FOUNDATIONS & FOUNDATION
ENGINEERING
The foundations of the building transfer the weight of the building to the ground. While
'foundation' is a general word, normally, every building has a number of individual
foundations. Most buildings have some kind of foundation structure directly below every
major column, so as to transfer the column loads directly to the ground.
There are many different kinds of foundations, see our page on types of foundations for
more information.
Since the weight of the building rests on the soil (or rock), engineers have to study the
properties of the soil very carefully to ensure that it can carry the loads imposed by the
building. It is common for engineers to determine the safe bearing capacity of the soil
after such study. As the name suggests, this is the amount of weight per unit area the
soil can bear. For example, the safe bearing capacity(SBC) at a location could be 20
T/m2, or tonnes per square metre. This figure is the maximum the soil can bear, so an
engineer will take pains to see that her design does not exceed this figure in any part of
the building.
This capacity also changes at different depths of soil. In general, the deeper one digs,
the greater the SBC, unless there are pockets of weak soil in the earth. To properly
support a building, the soil must be very firm and strong. It is common for the soil near
the surface of the earth to be loose and weak. If a building is rested on this soil, it will
sink into the earth like a ship in water. Building contractors will usually dig until they
reach very firm, strong, soil that cannot be dug up easily before constructing a
foundation.
To study the properties of the soil before designing foundations, engineers will ask for
a soil investigation to be done. A soil investigation engineer will drill a 4" or 6" hollow
pipe into the ground, and will remove samples of the earth while doing so. He will then
send these samples to a lab to find out the detailed properties of the soil at every
depth. Soil is usually composed ofstrata, or different layers, each with its own set of
properties. Drilling technology today makes it easy and economical to drill to great
depths, easily several hundred metres or more, even in hard rock.
The soil investigation team will then prepare a soil investigation report that lists the
engineering properties of the soil at regular intervals, say every 2 meters. Based on this
deport, engineers designing the structure can decide at what depth of soil to provide the
foundations, the type of foundations they should provide, and the size of the
foundations.
Every once in a while, engineers will find fill at a site. This occurs when humans have
previously dug up the earth there, and then filled it back in. This happens if a quarry
was dug or a building built there previously. Since fill is loose and soft and cannot
support weight, engineers will dig to a depth below that of the fill, where strong soil is
found, and construct foundations there.
The study of soil, and its properties and behavior, is called soil mechanics.
TYPES OF FOUNDATIONS
Read our introduction to foundations if you have missed it.
In this article we will discuss the common types of foundations in buildings. Broadly speaking, all
foundations are divided into two categories: shallow foundations and deep foundations. The
words shallow and deep refer to the depth of soil in which the foundation is made. Shallow
foundations can be made in depths of as little as 3ft (1m), while deep foundations can be made
at depths of 60 - 200ft (20 - 65m). Shallow foundations are used for small, light buildings, while
deep ones are for large, heavy buildings.
SHALLOW FOUNDATIONS
Shallow foundations are also called spread footings or open
footings. The 'open' refers to the fact that the foundations are
made by first excavating all the earth till the bottom of the
footing, and then constructing the footing. During the early
stages of work, the entire footing is visible to the eye, and is
therefore called an open foundation. The idea is that each
footing takes the concentrated load of the column and
spreads it out over a large area, so that the actual weight on
the soil does not exceed the safe bearing capacity of the soil.
There are several kinds of shallow footings: individual footings, strip footings
and raft foundations.
In cold climates, shallow foundations must be protected from freezing. This
is because water in the soil around the foundation can freeze and expand,
thereby damaging the foundation. These foundations should be built below
the frost line, which is the level in the ground above which freezing occurs. If
they cannot be built below the frost line, they should be protected by
insulation: normally a little heat from the building will permeate into the soil
and prevent freezing.
INDIVIDUAL FOOTINGS
Individual footings awaiting concreting of the footing column.
