IRC 78

Section VII
FOUNDATION AND SUBSTRUCTURE
Chap. No. Cl. No. Description
701 Defination and terminology about the various bridge components
Afflux: Rise in the flood level of the river on the upstream of bridge as a result of obstruction
to the natural flow caused by the bridge
701.4 Bearing Capacity
Safe Bearing Capacity
Pier-Intermediate support of the deck (Super Structure)
Piles
Bearing /Friction piles
Bored cast-in-situ pile
Driven cast-in-situ pile
Driven piles
Precast Piles
Batter Piles
Sheet Piles

Retaining wall- Wall Desined to resist pressure of earth

Substructure It includes the wing wall and excluding of the bearing

Well and Cassion Foundation Under water (hollow foundation)

703.2 The mean scour Depth below Highest flood level theoritical formula

703.2.1 Db Design discharge for foundation per mtr width of effective waterway ( based on IRC
 Ksf Silt factor for the representative of bed

703.3 Max. Depth of scour for design of foundation

ith seismic combination

ax is multiply by the 0.9

704 Sub Surface Exploration

705 Depth of Foundation
It should be safe against the sour depth
It should be suffucient for the bearing capacity and stable

Permissible increae in the various numbers 33.5%

for the combination of wind and 50% for the combination of seismic

706.2 Horizontal Force at bearing level

Simply support
706.2.1.2 In case of simply support upto 10m and no bearings are provided horizontal force wi

For simply support elastobearing at each end and resting on unyielding support

Vr Shear Rating of elastometric bearing

lte Movement of deck above bearing other than due to applied force
706.3.3.1 No tension should be permitted under any action

706.3.4 Factor of safety against stability

Friction co-efficient b/w concrete and soil will be tan(phi) phi is being angle of frictio
b/w concrete amd soil and concrete 0.5
b/w rock and concrete 0.8

707 Open Foundation

707.2 Thickness of the footing should not be less than 300 mm
707.2.2 Bending Moment
IT can be determined as one-way slab for the unit width subjected to the worst com
length / width = 1.3 specified

708 Well Foundation

707.2.8 Minimum steel = 250mm2 /m both sides
Max spacing = 300 mm
708.2 Well Steining
708.3.2 Brick grade A - not less than 7Mpa cement mortar 1:3
708.3.3 Vertical reinforcement shall not be less than 0.12% of gross cross sectional area
Vertical tied up with hoop reinforcement not less than 0.04% volume per unit length
709 Pile Foundation
709.1.9

Toatl No. of piles in bridge Min. of test Piles

Upto 50 2
Upto 150 3
Beyond 150 2% of total piles

709.4.1 Structural design of piles

Design stresses of piles as per IRC 112
709.4.5 For precast driven pile resisting stress due to lifting, stacking, and transport
bending from superstructure and bending due to secondary effect
area of longitudinal reinforcement should no the less than the follwing percentage o

709.5 Design of pile cap

Protective paint for the sea near pile cap
Min. thickness 1.5 times dia. Of piles
710 Substructure
Max. Spacing 200mm
2.5kg /m2 in case of plain concrete sub surface
thickness of wall and hollow pier should not be less than 300mm
 710.3 Wall Piers
length of pier is more than 4 times thickenss it is checked for the wall pier
Min. vertical Reinforcment 0.3% of total area
710.4 Abutment
It should be desined to retain earth from the approach embankment
710.5 Abutment pier
It is provided where thre is need for the increasing waterway subsequently
for multiple span arch bridge Abutment pier should be provided after every fifth or s
710.6.5 Wing wall
Wing wall should be designed to resist earth pressure.
710.7 Retaining wall
Minimum thickness of retaining wall is 200 mm
710.7.3 Vertical stem of cantiliver wall shall be desingned as cantiliver fixed base
Vertical face of couterfort shall be designed as the continous support
710.8 Pier and abutment Cap
It should be sufficient to accommodate the following

150mm offset from bearing beyond them

Ballast wall
Space for the jack to lift / reapair / replacement of bearing
Inspection ladder
drainage arrangement for the water on the cap
Seismic arrestor
710.8.2 Thickness of cap over the abutment should not be more than 250mm

Area of footing or base under a bearing or column shal be given by the following eq

c0 Permissible direct compressive strength in the concrete at the bearing are

A1 Dispersed concentric area which is similar to the loaded area a2
A2 loaded area and the projection of the bases or footing beyond the face of

Appendix 1 Guidelines for calculating silt factor for bed material consist of clay
Appendix 2 Guidelines for sub-surface exploration
Laboratory tests
Method for taking soil samples (IS 1892, IS 2132)
Test soil - IS 2720

ap1. 6.0
ap.1 6.4 Laboratory test shall be conducted for determining the following
Classification and particle size
Moisture contenet
density vs moisture relationship
Shearing strength
Permeability

For rock core laboratory test may be done for

Specific Gravity
Porocity
Water Absorption
Compressive strength

ap. 8.0 Classification and characteristic of rocks

Classification of rocks
app. 3 Procedure for stability calculation
1 Formula for active and passive earth pressure
2 Skin Friction
3 Factor of safety over ultimate pressure
FOS 2 for the without wind or seismic force
FOS 1.6 for the wind or seismic forces
a result of obstruction

ective waterway ( based on IRC 5)

are provided horizontal force will be

ting on unyielding support

han due to applied force

(phi) phi is being angle of friction

dth subjected to the worst combination of loads and forces

of gross cross sectional area

n 0.04% volume per unit length.

stacking, and transport

ondary effect
than the follwing percentage of cross sectional area

han 300mm
cked for the wall pier

ch embankment

aterway subsequently
be provided after every fifth or smaller pier

cantiliver fixed base

ntinous support

ore than 250mm

al be given by the following equation

the concrete at the bearing area of the base.

to the loaded area a2
es or footing beyond the face of the bearing or column supported not less than 150mm in any direction

consist of clay
he following