Foundation Types

Foundation Types

 Pad
 Wide strip
 Raft
 Bearing Piles
 Isolated Column
 Continuous Column
 Combined Column
Text Extracts
(Students should refer to their own copy for full commentary)

 Advanced Construction Technology – Roy Chudley

 Foundation Design and Construction – MJ Tomlinson

Pad Foundation

 Usually provided to support

structural columns

 Simple square, circular or

rectangular in shape

 Uniform thickness or may be

stepped or haunched
Wide Strip Foundation

 Used where the bearing

capacity of the soil is low
enough to necessitate a
strip so wide that transverse
bending occurs in the
projecting portions of the
foundation beam and
reinforcement is required to
prevent cracking
Raft Foundation

 Used on soils of low bearing

capacity or where structural
columns or other loaded areas
are so close in both directions
that individual pad foundations
would nearly touch each other

 Raft Foundations are useful in

reducing the effect of
differential settlement
Bearing Pile Foundation
 Used where the soil at normal
foundation level cannot support
ordinary pad, strip or raft foundation
or where structures are sited on
deep filling which is compressible
and settling under its own weight

 Piled foundations are a convenient

method of supporting structures
built over water or where uplift
loads must be resisted

 Inclined or raking piles are used to

resist lateral forces
End Bearing Piles
 The shafts of the piles carry load through weak strata and
transfer it to a firm stratum on which their end rests. This can
be a rock strata or a layer of firm sand or gravel which has been
compacted by the displacement and vibration encountered
during driving

 Design of end bearing piled foundations can be determined by

establishing the safe bearing capacity of the subsoil by
sampling and laboratory analysis and relating this to the load
distribution on each pile
Friction Piles

 Friction piles transfer their load to the surrounding soil by

means of the friction between surfaces and the soil and to a
lesser extent by end bearing. The friction pile has the effect of
carrying the bulb of pressure to a low level so that the high
stresses are set up in the soil at a level where it is strong
enough to resist them rather than near the surface where it is
weaker. The wider the foundation the deeper the bulb

 They are often used in conjunction with raft foundations, where

raft foundations cannot be taken deep enough to obtain
sufficient relief of overburden pressure to keep settlement
within acceptable limits
Isolated Column Foundation
 Most commonly used foundation type for
framed buildings

 Reinforced concrete pad – is a square or

rectangular slab of concrete carrying a single
column
– Reinforcement is placed at the bottom in both
directions to resist bending stresses. Shear
reinforcement is normally not provided

– The critical plane for bending for a reinforced

column is at the face whereas for a steel stanchion
is at the centre of the base plate

– The critical plane for shear is assumed to be at a

distance from the face equal to the effective depth
of the slab

– A blinding layer of between 50 – 100mm is used in

order to protect the concrete from the soil
Isolated Foundations and Fixings
 Foundations for a precast portal
frame usually consist of a
reinforced concrete isolated base or
pad designed to suit loading and
ground bearing conditions

 The frame can be connected to the

foundations by a variety of methods
– Pocket Connection – The foot of
the supporting member is located
and housed in a void or pocket
formed in the base so that there is
an all round clearance of 25mm to
allow for plumbing and final
adjustment before the column is
grouted into the foundation base
Isolated Foundations and Fixings
• Base Plate Connection – A steel plate
is welded to the main reinforcement of
the supporting member or alternatively it
could be cast into the column. Holding-
down bolts are cast into the foundation
base

• Pin Joint or Hinge Connection – A

special base or bearing plate is bolted to
the foundation and the mechanical
connection is made when the frames are
erected
Continuous Column Foundation
 This type of foundation supports a line of columns and is
one form of combined foundation

 The foundation is similar to a strip foundation. However,

unlike a strip foundation carrying a wall which is subject
only to transverse bending, the continuous column
foundation is subject to both transverse bending and
longitudinal bending due to the beam action between the
columns

 This foundation arrangement is used when spacing in one

direction and the loading of the columns are such that the
would be very close to each other or would overlap. Also
there may be limitations such as a site boundary, which
would lead to this arrangement

 This arrangement is common in urban building

particularly with adjoining buildings

 The strip is designed as a continuous beam on top of

which the columns exerts downward point loads and on
the underside the soil exerts distributed upward pressure
Continuous Column Foundation
 Main tensile reinforcement is required near the upper face between the columns and near the
bottom face under the columns to resist the negative bending stresses. Transverse
reinforcement is always required to locate the main bars
Continuous Column Foundation
 When the distance is too small to provide adequate
width of foundation the column close to the
restriction may be linked to an inner line of columns
on what is referred to as a combined foundation, by
means of which sufficient area and an even
pressure distribution may be obtained

 The length of the foundation slab is twice the

distance from the centre of gravity of the loads to the
line of restriction in order to make the centroid
coincide with the centre of gravity of the loads. The
width of the slab is then determined according to the
area required for the foundation

 Where the most heavily loaded column is nearest

the restriction, a trapezoidal base must be used.
This is necessary in order to permit the centres of
gravity of loads and slab to lie on the same vertical
line

 Combined foundations are used where there are

physical restrictions but also in the cases outlined
above