12/30/2015

WhatisRaftFoundation?DifferencebetweenRaftFoundationsandMatFoundation

WhatisRaftFoundation?DifferencebetweenRaftFoundationsandMatFoundation
Don't confuse about raft and mat foundation. Raft foundation is mat
foundation.Nowwhatisraftfoundation?
Raft foundation is a thick concrete slab reinforced with steel which covers the
entire contact area of the structure like a thick floor. Sometimes area covered
byraftmaybegreaterthanthecontactareadependingonthebearingcapacity
of the soil underneath. The reinforcing bars runs normal to each other in both
topandbottomlayersofsteelreinforcement.

Sometimes inverted main beams and secondary beams are used to carry
column loads that require thicker foundation slab considering economy of the
structure.Bothbeamscastmonolithicallywithraftslab.

Now I shall discuss where

raftfoundationsarerequired.
Raft foundation is required
where soils have low bearing
capacity and have to support
heavystructuralloads.

Normally
structures
on
marshy land, soft clay and
land that are made up of
sanitary land fill or other
materials
(like
debris,
unconsolidated soil and solid
waste etc. where differential
settlement is suspected)
require raft foundation. Raft
foundations are preferred in
the soil that are suspected to
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12/30/2015

WhatisRaftFoundation?DifferencebetweenRaftFoundationsandMatFoundation

subsidence.Subsidencemayoccurfromdifferentsourceslikechangeinground
waterlevelduetoclimaticchangespeciallyincaseexpansivesoilorfoundation
inminingarea.

In one words, where deep foundation like pile foundation are not economical
and feasible and isolated column footing is impracticable due to large footing
size or overlapping of neighbor footing , raft foundation is the economical
solution.

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