A house is a Building in which people reside.
Alternatively, House
is a building for human habitation, especially one that consists of
a ground or further floors.
The building consists of multiple structural components such as
foundation, walls, floors and roofs etc. It provides covered space
for different uses such as residential, educational, business,
storage etc.
The building foundation is like the roots of a tree. The structure of
a tree has two parts, one is the root, and another is the stem. As
the tree grows bigger, its root goes deeper and spread over a
large area to capture more soil. The stem gets thicker and helps
to resist all the natural forces. If the roots are not fixed properly in
the soil, the tree will fall on the ground however thick the stem is.
Let us use this natural concept to understand the building
foundations.
The building is divided into two categories,
Substructure
Superstructure
According to ‘ Swami Saran’ (Author of Analysis and Design of
Substructures Limit State Design) The substructure is the part of
building below the ground level. The superstructure is the part of
building above the ground level. Foundation comes into the
category of substructure.
Now that we are aware of the parts of a building, let us
understand what is foundation?
What is Foundation?
Building Foundation is the part of a building which is in direct
contact with the ground and transmits loads of
the superstructure to the supporting soil. The strength and
stability of any building depends upon its foundation.
HOUSE CONSTRUCTION
7 Important Requirements that the Foundation System should Meet
Jaydutt Tailor
November 22, 2016
A strong foundation is must for any building. The load on the
foundation increases due to the construction of the building.
Loads are also responsible for settlement of the building . Lot of
times, the failure of a foundation is responsible for the
collapse/failure of the structure.
HOUSE CONSTRUCTION
8 Basic Causes of Cracks in House
Mahadev Desai
August 30, 2017
Causes of Failure of
Foundations
Non-uniform settlement of subsoil.
The horizontal movement of the soil adjacent to the structure.
Swelling and shrinkage of soil in wet and dry cycles of the seasons.
The action of weathering agencies, e.g., sun, wind, rain.
Roots of trees and shrubs which penetrate the foundation.
HOUSE CONSTRUCTION
Reasons for Building Collapse due to the Foundation Failures
Ritesh Patel
January 29, 2018
After understanding the concept of building foundation, let us
understand why foundation is necessary for a building.
Necessity of Building
Foundation
Foundation is required for every building because,
A foundation is responsible for overall safety and Stability of the
building.
Foundation distributes the load from the superstructure to soil
uniformly.
The uniform transfer of load helps in avoiding unequal settlement of
the building.
Foundation can provide a proper level surface to the structure.
Foundation is holding the structure above it and keeps it upright.
Foundation provides stability and strength to the structure. The
stronger is the foundation, the more stable is the structure.
HOUSE CONSTRUCTION
Signs of Foundation Problems in Your House
Ravin Desai
June 2, 2017
The General Procedure in
Foundation Design
One should follow the following procedure while designing
the building foundation.
Carry out detailed site investigation, to obtain necessary information
about the soil, its soil bearing capacity, settlement characteristics,
safe bearing capacity at required/suitable depth for particular type
of footing, water table level etc.
Sketch the soil profile showing the stratification at the site along
with the position of maximum water level. Note down the physical
and engineering properties of each layer on the soil profile itself.
Determine the magnitude and distribution of loads from the
superstructure.
On the basis of the type of structure, amount of loads coming on the
foundation and soil profile and its safe bearing capacity decide the
type of foundation and minimum depth of foundation.
Select appropriate dimensions of the foundation. Determine safe
bearing capacity of foundation, taking into consideration the
engineering properties of soil, depth and plan dimensions of the
foundation.
Determine intensity of maximum base pressure which should be less
than the safe bearing capacity.
Determine the settlement, tilt and horizontal displacement of the
foundation under the actual forces and moments and compare with
the respective permissible values.
Check the stability of the foundation against horizontal and uplift
forces (Subsoil water pressure).
Carry out the structural design of the foundation keeping in view the
critical sections for bending moment and shear.
