Soil Foundation

Trouble areas
Type Types Reason for use
Easy to construct and Bearing capacity may be a problem
Footings
economical but in most cases it is sufficient
Must be used since Excessive settlement in wet
Retaining Structures sand cannot support
themselves and loose deposits.
Sand
Uses friction resistance
but low in bearing Confining pressure is usually
Deep foundations capacity
(Piles) low.

Economic but may Low bearing capacity.

have problem with Generally low shear strength
Footings
bearing capacity in
saturated clays when wet.
Clays are self-
supportive up to a
High consolidation in soft
certain height
Retaining Structures clays
Clay (critical). Must be used
if height increases Swelling is possible.
beyond the critical.
If bearing capacity is
low, piles may be Over-consolidated clays may
Deep foundations
driven to rock. May contain cracks and fissures.
(Piles)
change formation of
clay.
 
 Following table shows solutions to some problems in foundations based
on soil types:

Soil
Nature of problem Possible solution
Type
Loose sands must be compacted
Settlement Lowering water table may result in sand
densification
Sand
Compaction increases cohesion and friction
Bearing Capacity thus bearing capacity increases
Use of deep foundation
Lowering water table
Consolidation Pre-loading
Drive pile to rock
Compaction
Bearing capacity
Clay Use of deep foundations
Treat or stabilize soil
Maintain constant water table
Expansion or swelling
Alter soil nature (similar to stabilization)
Include swell pressure in design

FACTORS AFFECTING SELECTION OF

FOUNDATION FOR BUILDINGS

Factors affecting selection of foundation for a building can be many from the soil
conditions to the type of structure and loads from the building. All the factors
are considered during selection of foundation for durable building construction.

Factors Affecting Selection of Foundation are:

1. Loads from Building:

The first factor considered is loads from building on the foundation. This load is
a combination of dead load and imposed loads on the buildings. Other loads
such as wind loads, earthquake loads, snow loads etc. are also considered
based on location.

The quantity of loads depends on the type of structure, number of floors and
material of construction. As the number of floors increases, the dead load and
imposed loads also increase. Choice of material for construction such as
reinforced concrete or steel construction also has impacts on foundation.
Reinforced concrete buildings exert more loads on the foundation compared to
steel structures.

Based on the safe bearing capacity of structure and quantity of loads on

foundation, type of foundation and its base area is calculated.

2. Type of Soils:

Soil is a mixture of solid particles, moisture and air. Soil can be of many types
such as clayey soil or expansive soil, sandy soil or loose soils etc. The soil near
surface is called as top soil and below a depth of 300mm is called as sub soil.
Generally subsoil is used as base for foundation for small buildings.
However, soil investigation should be carried out to know the nature of soil,
depth of water table, type of soil, depth of different layers of soil and to know
the bearing capacity of soil at different levels for large structures.

When the load is transferred from the structure to soil through foundations, the
soil tends to consolidate and settlement of foundation occurs. This consolidation
process can be quick in case of non-cohesive soils such as sands and can even
take years for other soils. The complete settlement of foundation in sandy soil
may occur even before the building construction has been completed. Clayey
soil can hold the water for longer time and thus settlement is very slow and can
take years. Soil clayey holds large amount of water, and thus settlement of
foundation is large in such soils.

The settlement of foundation causes cracks in building walls, beams, slabs etc.
and building can even fail in case of large settlement.

The settlement of foundation causes cracks in building walls, beams, slabs etc.
and building can even fail in case of large settlement.
The soil investigation is necessary when the loads from the building are large
and the bearing capacity cannot be estimated based on type of soil condition at
site.

The soil investigation should be carried out for following information:

 The nature and thickness of made-up ground/top soil above the sub-
soil
 The nature, thickness and stratum depth of sub-soil
 An assessment of allowable bearing pressure
 Groundwater levels, chemicals in the ground, etc.
 Existing structures or hazards in the ground.

3. Type of Structure in Neighborhood:

The selection of foundation for building construction can also be done based on
the type of foundation selected for the buildings in the neighboring buildings for
the same types. Based on the success or failure of foundations for such
buildings, decision can be taken for the selection of foundation.

4. Types of Foundations:
Types of foundation such as isolated foundations, combined footings, pile
foundations and raft or mat foundations etc. based on the type of soils and
loads from the buildings can be selected based on suitability and requirement.

When strips become so wide (because of heavy column loads or weak ground) that the clear distance
between them is about the same as the width of the strips (or when the depth to suitable bearing
capacity strata for strip footing loading becomes too deep), it is worth considering raft foundations. They
are useful in restricting the differential settlement on variable ground, and to distribute variations of
superstructure loading from area to area. Rafts can be stiffened (as strips can) by the inclusion of tee
beams.

Rafts can also be made buoyant by the excavation (displacement) of a depth of soil, similar to the way
that seagoing rafts are made to float by displacing an equal weight of water. A cubic metre of soil can
weigh as much as three floor loads per square metre, so a deep basement excavation can displace the
same weight of soil as the weight of the proposed structure. However where there is a high water-table
then flotation of the raft can occur, if the water pressures exceed the self-weight! Typical examples of
rafts are shown in Fig. 1.7.