Mat (or Raft) Foundations

Forum Place; Harrisburg, PA

10ft thick, 2700 yd3 concrete mat

Mat (or Raft) Foundations
 RAFT FOUNDATION
When do we need to resort to RAFT ?
 A foundation system in which essentially the
entire building is placed on a large continuous
footing.
 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.
 It is normally consists of a concrete slab
which extends over the entire loaded area.
 It may be stiffened by ribs or beams
incorporated into the foundation.
 Raft foundations have the advantage of
reducing differential settlements as the
concrete slab resists differential movements
between loading positions.
 They are often needed on soft or loose soils
with low bearing capacity as they can
spread the loads over a larger area.
Mat Foundation often considered to be
used when dealing with the following
conditions:
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.
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.
e)The uplift loads are larger than spread
footings can accommodate. 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 resist hydrostatic uplift forces from
the groundwater.
 Advantages
 Usually large concrete slab supporting
many columns
 Commonly used as foundation for silos,
large machinery
 Provides larger FOS against bearing
failure:
 reduces bearing pressure

 at the same time increases bearing

capacity
MAT/RAFT FOUNDATION
 Foundations

Beam and slab Raft Foundation

 Structural Design of Mat
Foundations
 Rigid method
 Mat is extremely rigid
 Contact pressure is planar
 Same assumptions used in spread footing design
 Simplified Elastic Methods
 Mat behaves like an elastic plate that is supported
on a bed of elastic springs
 Finite Difference Method
 Finite Element Method
 Types of Mat Foundations

 Flat concrete slab of uniform thickness

 Slab thickened under larger column loads
 Slabs with pedestals to support heavier column
loads
 Slabs with two-way beams
 Cellular structures
 Rigid frames consisting of slabs and basement
walls
Mat (or Raft) Foundation
Concrete Slab of Uniform
Thickness
Slab Thickened under Heavier
Columns
Slabs with Pedestals to Support
Heavier Columns
Slabs with Two-Way Beams
 Foundation Mat with Cellular
Structure; Walls act as stiffeners
Important:
1-Raft foundations are a specialist form of construction. It
is essential that they be designed and supervised by an
appropriately qualified engineer.

2-The engineer appointed must be qualified

by examination, be in private practice, and possess
professional indemnity insurance.

3-A site investigation must be carried out by the engineer

and the raft designed taking into consideration the result
of such investigation.
The construction must be supervised and completed to the
engineer's satisfaction.