Basic Steps of Building a Foundation

Survey and Stake

Before any construction can begin, the home site is surveyed to establish the home's basic footprint
and to ensure the home is set back the appropriate distances from the property lines. The corners of
the home are marked by surveyor's stakes. Offset stakes, which are about two feet out from the
surveyor's stakes, also are placed. The excavator will dig at the offset stakes, creating a slightly larger
hole than the foundation actually will occupy. The extra room enables crews to work on the exterior
of the foundation walls.

Excavation

The depth of the excavation is determined by a structural engineer who considers the soil, the frost
line and the height of the water table (the depth in the soil at which you find water). Surface soil is
removed to expose soil that is compacted enough to bear the load of the home. The excavation must
be deep enough to place the top of the footing below the frost line. This prevents the concrete from
cracking due to the freeze-thaw cycle of the surrounding soil. The excavation cannot be so deep that
it's below the water table, however, because that can cause a chronically wet or flooded basement.

Footings

Footings are poured concrete pathways that help to spread the weight of the home from the foundation
walls to the surrounding soil. Footings are wider than the foundation walls they support, and form the
perimeter of the home. Sometimes, additional footings are added inside the perimeter to support load-
bearing interior walls.

Sub-slab Systems

Plumbing lines are run from the street to the home's basement, by going under or over the footing. In
some regions, soil gas mitigation systems are added to collect the soil gases trapped under the slab
and vent them to the outside. Eventually, these systems will be covered with the poured concrete slab
that is the basement floor.

Foundation Drainage Tile System

This system collects subsurface water and moves it away from the foundation. Foundation drainage
tile consists of a continuous run of perforated drainage pipes embedded in gravel along the outside
perimeter of the footings.

Some building codes require drainage pipes along the inside perimeter of the footings as well.

Sump

In regions where the earth is flat or the soil tends to be wet, a sump may be added to help collect
subsurface water. A sump pump moves the collected water away from the home.

Walls

Foundation walls are constructed by pouring concrete between sets of form work (the total system of
support assemblies for freshly poured concrete, including mold, hardware and necessary bracing.)
Once the concrete gains its full strength, the form work is removed. Foundation wall thickness is
determined by a structural engineer who considers the height of the wall and the load it has to bear.
(Structural load is the force or combination of forces of gravity, wind, and earth that acts upon the
structural system of a home). Wall thickness varies from home to home, and even within a home.
Anchor Bolts

Anchor bolts are embedded at pre-determined points along the top of the foundation walls. They'll be
used during framing to secure the framing to the foundation.

Beam Pockets

Beam pockets are cast in the top of the foundation walls to receive, support, and hold beams in place.

Damp proofing and Waterproofing

A damp proofing or waterproofing seal is applied to the exterior of the foundation walls that
eventually will be below-ground. This slows or stops water from traveling through the walls and into
the basement.

Slab

A 3-inch to 4-inch thick concrete slab is poured between the walls. The slab helps to stabilize the base
of the foundation walls, and also forms the basement floor.

Backfill

Backfill is pushed into the trenches around the exterior of the foundation walls, burying a portion or
all of the walls below the surface for added stability. Ideally, backfill is soil that drains easily.

TRAVERSE SURVEYING
Traverse Surveying is a popular method of surveying. This article includes definition of traverse
surveying along with its classification, errors in traversing, checks, the completed method of
traversing and plotting of traverse survey.

DEFINITION

Traversing is that type of survey in which a number of connected survey lines form the framework
and the directions and lengths of the survey lines are measured with the help of an angle measuring
instrument and a tape or chain respectively.

TYPES OF SURVEYING

There are two types of traverse surveying.

1. Closed traverse: When the lines form a circuit which ends at the starting point, it is known as
closed traverse.
2. Open traverse: When the lines form a circuit ends elsewhere except starting point, it is said to
be an open traverse.

SUITABILITY

The closed traverse is suitable for locating the boundaries of lakes, woods, etc and for survey of large
areas. The open traverse is suitable for surveying a long narrow strip of land as required for a road of
canal or the coast line.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CHAIN AND TRAVERSE SURVEYING

Traverse survey differs from chain surveying in the arrangement of the survey lines is not limited to
any particular geometric figure as in chain surveying, where a system of connected triangles forms the
fundamental basis of the skeleton. Also, check lines etc. are not necessary in traverse as the traverse
lines may be arranged near the details. The details etc. are directly located with respect to the survey
lines either by offsetting or by any other method.

