Principles of Foundation Eng’g

CT412-M Structural Design and

Construction

P re p a re d by:

En g r. Arie l B. Mo ra le s , Ed .D,MEn g .(CE)

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Foundation
The word “foundation” comes from the
Latin word fundatio or fundare, which
means “to lay a base for,” “confirm,” or
“establish.” Fundare can also mean
bottom or base.

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Foundation
Objectives
• Define and describe a foundation for a
structure.
• Describe two basic types of foundations:
shallow and deep.
• Discuss several factors that engineers must
consider when designing foundations for a
bridge, include soil conditions, materials and
forces.

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Early Foundation
Roughly 15,000 years ago in the Upper Paleolithic age,
01 the earliest remains of “pit dwellings” were discovered.
Typically, pit dwellings relied on a dug-out area in the
ground surrounded by a structure of wood, animal hide,
or even bone.
02 The earliest known use of primitive concrete appeared in
6500 BC.
These solid structures were popularized by Nabataea
03 traders in ancient Syria and Jordan.

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Early Foundations
Roman Empire
• In fact, the Romans may have been one of the first civilizations to utilize concrete
foundation repair.
The Early Bronze Age and Beyond
• The larger buildings and temples were built with stone foundations.
• Rubble trench foundations, an ancient style of construction, was brought back to
life and popularized by Frank Lloyd Wright in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Evolution of the Modern Foundation

• In the mid-20th century that technology advanced enough to allow contractors to
dig deep foundation holes. This allowed for the rise of taller buildings, and
eventually skyscrapers. Deep foundations allowed for larger design loads using
excavation and drilling. Experts found that timber could be used for deep
foundations, as well as the old standards: concrete and steel.
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Purpose of
Foundation
Even distribution of load

Reduction of load intensity

Protection against varied natural

force

Protection against ingress of

moisture

Provision of level surface

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Purpose of
Foundation
Lateral stability

Protection against undermining

Protection against soil

movements

Passive thermal control


01
Clay is an expansive soil made up of tiny particles. When wet, clay
greatly expands, but when it is dry, it will shrink significantly. When
clay is moist, it is very pliable and can easily be moved, manipulated,
and shifted. These extreme changes can put a great deal of pressure
on foundations, usually causing them to shift up and down or crack,
which is why clay generally is not the best soil on which to construct a
residential or commercial building.
02 Peaty soil is typically dark brown or black in color and is easily
compressible because of how much water it can hold. This soil type is
formed by decomposed organic material,is usually found near
wetlands, and is extremely porous. Like clay, peat expands when wet,
and in extremely dry conditions, it not only shrinks, but it also is a
potential fire hazard. It is very poor subsoil when it comes to support,
as foundations are most stable on soil that does not shift or change
structure depending on weather conditions and that doesn't have a
low bearing capacity.
03 Sand and Gravel - When compacted with gravel and other materials,
sand does not retain water. Therefore, it will not cause any structures
above it to shift. Sand and gravel have the largest particles of the
various soil types, which is why it doesn’t retain moisture but drains
easily. When soil and sand are compacted and moist, it holds together
fairly well. Additionally, if the two are compacted, they make for good
soil to support a foundation due to their non-water-retaining
properties.
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Common Types of Soil To
Build Foundations
04 Silty soil is made of smaller particles, which is why it is able to
retain water longer. However, because of its tendency to retain
moisture, the soil is cold and drains poorly. This causes the silty
soil to expand, putting pressure against the foundation and
weakening it, making it not ideal for supporting a foundation.
05 There are varieties of rock, such as limestone, bedrock, and
sandstone — all of which have exceptionally high bearing
capacities, making them a suitable soil type for supporting
residential or commercial buildings. It’s crucial that a rock surface
is level before building a foundation, otherwise the foundation
must be held into place with anchors.
06 When it comes to the ideal soil type for foundations, loam may be
the best option. Generally, loam is a combination of clay, silt, and
sand. Loam is dark in color and soft, dry, and crumbly to the
touch. Loam is great for supporting foundations due to its evenly
balanced properties, especially how it handles moisture in a
evened way and will generally not expand or shrink enough to
cause damage. Loam is a good soil for supporting a foundation
and building, as long as there are no miscellaneous soils that find
their way onto the surface.
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Bearing Capacity of Different Types of

Soil
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Soil Investigations for Building
Foundation
Before a foundation is decided, it is necessary to determine the characteristics of the soil at the
site of construction. This is done by conducting soil investigations.

