Foundations Types

Kavita Ramnarine-Ramsawak
BSc. Civil Eng., MSc. Coastal Eng. & Mngmt,
M.ASCE, MAPETT, R.Eng
Categories of foundations
• Shallow foundations: those which transfer the loads to
subsoil at a point near to the ground floor of the building
such as strips and rafts – within 2-5 m of ground level e.g.
strips and rafts
• Deep Foundations: Those which transfer the loads to a
subsoil some distance below the ground floor of the
building – greater than 5 m of the ground level, e.g. pile
Types of foundation
• Strip
• Raft (Mat)
• Isolated or Pad Foundations
• Combinations of strip, isolated and raft
• Piled Foundations
Types of foundation
STRIP FOUNDATION-
most subsoils, light structural loading
• Strip Foundations are extended pads that are long in one direction. They are
used to support line loads from walls or heavy pipelines, or to spread the load
from a series of columns. The uniformity of the ground beneath the strip
footing is important because a non-uniform soil profile can lead to differential
settlements or to bridging effects that may damage the structure they
support.
• Reinforced concrete strip foundations are used to support and transmit the
loads from heavy walls. The effect of the wall on the relatively thin foundation
is to act as a point load and the resultant ground pressure will induce tension
on the underside across the width of the strip. Tensile reinforcement is
therefore required in the lower face of the strip with distribution bars in the
second layer running longitudinally. The reinforcement will also assist the
strip in spanning any weak pockets of soil encountered in the excavations.
 • The principle of any raft foundation is
to spread the load over the entire area
Raft foundations of the site. This method is particularly
– poor soils, light useful when column loads are heavy
structural and thus requiring large bases or where
the bearing capacity is low, again
loading resulting in the need for large bases.
• Rafts or mat foundations are often
used if the sum of the base areas of the
pad and strip footings required to
support a structure would be greater
than about one half of the total
building area.
Types of raft foundations
• The three type of raft foundations are:
• Solid slab rafts (slab-on grade)
• Beam and slab rafts
• Cellular rafts
Solid slab raft or slab-on-grade
• Solid slab rafts are constructed of uniform thickness over the whole
raft area, which can be wasteful since the design must be based on
the situation existing where the heaviest load occurs. The effect of
the load from columns and ground pressure is to create areas of
tension under the columns and areas of tension in the upper part of
the raft between the columns. Very often a nominal mesh of
reinforcement is provided in the faces where tension does not occur
to control shrinkage cracking of the concrete.
Reinforced Concrete Raft with Edge Thickening
Reinforced Concrete Raft with Edge Beam
 Beam and Slab Rafts
• Beam and slab rafts are an alternative to the solid slab raft and are
used where poor soils are encountered. The beams are used to
distribute the column loads over the area of the raft, which usually
results in a reduction of the slab thickness. The beams can be
upstand or downstand depending on the bearing capacity of the
soil near the surface. Downstand beams will give a saving on
excavation costs whereas upstand beams create a usuable void
below the ground floor if a suspended slab is used.
 Cellular rafts
• This type of foundation can be used where reasonable bearing
capacity subsoil can only be found at depths where beam and slab
techniques become uneconomic. The construction is similar to
reinforced concrete basements except that internal walls are used
to spread the load over the raft and divide the void into cells.
Openings can be formed in the cell walls allowing the voids to be
utilized for the housing of services, store rooms or general
accommodation.
Pad or isolated foundations- suitable for most
subsoils except loose sand, loose gravel, and filled
areas
• This type of foundation is used to support and transmit loads from
piers and columns. The most economic plan shape is a square but if
the columns are close to the site boundary it may be necessary to use
a rectangular plan shape of an equivalent area. The reaction of the
foundation to the load is to cup, similar to a saucer , and therefore
main steel is required in both directions. The depth of the base will be
governed by the anticipated moments and shear forces.
Incorporated in the base will also be the starter bars for a reinforced
concrete column or the holding down bolts for a structural steel
column.
Piled Foundations
• A series of columns constructed or inserted into the ground, to
transmit the loads of a structure to a lower level of subsoil
• Piled foundations can be used when suitable foundation
conditions are not present at or near ground level making the use
of deep traditional foundations uneconomic
• The lack of unsuitable conditions may be caused by:
• Natural low bearing capacity of subsoil
• High water table – giving rise to high permanent dewatering
costs
• Presence of layers of highly compressible soils such as peat and
recently placed fill materials which have not sufficiently
consolidated
• Subsoils which may be subject to moisture movement or
plastic failure.
Short Bored Pile Foundations or
Augered Piles
Classification • Piles may be classified by their
basic design function or by their
of Piles method of construction
References
• Construction Technology Volume 1-4
By R. Chudley

• Opening Graphic by Gan Khoon Lay of the

Noun Project