Individual footings are one of the most simple and common types of foundations. These are
used when the load of the building is carried by columns. Usually, each column will have its own
footing. The footing is just a square or rectangular pad of concrete on which the column sits. To
get a very rough idea of the size of the footing, the engineer will take the total load on the
column and divide it by the safe bearing capacity (SBC) of the soil. For example, if a column has
a vertical load of 10T, and the SBC of the soil is 10T/m2, then the area of the footing will be
1m2. In practice, the designer will look at many other factors before preparing a construction
design for the footing.
Individual footings connected by a plinth beam. Note that the footings have been cast on top of beds of plain cement
concrete (PCC), which has been done to create a level, firm base for the footing.
Individual footings are usually connected by a plinth beam, a horizontal beam that is built at
ground or below ground level.
STRIP FOOTINGS
Strip footings are commonly found in load-bearing masonry construction, and act as a long strip
that supports the weight of an entire wall. These are used where the building loads are carried
by entire walls rather than isolated columns, such as in older buildings made of masonry.
RAFT OR MAT FOUNDATIONS
Raft Foundations, also called Mat Foundations, are most often used when basements are to be
constructed. In a raft, the entire basement floor slab acts as the foundation; the weight of the
building is spread evenly over the entire footprint of the building. It is called a raft because the
building is like a vessel that 'floats' in a sea of soil.
Mat Foundations are used where the soil is week, and therefore building loads have to be
spread over a large area, or where columns are closely spaced, which means that if individual
footings were used, they would touch each other.
Read our page on raft foundations.
DEEP FOUNDATIONS
PILE FOUNDATIONS
A pile is basically a long cylinder of a strong material such as concrete that is pushed into the
ground so that structures can be supported on top of it.
Pile foundations are used in the following situations:
1. When there is a layer of weak soil at the surface. This layer cannot support the weight of
the building, so the loads of the building have to bypass this layer and be transferred to
the layer of stronger soil or rock that is below the weak layer.
2. When a building has very heavy, concentrated loads, such as in a high rise structure.
Pile foundations are capable of taking higher loads than spread footings.
There are two types of pile foundations, each of which works in its own way.
End Bearing Piles
In end bearing piles, the bottom end of the pile rests on a layer of especially strong soil or
rock. The load of the building is transferred through the pile onto the strong layer. In a sense,
this pile acts like a column. The key principle is that the bottom end rests on the surface which is
the intersection of a weak and strong layer. The load therefore bypasses the weak layer and is
safely transferred to the strong layer.
Friction Piles
Friction piles work on a different principle. The pile transfers the load of the
building to the soil across the full height of the pile, by friction. In other words,
the entire surface of the pile, which is cylindrical in shape, works to transfer
the forces to the soil.
To visualise how this works, imagine you are pushing a solid metal rod of say
4mm diameter into a tub of frozen ice cream. Once you have pushed it in, it is strong enough to
support some load. The greater the embedment depth in the ice cream, the more load it can
support. This is very similar to how a friction pile works. In a friction pile, the amount of load a
pile can support is directly proportionate to its length.
In practice, however, each pile resists load by a combination of end bearing and friction.
PILE FOUNDATIONS
A pile is basically a long cylinder of a strong material such as concrete that is pushed into the
ground to act as a steady support for structures built on top of it.
Pile foundations are used in the following situations:
1. When there is a layer of weak soil at the surface. This layer cannot support the weight of
the building, so the loads of the building have to bypass this layer and be transferred to
the layer of stronger soil or rock that is below the weak layer.
2. When a building has very heavy, concentrated loads, such as in a high rise structure,
bridge, or water tank.
Pile foundations are capable of taking higher loads than spread footings.
There are two types of pile foundations, each of which works in its own way.
End Bearing Piles
In end bearing piles, the bottom end of the pile rests on a layer of especially strong soil or
rock. The load of the building is transferred through the pile onto the strong layer. In a sense,
this pile acts like a column. The key principle is that the bottom end rests on the surface which is
the intersection of a weak and strong layer. The load therefore bypasses the weak layer and is
safely transferred to the strong layer.
