• Procedure for construction of foundation

starts with decision on its depth, width and

marking layout for excavation and centerline
of foundation.
DETAILS FOR FOUNDATION • Foundation is the part of structure below
plinth level in direct contact of soil and
transmits load of super structure to soil.
• Generally it is below the ground level.
• If some part of foundation is above ground
Construction of Foundation – Depth, Width,
Layout and Excavation
level, it is also covered with earth filling.
• This portion of structure is not in contact of
air, light etc., or to say that it is the hidden
part of the structure.
• Footing is a structure constructed in
brickwork, masonry or concrete under the
base of a wall or column for distributing the
load over a large area.
 DEPTH OF FOUNDATION WIDTH OF FOUNDATION /
FOOTINGS
• Depth of foundation depends on following • The width of footings should be laid according to
factors: structural design. For light loaded buildings such
as houses, flats, school buildings etc. having not
• Availability of adequate bearing capacity more than two storeys, the width of foundation is
• Depth of shrinkage and swelling in case of clayey given below:
soils, due to seasonal changes which may cause • The width of footing should not be less than 75
appreciable movements. cm for one brick thick wall.
• Depth of frost penetration in case of fine sand • The width of footing should not be less than 1
and silt. meter for one and half brick wall.
• Possibility of excavation nearby
• Depth of ground water table
• Practical minimum depth of foundation should
not be less than 50 cm. to allow removal of top
soil and variations in ground level.
• Hence the best recommended depth of
foundation is from 1.00 meter to 1.5 meter from
original ground level.
 1.Shallow foundation
1. Individual footing or isolated footing
TYPES OF FOUNDATION 2. Combined footing
AND THEIR USES 3. Strip foundation
4. Raft or mat foundation
Following are different types of foundations
used in construction:
2.Deep Foundation
1. Pile foundation
2. Drilled Shafts or caissons
 EARTHQUAKE RESISTANT DESIGN OF
FOUNDATIONS:

• Foundation is a substructure built below the super structure. Purpose of the

foundation is to transfer the structural loads safely to the underlying soil. Safe
and economical design of a foundation under different loading conditions is the
role of geotechnical engineer.
• Proper design of a foundation against earthquake loading requires through
understanding over the behavior of soil, response of structure and interaction
of soil-structure under earthquake loading.

(PDF) Earthquake Resistant Design of Foundations: Design Principles. Available from:

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C ASE STUDIES ON EARTHQUAKE INDUCED
SHALLOW FOUNDATION FAILURES

Overturning failure of
apartment complex buildings
during Niigata 1964
earthquake .
(courtesy of USGS)
C ASE STUDIES ON EARTHQUAKE INDUCED
SHALLOW FOUNDATION FAILURES

Foundation failure of a house

due to ground slope failure
during Loma Prieta earthquake.
 • Tilting of foundation(overturning of the
structure): Its a clear shear (Bearing Capacity)
failure of the supporting soil
Due to the action of inertial forces
Due to the reduction in strength of supporting soils
(liquefaction)
Due to the occurrence of sand boils and lateral spreading
MODE S OF SH AL L OW
FOUNDATI ON FAI L UR ES AND • Ground Instability
T H E I R C AUSAT I V E ME CH ANI SMS Caused by slope failures (due to flow slides and lateral
spreading)
• Sliding of foundation
Sliding may occur due to the horizontal inertial forces
applied by an earthquake.
Sliding may also occur due to movement (lateral
spreading) of under lying soils
• Settlement of foundations
Due to compression/consolidation of liquefied soil upon
dissipation of excess PWPs.
Due to occurrence of sand boils and lateral spreading

(PDF) Earthquake Resistant Design of Foundations: Design Principles. Available from:

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 CASE STUDIES ON EARTHQUAKE
INDUCED DEEP FOUNDATION FAILURES

Collapse of a pile-supported building due

to lateral movement of soil during the
Kobe earthquake (Bhattacharya, 2006)
 CASE STUDIES ON EARTHQUAKE
INDUCED DEEP FOUNDATION FAILURES

Kandla tower after Bhuj earthquake, (Madabhushi et al 2001)

 • Overturning of the structure due shear failure
at pile heads and pile cap
Caused by action of inertial forces on the piles

• Breaking/shear failure of piles in the liquefied

MODE S OF DE E P FOUNDATI ON soil layer
FAI L UR ES AND T H E I R C AUSATI V E Caused by lateral spreading of liquefied soils, which
ME C H ANI SMS increases bending stresses (Tokimatsu et al., 1998)
Caused by reduction in lateral confinement due to
liquefaction of soils, which can lead to buckling of piles
(Bhattacharya, 2007)
• Settlement/failure of foundation may occur
Due to reduction in the shear strength of liquefied soils if
it is not considered in the initial design.

