Pre-Activity Assessment

Brainstorming: In small groups, have students engage in open discussion. Remind them that no idea or
suggestion is "silly." All ideas should be respectfully heard. Ask the students: For the following
engineering bridge-building scenarios, which type of foundation would you use, shallow or deep?

 A transportation bridge being built over a wide river where the soil is mostly sandy.
 A transportation bridge being built to go over a very deep ravine.
 A short footbridge over a local stream.
 A portable bridge that can be moved from place to place, for a construction site.
Activity Embedded Assessment
Activity Worksheet: Have students complete the Foundations Worksheet as a team. Using the worksheet,
students record their observations and calculate the bearing pressure that the foundation exerts on the
soil. Have team members check each others work. Review the answers to gauge their mastery of the
subject.
Post-Activity Assessment
Class Discussion: Revisiting the engineering bridge-building scenarios from the pre-activity assessment
brainstorming. After this activity, would the students change any of their answers? For the following
engineering scenarios, which type of foundation would you use, shallow or deep?

 A transportation bridge being built over a wide river where the soil is mostly sandy. (Answer:
Deep foundation.)
 A transportation bridge being built to go over a very deep ravine. (Answer: Deep foundation.)
 A short footbridge over a local stream. (Answer: Shallow foundation.)
 A portable bridge that can be moved from place to place, for a construction site. (Answer: Shallow
foundation.)
Question/Answer: Pose the following questions to the class, or individually as homework:

 For a shallow foundation, what happens to the soil when its bearing pressure capacity is
exceeded? (Answer: The soil beneath the shallow foundation footing is pushed to the side and
bulges up. The soil to the side of the foundation moves because the soil underneath is pushing
into it.)
 Why is it harder to produce a bearing pressure capacity failure when the shallow foundation is
embedded in the soil? (Answer: In this case, the soil to the side of the shallow foundation helps
prevent a failure. When failure occurs, you notice that the soil to the sides of the foundation is
pushed to the side and bulges up. The added presence and weight of the soil on the side helps
keep this from occurring.)
 What would happen if the shallow foundation were embedded further into the soil? (Answer: It
would be even stronger because more soil to the side of the foundation would have to be
displaced to cause failure. In this case, more bearing pressure would be needed to cause failure.)
 Why does the deep foundation become harder to push down into the soil as it gets deeper?
(Answer: The surface area of the deep foundation increases as it gets further down into the soil.
That is, the deeper it goes more of the foundation is in contact with the soil. Thus, the friction
between the deep foundation and the soil increases and the force needed to overcome it
becomes greater.)
 If a bridge was to be placed on the deep foundation used in this activity, how deep would the
deep foundation need to go? (Answer: The deep foundation would need to be placed to the depth
of the hard soil or, in this case, the rock/pebble layer.)
 What are some other factors that engineers might consider when designing a foundation?
(Answer: Settling effects of the soil; having more than two bridge foundations to distribute the
weight/forces may affect the soil differently; different types of soils may act differently.)