Mansoura University 
Faculty of Engineering 
Civil Engineering Dep. 
 
 
 
 

FOUNDATION ENGINEERING 
Prof. ADEL KAMEL GABR
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 

 
Lecture 8: Design of raft foundations  
 

Contents 
 (FOUNDATION DESIGN) 
 
Lecture 1   BEARING CAPACITY 
Lecture 2    Stability of Buildings 
Lecture 3    Design of isolated footing (N‐Only) 
Lecture 4    Design of isolated footing (N‐M) 
Lecture 5    Design of strap beam 
Lecture 6    Design of combined footing 
Lecture 7    Design of Strip footing 
Lecture 8    Design of raft foundation 
 

 
 
 
 

‐ 2 ‐ | P a g e                                                                                                   Prof. Adel Kamel Gabr 
                                                                                                                Faculty of Engineering – Mansoura University 
 

 
Lecture 8: Design of raft foundations  

Raft (Mat) ‐ Foundations 
A raft foundation, also called a mat foundation, is essentially a continuous slab

resting on the soil that extends over the entire footprint of the building, thereby supporting

the building and transferring its weight to the ground.

A raft foundation is often used when the soil is weak, as it distributes the weight of

the building over the entire area of the building, and not over smaller zones (like individual

footings) or at individual points (like pile foundations). This reduces the stress on the soil.

A raft foundation is also very good for basements. Foundations are created by

excavating soil in order to find strong, compact, undisturbed natural soil that is at least a few

feet below ground level. This soil is much stronger than the loose soil at the surface. If we

construct a raft foundation at say 10 feet below ground, and build concrete walls around the

periphery, this makes an excellent basement. Therefore, an engineer designing a building

with a basement will tend to choose a raft foundation over other types of foundations.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

‐ 3 ‐ | P a g e                                                                                                   Prof. Adel Kamel Gabr 
                                                                                                                Faculty of Engineering – Mansoura University 
 

 
Lecture 8: Design of raft foundations  
Example 1: -
Design the foundation of a minaret (‫ )ﻣﺄﺫﻧﺔ‬of height 35.00 m, and 3.0×3.0 m and Columns
dimensions (50 x 50) cm in plan shown in Fig. (1), the bore log at the site of construction is
shown in Fig. (2).The weight of this structure is 7.0 t/m’ of its height excluded the foundation
weight, and the intensity of the wind load applied is 0.10 t/m’ of the minaret height.

‐ 4 ‐ | P a g e                                                                                                   Prof. Adel Kamel Gabr 
                                                                                                                Faculty of Engineering – Mansoura University 
 

 
Lecture 8: Design of raft foundations  
1- Calculate the footing area (Width and Length of R.C footing).

1- Weight of minaret:-
w / m  7.0 t / m
w  7.0  35.0  245 tons  
Pw 245 .0
AP .C    20 .42 m 2
q all 12 .0
AP .C  B p .c  L p .c  20 .42 m 2 1
L p .c  B p .c 2
get 
 
L p .c  4.52 m  4.60 m B p .c  4.60 m
 LR .c  L p .c  2 t p .c  4.60  2  0.40  3.80 m
 BR .c  B p .c  2 t p .c  4.60  2  0.40  3.80 m

2- Check stability of minaret:-

2-1 Weight of footing:-

O.W of footing =O.W of R.C footing + O.W of P.C footing

Assume t R.C  60 cm  

Assume t P.C  40 cm

 2.50  (3.8  3.8  0.60)  2.20  ( 4.6  4.6  0.40)  40.30 tons  

‐ 5 ‐ | P a g e                                                                                                   Prof. Adel Kamel Gabr 
                                                                                                                Faculty of Engineering – Mansoura University 
 

 
Lecture 8: Design of raft foundations  
2-2 Check of overturning:-
At point - A
M st
F .O.S   1 .0  
M ot

M st  Moment due to weight of the minaret. 

M st  ( 245  40.30)  2.40  684.72 t.m  

M ot  Moment due to wind load. 

W  0.10  35 .0  3.50 tons

35 .0 1.0
M ot  3.5  (  )  63 .0 t .m  
2 .0 2 .0
684 .72
F .O.S   10 .86  1.0  
63 .0
O.K. safe
2-3 Check of Stresses:-
N My
F21   X
A Iy
N  245  40 .30  285 .30 tons
A  21 .16 m 2
35 .0 1.0
M y  3 .5  (  )  63 .0 t .m
2 .0 2 .0
4.60 4
Iy   37 .31 m 4
12 .0
4.60
X   2.30 m
2 .0
N My 285 .30 63 .0
F21   X    2.30
A Iy 21 .16 37 .31
F1  17 .36 t / m 2  B.C  12 .0 t / m 2 Unsafe
F2  9.60 t / m 2  B.C  12 .0 t / m 2 O.Ksafe
Unsafe stresses increase dimension of the footing. 

Use a concrete dimension (5.0 m x 5.0 m) 

‐ 6 ‐ | P a g e                                                                                                   Prof. Adel Kamel Gabr 
                                                                                                                Faculty of Engineering – Mansoura University 
 

 
Lecture 8: Design of raft foundations  
O.W  2.50  (5.0  5.0  0.60)  2.20  (5.8  5.8  0.40)  67.10 tons  
N My
F21   X
A Iy
N  245  67 .10  312 .10 tons
A  33 .64 m 2
35 .0 1.0
M y  3 .5  (  )  63 .0 t .m
2 .0 2 .0  
5.80 4
Iy   94 .30 m 4
12 .0
5.80
X   2.90 m
2 .0
N My 312 .10 63 .0
F21   X    2.90
A Iy 33 .64 94 .30
F1  11 .21 t / m 2  B.C  12 .0 t / m 2 O.K safe  
F2  7.34 t / m 2  B.C  12 .0 t / m 2 O.K safe
 
 
 
 

‐ 7 ‐ | P a g e                                                                                                   Prof. Adel Kamel Gabr 
                                                                                                                Faculty of Engineering – Mansoura University 
  

 
Lecture 8: Design of raft foundations  
 We can assume that this system is a combined footing, so we can design every two column as a 
combined footing as following:‐ 
2- Design of Combined footing (straining actions).
R 312.0
F1    62.40 t / m  
LR.C 5. 0
- Shear force diagram

Q1  0.00
Q2  62.40  1.0  62.40 tons
Q3  62.40  (1.0  0.50)  156  62.40 tons
Q4  156  62.40  (1.0  0.50)  62.40 tons  
Q5  62.40  1.0  62.40 tons
Q6  0.00
- Bending moment diagram
Max moment at zero shear
For Point (b):-
Shear force at point a = 0.00
F  X 1  P1  0.00
62 .40  Z 1  156  0.00  
get  X 1  2.50 m
Moment at point b
b1 X
M @ c  P1  ( X 1  )  F  X 1  1  .... t.m
2 2
M @c  156  (1.25)
2.50
 62.40  2.50   0.00 t.m
2
For Point (D):-
Shear force at point D = 0.00
62.4 62.4

X2 0.50  X 2  
get  X 2  0.25 m
Moment at point a
(1.0  0.25) 2
M@D  62.4   48.75 t.m  
2
For Reinforcement, Continue as previous. 

‐ 8 ‐ | P a g e                                                                                                   Prof. Adel Kamel Gabr 
                                                                                                                Faculty of Engineering – Mansoura University