Friction Piles
Friction piles work on a different principle. The pile transfers the load of the
building to the soil across the full height of the pile, by friction. In other words,
the entire surface of the pile, which is cylindrical in shape, works to transfer
the forces to the soil.
To visualise how this works, imagine you are pushing a solid metal rod of say
4mm diameter into a tub of frozen ice cream. Once you have pushed it in, it is strong enough to
support some load. The greater the embedment depth in the ice cream, the more load it can
support. This is very similar to how a friction pile works. In a friction pile, the amount of load a
pile can support is directly proportionate to its length.
WHAT ARE PILES MADE OF?
Piles can be made of wood, concrete, or steel.
In traditional construction, wooden piles were used to support buildings in areas with weak soil.
Wood piles are still used to make jetties. For this one needs trees with exceptionally straight
trunks. The pile length is limited to the length of a single tree, about 20m, since one cannot join
together two tree trunks. The entire city of Venice in Italy is famous for being built on wooden
piles over the sea water.
Cross sections of various pile foundations
Concrete piles are precast, that is, made at ground level, and then driven
into the ground by hammering - more on that later. Steel H-piles can also be
driven into the ground. These can take very heavy loads, and save time
during construction, as the pile casting process is eliminated. No protective
coating is given to the steel, as during driving, this would be scraped away by
the soil. In areas with corrosive soil, concrete piles should be used.
HOW PILES ARE USED
As pile foundations carry a lot of load, they must be designed very carefully.
A good engineer will study the soil the piles are placed in to ensure that the
soil is not overloaded beyond its bearing capacity.
Every pile has a zone of influence on the soil around it. Care must be taken to
space the piles far enough apart so that loads are distributed evenly over the
entire bulb of soil that carries them, and not concentrated into a few areas.
The load pattern of the piles on the soil surrounding them. This is also called a zone of influence.
Engineers will usually group a few piles together, and top them with a pile cap. A pile cap is a
very thick cap of concrete that extends over a small group of piles, and serves as a base on
which a column can be constructed. The load of this column is then distributed to all the piles in
the group.
HOW PILES ARE CONSTRUCTED
Piles are first cast at ground level and then hammered or driven into the ground using a pile
driver. This is a machine that holds the pile perfectly vertical, and then hammers it into the
ground blow by blow. Each blow is is struck by lifting a heavy weight and dropping it on the top
of the pile - the pile is temporarily covered with a steel cap to prevent it from disintegrating. The
pile driver thus performs two functions - first, it acts as a crane, and lifts the pile from a
horizontal position on the ground and rotates it into the correct vertical position, and second, it
hammers the pile down into the ground.
Piles should be hammered into the ground till refusal, at which point they cannot be driven any
further into the soil.
SPECIAL PILES
Pile driving is very noisy and causes massive vibrations through the soil. For this reason, it is
sometimes difficult to use them in sensitive locations. For example, if an operational hospital or
science lab is to be extended, driving piles would cause unwanted disturbance. Their use is also
restricted in residential areas in many countries. The vibrations could also cause structural
damage to older buildings that are close by. In such situations it is possible to
use micropiling orhelical piling, neither of which rely on hammering.
Micropiles or minipiles are small piles that are constructed in the following way:
Step 1: a hole a little larger than the pile diameter and the full length of the pile is dug into the
ground using an apparatus like a soil boring machine.
Step 2: a precast concrete pile is lowered or pushed into the hole.
Step 3: a concrete grout is poured into the gap between the pile and the earth.
Helical piles are steel tubes that have helical (spiral) blades attached to them. These can be
drilled into the ground, meaning that the pile acts as a giant drill bit, and is rotated and pushed
into the ground from above, much like a screw drills into wood. Once the steel pile is driven into
the ground, a pile cap is poured on top of the pile to prepare it for the construction above.
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