Republic of the Philippines

CAPIZ STATE UNIVERSITY

MAIN CAMPUS-ROXAS CITY
Graduate School Department

ADVANCED WOODWORKING

Cheeny Tamayo
Evelyn Fortit Melchor Lavezora
Reporter Professor

FOUNDATIONS OF A BUILDING

A foundation (or, more commonly, base) is the element of an architectural structure which connects it to the
ground, and transfers loads from the structure to the ground. Foundations are generally considered
either shallow or deep. A foundation is a lower portion of building structure that transfers its gravity loads to
the earth. Foundations are generally broken into two categories: shallow foundations and deep foundations.

Historic foundation types

Earthfast or post in ground construction
Buildings and structures have a long history of being built with wood in contact with the ground. Post in
ground construction may technically have no foundation. Timber pilings were used on soft or wet ground even
below stone or masonry walls. In marine construction and bridge building a crisscross of timbers or steel beams
in concrete is called grillage.
Padstones
Perhaps the simplest foundation is the padstone, a single stone which both spreads the weight on the ground and
raises the timber off the ground. Staddle stones are a specific type of padstone.
Stone foundations
Dry stone and stones laid in mortar to build foundations are common in many parts of the world. Dry laid stone
foundations may have been painted with mortar after construction. Sometimes the top, visible course of stone is
hewn, quarried stones. Besides using mortar, stones can also be put in a gabion.One disadvantage is that if using
regular steel rebars, the gabion would last much less long than when using mortar (due to rusting).
Using weathering steel rebars could reduce this disadvantage somewhat.
Rubble trench foundations
Rubble trench foundations are a shallow trench filled with rubble or stones. These foundations extend below
the frost line and may have a drain pipe which helps groundwater drain away. They are suitable for soils with a
capacity of more than 10 tonnes/m (2,000 pounds per square foot).

Modern foundation types

1. SHALLOW FOUNDATIONS

Shallow foundations are also called spread footings or open footings. The 'open' refers to the fact that the
foundations are made by first excavating all the earth till the bottom of the footing, and then constructing the
footing. During the early stages of work, the entire footing is visible to the eye, and is therefore called an open
foundation. The idea is that each footing takes the concentrated load of the column and spreads it out over a
large area, so that the actual weight on the soil does not exceed the safe bearing capacity of the soil.
There are several kinds of shallow footings: individual footings, strip footings and raft foundations.
A. Individual footings are one of the most simple and common types of foundations. These are used when
the load of the building is carried by columns. Usually, each column will have its own footing. The
footing is just a square or rectangular pad of concrete on which the column sits. To get a very rough idea
of the size of the footing, the engineer will take the total load on the column and divide it by the safe
bearing capacity (SBC) of the soil. For example, if a column has a vertical load of 10T, and the SBC of
the soil is 10T/m2, then the area of the footing will be 1m2. In practice, the designer will look at many
other factors before preparing a construction design for the footing.
 B. Strip footings are commonly found in load-bearing masonry construction, and act as a long strip that
supports the weight of an entire wall. These are used where the building loads are carried by entire
walls rather than isolated columns, such as in older buildings made of masonry.
C. Raft Foundations, also called Mat Foundations, are most often used when basements are to be
constructed. In a raft, the entire basement floor slab acts as the foundation; the weight of the building is
spread evenly over the entire footprint of the building. It is called a raft because the building is like a
vessel that 'floats' in a sea of soil.

Mat Foundations are used where the soil is week, and therefore building loads have to be spread over a
large area, or where columns are closely spaced, which means that if individual footings were used, they
would touch each other.
2. DEEP FOUNDATION

A deep foundation is used to transfer the load of a structure down through the upper weak layer of topsoil to
the stronger layer of subsoil below. There are different types of deep footings including impact driven piles,
drilled shafts, caissons, helical piles, geo-piers and earth stabilized columns. The naming conventions for
different types of footings vary between different engineers. Historically, piles were wood,
later steel, reinforced concrete, and pre-tensioned concrete.

3. PILE FOUNDATIONS

Pile foundation is a type of deep foundation which is used to transfer heavy

loads from the structure to a hard rock strata much deep below the ground
level. There are two types of pile foundations, each of which works in its
own way.

End Bearing Piles

In end bearing piles, the bottom end of the pile rests on a layer of especially
strong soil or rock. The load of the building is transferred through the pile onto the strong layer. In a sense, this
pile acts like a column. The key principle is that the bottom end rests on the surface which is the intersection of
a weak and strong layer. The load therefore bypasses the weak layer and is safely transferred to the strong layer.

Friction Piles

Friction piles work on a different principle. The pile transfers the load of the building to the soil across the full
height of the pile, by friction. In other words, the entire surface of the pile, which is cylindrical in shape, works
to transfer the forces to the soil.

Pile foundations are used to transfer heavy loads of structures through

columns to hard soil strata which is much below ground level and where
shallow foundations such as spread footings and mat footings cannot be
used. This type of foundation is also used to prevent uplift of structure due to
lateral loads such as earthquake and wind forces.

Pile foundations are generally used for soils where soil conditions near the ground surface is not suitable for
heavy loads. The depth of hard rock strata may be 5m to 50m (15 feet to 150 feet) deep from the ground
surface.

The pile foundations resists the loads from structure by skin friction and by end bearing. Use of pile foundations
also prevents differential settlement of foundations.
Types of Foundation and their Uses:
1. Spread footings and wall footings:
Spread footings are those whose base is more wider than a typical load
bearing wall foundations. This is used in case of buildings. The wider base
of this footing type spreads the weight from the building structure over
more area and provides better stability.

Spread footings and wall footings are generally used for individual
columns. walls and bridge piers. These footings are used where the bearing
soil layer is within 3m (10 feet) from the ground surface. The soil bearing capacity must be sufficient to support
the weight of the structure over the base area of the structure. These foundations should not be used on soils
where there is any possibility of ground flow of water above bearing layer of soil which may result in scour or
liquefaction.
2. Mat Foundations:
Mat foundations are the types of foundation which are spread across the
entire area of the building to support heavy structural loads from
columns and walls. The use of mat foundation is for columns and walls
foundations where the loads from the structure on columns and walls
are very high. This type of foundation is used to prevent differential
settlement of individual footings, thus designed as a single mat (or
combined footing) of all the load bearing elements of the structure.

This type of foundation is suitable for expansive soils whose bearing capacity is less for suitability of spread
footings and wall footings. This type of footing is economical generally when one-half area of the structure is
covered with individual footings and wall footings is provided.

These foundations should not be used where the ground water table is above the bearing surface of the soil. Use
of foundation in such conditions may lead to scour and liquefaction.

3. Drilled Shafts or Caisson Foundation

Drilled shafts is also a type of deep foundation and has action similar to pile
foundations discussed above, but are high capacity cast-in-situ foundations. It is also
called as caissons. It resists loads from structure through shaft resistance, toe resistance
and / or combination of both of these. The construction of drilled shafts or caissons are
done using an auger.

This foundation can transfer column loads larger than pile foundations. It is used where
depth of hard strata below ground level is location within 10m to 100m (25 feet to 300
feet).

Drilled shafts or caisson foundation is not suitable when deep deposits of soft clays and loose, water-bearing
granular soils exists. It is also not suitable for soils where caving formations are difficult to stabilize, soils made
up of boulders, artesian aquifer exists.