Soil investigations involve the following steps:

1. Planning the details and sequence of operations
2. Collection of soil samples from the field
3. Conducting all field tests for determining the strength and compressibility characteristics of the soil
4. Study of ground water level conditions and collection of water samples for chemical analysis
5. Geophysical exploration if necessary
6. Testing in the laboratory of all samples of soil, rock, and water
7. Preparation of drawings and charts
8. Analysis of the results of the tests
9. Preparation of report

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Design Limitations:

Bearing Pressure &

Settlement
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When designing a foundation,
two variables must be
checked.

• The foundation design must meet

bearing pressure limitations for the
soil.
• Must meet allowable settlement
requirements for the structure.
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Bearing Pressure
• Bearing pressure is the contact force per unit area along the bottom of a foundation.
• It is the maximum soil pressure without any shear failure or settlement failure.
• Engineers use a simple equation to calculate the bearing pressure that a foundation
exerts on the soil beneath it; bearing pressure is q = force ÷ area.

• Bearing pressure is defined as q in this equation.

• Force is the load acting on the foundation due to the
structure it is supporting.
• Area is the bottom of the foundation that is in contact
with soil.
• The bearing pressure value must not exceed the
allowable bearing capacity of the soil or failure will
B earing p ressu re on a
sh allow fou nd ation occur.
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Settlement
• Soils deform under the load of
foundation structures.
• The total vertical displacement that
occur at foundation level is termed
as settlement.
• This movement causes the
structure to also move vertically
down.
• The cause of foundation settlement
is the reduction of volume air void
ratio in the soil.
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Settlement
The magnitude of foundation settlement is
controlled by many factors type of soil and
foundation structure. Foundations on bedrock
settle a negligible amount. In contrary,
Foundations in other types of soil such as clay
may settle much more.
However, building foundation settlement is
normally limited to amounts measured in An example of this is Mexico City
millimeter or fractions of an inch. Structures will palace of fine arts has settled more
suffer damages due to settlement of its than 15 feet (4.5m) into the clay soil
foundation specifically when the settlement on which it is founded since it was
occur in quick manner. constructed in the early 1930s.
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Types of
Settlement
• Uniform Settlement
• Differential Settlement
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Uniform Settlement
Uniform settlement, no cracks
• When foundation settlement occurs at nearly the
development same rate throughout all portions of a building, it is
called uniform settlement.
• If all parts of a building rest on the same kind of soil,
then uniform settlement the most probable type to
take place.
• Similarly, when loads on the building and the design
of its structural system are uniform throughout, the
anticipated settlement would be uniform type.
• Commonly, uniform settlement has small detrimental
influence on the building safety.
• However, it influences utility of the building for
example damaging sewer; water supply; and mains
and jamming doors and windows.

Differential Settlement
Cracks due to differential settlement
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• Settlement that occurs at differing rates between different
portions of a building is termed differential settlement.
• Differential settlement occurs if there is difference in soils,
loads, or structural systems between parts of a building. in
this case, different parts of the building structure could settle
by substantially different amounts.
• Consequently, the frame of the building may become
distorted, floors may slope, walls and glass may crack, and
doors and windows may not work properly.
• Uneven foundation settlement may force buildings to shift out
of plumb which lead to crack initiation in foundation, structure,
or finish.
• Majority of foundation failures are attributable to severe
differential settlement.
• Lastly, for conventional buildings with isolated foundations,
20mm differential settlement is acceptable. And 50mm total
settlement is tolerable for the same structures.
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Uniform Settlement v s Differential Settlement

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Direct Causes
Foundation The direct cause of foundation settlement
is the weight of building including dead
Settlement load and live load.

Indirect Causes
Causes • Failure of collapsible soil underground
infiltration
• Yielding of excavation done adjacent to
foundation
• Failure of underground tunnels and mines
• Collapse of cavities of limestones
• Undermining of foundation while flood
• Earthquake induced settlement
• Finally, due to extraction of ground water
and oil.
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Immediate settlement
• It is also called short term settlement.
• Immediate settlement take place mostly in coarse Components of total
grained soils of high permeability and in
unsaturated fine-grained soils of low permeability. settlement of
• Lastly, it occurs over short period of time which
about 7 days. So, it ends during construction
foundations
time.

