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    Raft Foundations

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    Junise Ambitious Lynch-Clarke
    A raft foundation is a reinforced concrete slab that floats on soft ground, distributing weight over a large area to reduce pressure on the soil. It was invented for tall buildings in Chicago built on wet soil prone to subsidence. There are several types of raft foundations depending on the soil conditions and structural needs, including plain slab rafts, slab and beam rafts, and cellular rafts, which divide the space under the foundation into walled cells. Raft foundations are useful for buildings on low bearing soil and in areas prone to mining or seismic activity.

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    Raft Foundations

    Uploaded by

    Junise Ambitious Lynch-Clarke
    3K views4 pages
    A raft foundation is a reinforced concrete slab that floats on soft ground, distributing weight over a large area to reduce pressure on the soil. It was invented for tall buildings in Chicago built on wet soil prone to subsidence. There are several types of raft foundations depending on the soil conditions and structural needs, including plain slab rafts, slab and beam rafts, and cellular rafts, which divide the space under the foundation into walled cells. Raft foundations are useful for buildings on low bearing soil and in areas prone to mining or seismic activity.

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    A raft foundation is a reinforced concrete slab that floats on soft ground, distributing weight over a large area to reduce pressure on the soil. It was invented for tall buildings in Chicago built on wet soil prone to subsidence. There are several types of raft foundations depending on the soil conditions and structural needs, including plain slab rafts, slab and beam rafts, and cellular rafts, which divide the space under the foundation into walled cells. Raft foundations are useful for buildings on low bearing soil and in areas prone to mining or seismic activity.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    3K views4 pages

    Raft Foundations

    Uploaded by

    Junise Ambitious Lynch-Clarke
    A raft foundation is a reinforced concrete slab that floats on soft ground, distributing weight over a large area to reduce pressure on the soil. It was invented for tall buildings in Chicago built on wet soil prone to subsidence. There are several types of raft foundations depending on the soil conditions and structural needs, including plain slab rafts, slab and beam rafts, and cellular rafts, which divide the space under the foundation into walled cells. Raft foundations are useful for buildings on low bearing soil and in areas prone to mining or seismic activity.

    Copyright:

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    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 4

    Raft foundation

    Definition:

    A foundation (usually on soft ground) consisting of an extended layer of


    reinforced concrete (wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn). It is a reinforced
    slab in the correct position on the ground which allows the foundation to move
    (or ‘float’ – hence the alternate name ‘floating foundation’) along with subtle
    ground movement avoiding damage (e.g. cracks in walls).

    Some uses:
    They are useful in the following cases:

     for lightly loaded structures on low bearing capacity ground;


     for heavier structures such as multi-storey buildings;
     where mining subsidence is likely to occur; and
     where the column loads and/or soil conditions are such that the
    resulting footings occupy most of the site.

    Short History:
    Floating raft is type of land-based foundation, invented by John Wellborn Root,
    that protects against settlement and the liquefaction of soft soil due to seismic
    activity. It was a necessary innovation in the development of tall buildings in the
    wet soil of Chicago in the 19th century.
    Description
    A raft foundation is essential to a mat foundation. The purpose of a mat
    foundation is when you a building built on a site with low soil bearing conditions
    or when a foundation. A raft foundation is use to distribute the building’s pressure
    over a large area so the soil can bear the stress. Think of it this way. If you had a
    building that has a site soil capacity of two thousand pounds per square foot and
    the building weight is 8 thousand pounds. What foundation would put less stress
    on the soil? a 500 square foot foundation or a 1000 square foot foundation. A 500
    square foot will give you a stress of 16 pounds per square foot while the 1000 will
    give you 8 pounds per square foot. Less stress is imposed on the building with the
    large foundation. Also, the raft foundation sometimes have haunches that go
    below the slab portion to resist punching shear from column or large
    concentration loads or wide beams along edges and through the intermediate in
    the slab to resist bending forces due to expansive soils (clay soils) and bending
    forces imposed the structure above. Raft foundations have always specifically
    been used in areas where the ground is inherently volatile and prone to ground
    movement, such as dolomite and clay. The alternate would be to dig deep
    foundations to avoid the effects of ground movement. However, raft foundations
    are often being used as a replacement for deep strip foundations as they often
    prove more cost effective with more advantages.
    Some Types:
    Research has brought to our attention 8 different types of raft foundations; the
    basic use is the same however each is designed to handle a specific type of
    situation

    1. Plain Slab Rafts

    Plain slab rafts are suitable for lightly loaded structures such as small houses. They consist of a
    plain slab raft consists of a reinforced concrete slab, usually slightly larger than the area of the
    building. Reinforcement in the form of a mesh fabric is provided on both the top and bottom
    faces of the slab.

    They can also be used for heavier structures if the ground condition is good and no differential
    settlement is expected.

    2. Plain Slab with Integral Projecting Toe

    This is used as a ground floor slab. The peripheral part of the slab is stepped down to prevent
    ingress of water. A stiff beam is also formed within the stepped down portion of the raft.

    3. Plain Slab with Separate Wide Strip Foundation


    The plain raft foundation rests on top of the strip foundation provided for the peripheral wall.
    The strip foundation also stiffens the edge of the raft, but to a lesser degree than the integral
    beam.

    4. Plain Slab with Stiffened Edge

    It has a deeper and more reinforced edge beam. The plain slab raft with stiffened edge is
    suitable in soils of high to very high compressibility, such as soft peaty clays or fills material.

    5. Slab and Beam Raft Foundations

    They are used where poor soil conditions are encountered. The slab and beam provides stiffness
    and prevents the distortion of the building.

    6. Down-stand Beam Raft Foundations

    They are suitable in stiff clays. Difficulties can arise if water bearing soils are encountered. The
    main advantage of the down-stand beam raft foundation is that it provides a level surface slab
    which can form the ground floor of the building. Another advantage is the saving in excavation
    costs.

    7. Up-stand Beam Raft Foundation

    They involve extensive earthworks. The foundation not only has to be excavated, but also has to
    be backfilled to form the ground floor slab. However, the up-stand beam raft foundation
    provides a usable void below the ground floor if a suspended ground floor slab is used.

    With both down-stand and up-stand beam raft foundations, the columns must be positioned at
    the intersection of the beams.

    8. Cellular Raft Foundations

    They consist of two reinforced concrete slabs linked by internal walls which divide the void into
    cells. This type of foundation is suitable where poor soil is encountered at a shallow depth, and
    where it would be uneconomical to use slab and beam raft foundations.

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