METHODS OF TRAVERSING

There are several methods of traversing, depending on the instruments used in determining the
relative directions of the traverse lines. The following are the principal methods:

 Chain traversing
 Chain and compass traversing
 Transit type traversing a)By fast needle method b)By measurement of angles between the
lines
 Plane table traversing

1. CHAIN TRAVERSING

The method in which the whole work is done with chain and tape is called chain traversing. No angle
measurement is used and the directions of the lines are fixed entirely by linear measurements Angles
fixed by linear or tie measurements are known as chain angles. The method is unsuitable for accurate
work and is generally used if an angle measuring instrument such as a compass, sextant or theodolite
is available.

2. CHAIN AND COMPASS TRAVERSING

In chain and compass traversing, the magnetic bearings of the survey lines are measured by a compass
and the lengths of the lines are measured either with a chain or with a tape. The direction of magnetic
meridian is established at each traverse station independently. The method is also known as tree or
loose needle method.

3. TRAVERSING BY FAST NEEDLE METHOD

The method in which the magnetic bearings of traverse lines are measured by a theodolite fitted with s
compass is called traversing by fast needle method. The direction of the magnetic meridian is not
established at each station but instead, the magnetic bearings of the lines are measured with reference
so that direction of the magnetic meridian established at the first station. There are three methods of
observing the bearings of lines by fast needle method.

 Direct method with transiting

 Direct method without transiting
 Back bearing method

TRAVERSING BY DIRECT OBSERVATION OF ANGLES

In this method, the angles between the lines are directly measured by a theodolite and the magnetic
bearing of other lines can be calculated in this method. The angles measured at different stations may
be either included angles and deflection angles

TRAVERSING BY INCLUDED ANGLE

An included angle at a station is either of the two angles formed n\by two survey lines meeting there
and these angles should be measured clockwise. The method consists simply in measuring each angle
directly form a back sight on the preceding station. The angled may also be measured by repetition.
The angles measured from back station may be interior or exterior depending on the direction of
progress.
TRAVERSING BY INCLUDED ANGLE

In the Fig(a) the direction of progress is counter-clockwise and so the angles measured clockwise are
interior angle. In the Fig(a) the direction of progress is clockwise and so the angles measured
clockwise are exterior angle.

TRAVERSE BY DEFLECTION ANGLES

A deflection angle is the angle which a survey line makes with the prolongation of the preceding line.
It is designated as right (R) or left (L) according as it is measured clockwise or anti-clockwise from
the prolongation of the previous line. This type of traversing is more suitable for survey of roads,
railways, pipe-lines etc where the survey lines make small deflection angles.

ERRORS IN TRAVERSING

The errors involved in closed traversing are two kinds:

1. Linear and
2. angular.

The most satisfactory method of checking the linear measurements consists in chaining each survey
line a second time, preferably in the reverse direction on different dates and by different parties. The
following are checks for the angular work:

Travers by included angles:

The sum of measured interior angles should be equal to (2N-4), where N=number of sides of the
traverse.

If the exterior angles are measured, their sum should be equal to (2N=4)p/2

Travers by definition angles: The algebraic sum of the deflection angles should be equal to 360°,
taking the right hand and deflection angles as a positive and left hand angles as negative.

Traversing by direct observation of bearings: The force bearing of the last line should be equal to
its back bearing ±180° measured from the initial station.

CHECKS IN OPEN TRAVERSE

No direct checks of angular measurement are available. So indirect checks can be made.As illustrated
in the Fig(a) the addition to the observation of bearing of AB at station A, bearing of AD can also be
measured., if possible. Similarly, at D, bearing of DA can be measured and check applied. If the two
bearings differ by 180°, the work may be accepted as correct.
Another method, which furnishes a check when work is plotted is shown as in Fig (b) and consists
reading the bearing to any prominent point P from each of the consecutive stations. The check in
plotting consists in laying off the lines AP, BP, CP, etc and noting whether the lines pass through one
point.

 NOTE

Chain Survey

Chain survey/surveying is an very old method of Surveying. This article includes definition of chain
survey along with all detailed information with necessary images about various aspects of chain
surveying.

Chain used for Chain Surveying

Chain survey is the simplest method of surveying. In chain survey only measurements are taken in the
field, and the rest work, such as plotting calculation etc. are done in the office. Here only linear
measurements are made i.e. no angular measurements are made.This is most suitable adapted to small
plane areas with very few details. If carefully done, it gives quite accurate results.

The necessary requirements for field work are

 Chain
 Tape
 Ranging Rod
 Arrows
 Cross staff

Chain survey is suitable in the following cases:

 Area to be surveyed is comparatively small

 Ground is fairly level
 Area is open and
 Details to be filled up are simple and less.