Primary settlement Secondary settlement

• It also termed as primary consolidation • Secondary settlement is the consolidation of
• Take place over long period of time that ranges soil under constant effective stress.
from 1 to 5 years or more • Frequently, it occurs in organic fine grain soil.
• Primary settlement frequently occurs in saturated
• It continues over the life span of foundation
inorganic fine grain soil.
structure similar to creep in concrete.
• Expulsion of water from pores of saturated fine
grain soil is the cause of primary settlement.
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TYPES OF
FOUNDATION
 Foundation
Shallow Foundation
Deep Foundation

Isolated Footing

Combined Footing
Drilled Shafts
Spread footings

Mat Foundations Page 23

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SHALLOW
FOUNDATION
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Shallow Foundation
Shallow foundations are usually located less than six
feet below the lowest finished floor of a structure.
These systems are used when the soil close to the
ground surface has sufficient bearing capacity and
underlying weaker strata do not result in undue
settlement.
These are the most commonly used
foundation systems for small residential
and wood structures. As a result, there
are several types of shallow foundations
in construction. They are often referred to
as spread footings because they
distribute large loads over a greater
 Type s of Isolated Footing

Shallow
Combined Footing
Foundation
Spread footings

Raft Foundations

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Is olate d Footing
"Individual Footing "

This foundation is constructed for a

single column and also called a pad
foundation. The shape of individual
footing is square or rectangle and is
used when loads from the structure is
carried by the columns. Size is
calculated based on the load on the
column and the safe bearing capacity of
soil.
C ombine d Footing

Combined footing is constructed

when two or more columns are close
enough and their isolated footings
overlap each other. It is a
combination of isolated footings, but
their structural design differs.

The shape of this footing is a

rectangle and is used when loads
from the structure is carried by the
columns
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Spre ad footing s
" Spread footings or Strip
footings and Wall footings "
Spread footings and wall footings are used
for individual columns, walls and bridge piers
where the bearing soil layer is within 3m (10
feet) from the ground surface. Soil bearing
capacity must be sufficient to support the
weight of the structure over the base area of
the structure

These should not be used on soils where

there is any possibility of a ground flow of
water above bearing layer of soil which may
result in scour or liquefaction.
 R aft Foundations
"Raft or Mat Foundations"
This are the types of foundation which
are spread across the entire area of
the building to support heavy
structural loads from columns and
walls. The use of mat foundation is for
columns and walls foundations where
the loads from the structure on
columns and walls are very high. This
is used to prevent differential
settlement of individual footings, thus
designed as a single mat (or
combined footing) of all the load-
bearing elements of the structure. Page 30
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DE E P
FOUNDATION
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Drilled Shafts or
C aisson Foundation
Drilled shafts, also called as caissons, is a type of deep foundation
and has an action similar to pile foundations discussed above but are
high-capacity cast-in-situ foundations. It resists loads from structure
through shaft resistance, toe resistance and/or combination of both.
The construction of drilled shafts or caissons are done using an auger.
• Drilled shafts can transfer column loads larger than pile foundations. It
is used where the depth of hard strata below ground level is located
within 10m to 100m (25 feet to 300 feet).
• Drilled shafts or caisson foundation is not suitable when deep deposits
of soft clays and loose, water-bearing granular soils exist. It is also not
suitable for soils where caving formations are difficult to stabilize, soils
made up of boulders, artesian aquifer exists.
Design and Analysis
of Footings
Gross Pressure
The total pressure at the base of footing due
to the applied column loads and footing self
weight + overburden soil pressure (above
the footing).

Net Pressure
The pressure due to column loads

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Example of
Problem and
Solutions of
Foundation
 Plate 5 “Foundation Analysis & Design

• Give 2 News about Foundation Engg failures related (local or international)

and 2 sample problems/design to familiarize, under Foiundation design
(combination based on ACI and NSCP, is accepted)

• Individial, 1 week duration and solutions are strictly hand written.