How to Calculate Quantity of Steel in

Footing
04/05/2018 By Liton Biswas 8 Comments
Updated March 8th, 2019
We often need to calculate steel quantity of different RCC
members in a construction project before ordering for purchase.
We often do this manually in the project.

We actually need to calculate steels for different RCC members

when we need that. Because over-purchasing steels (MS Bar)
can block a huge amount of money as it is highly priced
material.

You also can’t order less quantity than the required quantity.
Because it will hamper your project’s workflow.

So, at different stages of construction of a building project, we

need to calculate the steel for different RCC members to know
the required quantity.

In this post, we will see how to calculate the steel quantity in

footings.

What is a footing?
I think you all know about this. A footing is the most bottom part
of a building. And it is a part of the substructure. There
are many types of footing used for a building. It depends on the
structural design of the building.

In this post, I’ll discuss how to estimate reinforcement or steel

quantity of a footing
How to Calculate Steel Quantity of a
Footing
Calculating steel quantity of footing is easy. You just need to
find out the length of steel bars and then convert the total length
of bars into kilogram as steel is sold in Kilograms or Tons (1
Ton=1000 kilogram).

The process to calculate steel quantity is same for different

types of footings.

Once you’ve learned to estimate steel quantity for one type of

footing, you’ll be able to estimate steel quantity for any type of
footings.

So, I’ll show you how to calculate steel quantity for an Isolated
footing.

What is an Isolated Footing?

An isolated footing is normally used to support a single column.
It can be a square or rectangular shape.

If you know how to calculate the quantity of steel for an isolated

footing, you’ll be able to calculate steels for other types of
footings.

So, let’s see how to calculate steel quantity for an isolated

footing.
How to Calculate Steel for an Isolated
Footings
You’ll need structural drawing sheets of footings for calculating
steel.

Things you’ll require for estimating steel quantity of footings –

 Size of footings
 Reinforcement details of footings

In structural drawings, you will find all the details required to

calculate steel and it is somehow shown in the drawing as
shown in the image below.

From the above image, the size of the footing is 4′ x 6′ x 1′

And,

The reinforcement details are,

 16 mm∅ bar@4″c/c along the long side, and

 20 mm∅ bar@4″ c/c along the short side.
That means you’ll need to place 16mm dia bar at 4″ center-to-
center (c/c) distance along the long side and 20mm dia bar
at 4″ center-to-center (c/c) distance along the short side of the
footing.

So, let’s calculate the steel quantity for the footing.

To calculate the steel quantity, we first need to calculate the

required number of bars for both directions. Then we need to
find the length of one bar. If you multiply the number of required
bars with the length of one bar then you will find the total length
of bars. Once you found the total length of bars, you need to
convert that length into kilograms or Tons.

So, let’s see how we can calculate the steel quantity for our
example footing.

A formula for Calculating The Number of Bars

To find out the required number of bars for a footing, use the
following formula,

Number of bars = {(length or width of footing – concrete

cover for both sides) ÷ spacing} +1

For our example footing,

Number of bars along the short side of the footing,

= {(6′ – 3″ x 2) ÷ 4″} + 1 [Concrete clear cover for footing is 3″]

= {(6′ – 6″) ÷ 4″} + 1

= (5½′ ÷ 4″) +1

= 17.67

Say, 18 Nos.

Number of bars along the long side of the footing,

= {(4′- 3″ x 2) ÷ 4″}+1

= {3½′ ÷4″} + 1

= 11.61

Say, 12 Nos.

A formula for calculating the length of a steel

bar
To find out the length of a steel bar use the following formula.

Length of a bar = length or width of footing – concrete

cover for both sides + 2 x length of a bend

For our example footing,

Length of a steel bar along the width of the footing,

= 4′ – 2 x 3″ + 2 x 6″
= 4½ feet.

Length of a steel bar along the long side of the footing is,

= 6′ – 2 x 3″ + 2 x 6″

= 6½ feet.

Finding total length of bars in the footing

The total length of bars along the short side of the footing is,

= number of bars x length of a bar

= 18 x 4½′

= 81 feet (20mmØ bar).

The total length of bars along the long side of the footing is,

= number of bars x length of a bar

= 12 x 6½′

= 78 feet (16mmØ bar).

If the same size of bars is used in both directions then you can
sum up both quantity of the bars. But, in our example footing,
we used different size of bars. So, we will calculate the steel
quantity for different diameter bars separately. For purchasing
the steel, we need to convert the required length of steel into
kilogram.

From the above calculation, we found –

Required 16mmØ bar for our example footing is,

= 81 feet

= 38.88 kilograms

And, Required 20mmØ bar is,

= 78 feet

= 58.50 kilograms

Read More: How to convert steel quantity from feet to

kilograms.

In our example footing, we use a single reinforcing net. But, in

your building project, you may find some footings with
the double reinforcing net. In that case, you need to follow the
same procedure again to calculate the steel quantity for another
reinforcing net too.

So far, we calculated the quantity of steel for a footing. Now

let’s see how we can calculate footing’s steel quantity for a
building project.
How to Calculate The Steel Quantity in
Footing for a Building Project
A building has many footings with different sizes and shapes.
You’ll need to calculate the steel quantity for those footings too.

For making the steel calculating process easy for footings of a

building construction project,

 first, summarise the similar type of footings

 Secondly, calculate the steel quantity for each type of
footing separately and
 Finally, multiply the calculated steel quantity by the number
of each type of footings.

For example, you have 10 numbers of footing for F1 type

and 5 numbers of footings for F2 type and so on.

For calculating the steel quantity for F1 type footing, you just
need to calculate the required steel quantity for one footing of
that type and then multiply that quantity by 10.

Similarly, for F2 type footing, calculate the steel quantity for one
number of footing than multiply that quantity by 5. And so on.

After calculating steel quantity for the footings of the building

project, add the steel quantity for short columns before
purchasing. Because you will need the short columns’ steel for
completing the footings’ reinforcement works.

Conclusion
Calculating steel quantity for footings is easy. You just need to
get the total required length of the steel bars of different sizes
and then convert that length into Kilograms or Tons before
purchasing.

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