(PDF) Earthquake Resistant Design of Foundations: Design Principles. Available from:

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 • Selection of suitable type of foundation
 Subsurface soil characteristics
 Magnitude of loads from the superstructure
 Requirements of super structure
FOUNDATION DESIGN AND • Specify dimensions of the selected foundation
 Shallow foundation
PARAMETERS
Strip/Individual/Combined/Raft
Length, Width, Depth
• Deep foundation
 Pile/pier/well
 Length, Diameter, No. of piles
 Shallow foundations should usually be the first choice of the
foundation as
• they are economical
• no need for special construction techniques
• no need of special equipment for drilling
• better quality control
Isolated footings are not recommended when excessive settlements
S E L E C TION OF S UI TAB L E and/or large lateral soil movements (lateral spreading) are expected
under design earthquake.
T YP E OF F OUN DAT ION
Mat foundation are preferred
• On soft or loose soils
• Stronger than isolated, continuous and tied foundations
• Earthquake hazards from differential soil movements are
minimized by bridging over loose pockets of soil
Deep Foundations are preferred
• When loads from super structure are too high
• W.T is shallow
• Restrictions over the open excavation
• To bypass liquefiable soils
 WHAT IS PLINTH LEVEL?
Plinth Level:- In architecture, a plinth is the base or platform
upon which a column or structure rests. It is normally the
finished floor level of the ground floor and is usually kept at
450 mm from existing ground level unless some other
factor compels it to be altered.

Plinth beam is a reinforced concrete beam constructed between the wall

and its foundation. Plinth beam is provided to prevent the extension or
propagation of cracks from the foundation into the wall above when the
foundation suffers from settlement. Plinth beams distributes the load of
the wall over the foundation evenly.
• Minimum Dimension of a Plinth Beam
• A minimum depth of plinth beam is 20cm whereas its width should match the width
of final course of the foundation.

• Formwork for Plinth Beam

• Formwork used for plinth beam construction
should be properly installed and adequately
secured prior to concrete placement as
shown in Figure-4. The concrete needs to be
compacted sufficiently to prevent steel bars
from aggressive elements.
Masonry buildings Do’s and Don’ts
RETAINING WALL
 What is a Retaining wall ?

• Retaining wall is a structure used for maintaining the ground surfaces at

different elevations on either side of it.

• All permanent walls and components shall be designed for a minimum service life of 75 years.

• Corrosion protection is required for all permanent and temporary walls in aggressive environments.

• Retaining walls are usually built to hold back soil mass.

• They are also provided to maintain the grounds at two different levels.

PARTS
 TYPES OF RETAINING WALLS :-

1. Gravity Retaining Walls

2. Semi-Gravity Retaining Walls

3. Cantilever Retaining Walls

4. Counter fort Retaining Walls

1. Gravity Retaining Walls :-
• The “gravity wall” provides stability by virtue of its own weight , and therefore, is rather massive in size.

• It is usually built in stone masonry, and occasionally in plain concrete.

• The thickness of wall is also governed by need to eliminate or limit the resulting tensile stress to its permissible
limit .

• Plain concrete gravity walls are not used for heights exceeding about 3m, for obvious economic reasons.

• Stress developed is very low.

• These walls are so proportioned that no tension is developed anywhere and the resultant of forces remain
within the middle third of the base.
2. Semi-Gravity Retaining Walls :-

• Semi-gravity walls resist external forces by the combined action of self weight, weight of soil above footing
and the flexural resistance of the wall components.

• Concrete cantilever wall is an example and consists of a reinforced concrete stem and a base footing.

• These walls are non-proprietary.

3. Cantilever Retaining Walls :-

• The “Cantilever wall ” is the most common type of retaining structure and is generally economical for heights
up to about 8m.

• The structure consists of vertical stem , and a base slab, made up of two distinct regions, viz., a heel slab and
a toe slab.

• “Stem” acts as a vertical cantilever under the lateral earth pressure.

• “Heel slab” acts as a horizontal cantilever under the action of weight of the retained earth (minus soil
pressure acting upwards from below).

• “Toe slab ” acts as a cantilever under the action of resulting soil pressure acting upward.

• It resists the horizontal earth pressure as well as other vertical pressure by way of bending of various
components acting as cantilevers.

• May be L shaped or T shaped.

4. Counter fort Retaining Walls :-

• Stem and Heel slab are strengthened by providing counterforts at some suitable intervals.

• The stability of the wall is maintained essentially by the weight of the earth on the heel slab plus the self
weight of the structure.

• For large heights, in a cantilever retaining wall, the bending moments developed in the stem, heel slab and toe
slab become very large and require large thickness.

• The bending moments can be considerably reduced by introducing transverse supports called counterforts.

• This wall is economical for heights above (approximately) 7m.

• The counterforts subdivide the vertical slab (stem) into rectangular panels
and support them on two sides(suspender-style), and themselves behave
essentially as vertical cantilever beams of T section and varying depth.
• MODES OF FAILURE :-

• Sliding Failure

• Overturning Failure

• Bearing capacity Failure

• Shallow shear Failure

Sliding Failure Overturning Failure

• Deep shear Failure

Bearing capacity Failure Shallow shear Failure