everywhere,
6e B 6e L
  1 .0
B L 36
 •Settlement of Foundations
l1 l2 l3

Ground Level
Original foundation level

1
 max
2 3
1,2,3 = Differential sett.,  = Greatest differential sett.
max = maximum total sett., l1,l2,l3= Bay width, /l = angular distortion
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 NO SETTLEMENT * TOTAL SETTLEMENT * DIFFERENTIAL

SETTLEMENT
Uniform settlement is usually of little consequence in a building, but
differential settlement can cause severe structural damage

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• From statistical analysis Skempton and MacDonald concluded
that as long as the angular distortion , /l of a building is less
than 1/300, there should be no settlement damage.

1. Recommendation of Skempton and MacDonald

i) Settlements on sand
a) isolated footings /l = max/600, max  2inches

b) rafts /l = max/750, max  2 1/2inches

ii) Settlements on clay
a) isolated footings /l = max/1000, max  3.3inches

b) rafts /l = max/1250, max  4 1/4inches

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2. Recommendation of Bowles

Types of soil Type of foundations

Isolated Rafts

Sand 3.8cm 3.8-6.4cm

clay 6.4cm 6.4cm-10.2cm

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3. Recommendation of EBCS7-1995

Types of Isolated rafts

soils
Sand 5.0cm 5.0cm
clay 7.5cm 7.5cm

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• Selection of Foundation Type
• In selecting the foundation type the following points must be
considered
• Function of the structure
• Loads it must carry
• Subsurface conditions
• Cost of foundation in comparison with the cost of the
superstructure.
• Having these points in mind one should apply the following
steps in order to arrive at a decision.
• Obtain at least approximate information concerning
the nature of the superstructure and the loads to be
transmitted to the foundation
• Determine the subsurface condition in a general way.

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• Consider each of the usual types of foundations in order to judge
whether or not
• They could be constructed under existing conditions.
• They are capable of carrying the required load.
• They experience serious differential settlements.
• The types that are found to be unsuitable should then be
eliminated.
• Undertake a detailed study of the most promising types. Such a
study may require additional information on loads and subsurface
conditions.
• Determine the approximate size of footing or the approximate
length and number of piles required
• Prepare an estimate for the cost of each promising type of
foundation.
• Select the type that represents the most acceptable compromise
between performance and cost.

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THANK YOU