Assess the need of foundation drains, waterproofing and damp
proofing.
Prepare the complete working drawing for execution of work on the
field.
HOUSE CONSTRUCTION
Classification of Loads on Structure
Ravin Desai
April 28, 2016
Types of Foundations
To understand the various types of foundation first, let us
understand the concept of footing.
Footing is the lowest unit of a foundation built with brickwork,
masonry or concrete to transmit the load directly to the ground.
According to ‘ Sushil Kumar’ (Author of Building Construction),
When a suitable site is selected having satisfactory subsoil, it is
not difficult to decide the type of foundation. There are two main
types of foundation,
Shallow Foundation
Deep Foundation
HOUSE CONSTRUCTION
10 Important Criteria to Choose the Right Foundation for Your House
Mahadev Desai
April 28, 2016
01. Shallow Foundation
According to ‘ Terzaghi’ (Austrian Civil Engineer, Geotechnical
Engineer and Geologist also Known as the Father of Soil
Mechanics), a foundation is shallow if the depth of footing is equal
to or less than its width.
The shallow foundation is a building foundation to distribute the
structural loads over a wide horizontal area at shallow depth
below the ground level. The various types of shallow
foundation are:
Spread Footings
Grillage Foundation
Eccentrically Loaded Footings
Combined Footings
Raft Foundation
(a) Spread Footing
A spread footing is a type of shallow foundation used to transmit the
load of an isolated column or that of a wall to the subsoil.
The base of the column or wall is enlarged to spread or provide
individual support to the load.
The various types of spread footings are Wall footings, reinforced
concrete footings, inverted arch footings, column footings etc.
(i) Wall Footing
Wall footing consists of several courses of bricks or stones.
The base course of these footing is either made of concrete or
completely one material.
Wall footing can be either simple footing or stepped footing.
(ii) Reinforced Concrete Footing
The reinforced concrete footing is same as the wall footing but
difference is the base course of these footings which is made of
reinforced concrete.
Reinforced concrete footings should be provided in places where the
walls are subjected to heavy loading and bearing capacity of soil is
comparatively low.
(iii) Inverted Arch Footing
This type of foundations to be provided for multistoried buildings in
olden days.
An inverted arch footing is used on soft soil to reduce the depth of
the foundation.
In this type of footing the end columns must be stable enough to
resist the outward pressure caused by the arch action.
(iv) Column Footing
Column footing is an independent footing which is provided under a
column.
Column footing can distribute the load below the soil uniformly
distributing the load.
Depending upon the overall load to be carried, type of structure and
the bearing capacity of the soil, column footing may be of brick
masonry, stone masonry or Reinforced cement concrete (RCC) etc.
(b) Grillage Foundation
Grillage foundation is used to transmit heavy loads from steel
columns to the soils having low bearing capacity.
This type of arrangement can avoid deep excavations and provide
necessary area at the base to reduce the intensity of pressure.
(c) Eccentrically Loaded Footings
Eccentrically loaded footings are designed and proportioned when
the Centre of gravity of imposed load does not coincide with Centre
of gravity of the supporting area of the base.
Sometimes, when wall or columns are to be placed closed to the
property lines, the required supporting areas of the base cannot be
placed concentrically with the imposed loads.
In such situation, these types of footings are adopted to ensure the
stability of the wall or column without interfering with the area
outside the property line of the buildings.
(d) Combined Footings
A spread footing which supports two or more columns in a row is
termed as a combined footing.
If independent spread footings of two columns are connected with
beam it is called a strap footing.
The combined footing is rectangular in shape if both the columns
carry equal loads.
The combined footing is trapezoidal in shape if both the columns
carry unequal loads.
(e) Mat/Raft Foundation
The raft foundation is a combined footing that covers the entire area
below the structure and supports all the walls and columns.
Mat or raft foundation is proved to be economical, when load
carrying capacity of soil is very less and loads from building are
heavy.
Sometimes, the soil mass contains compressible particles or the soil
is sufficiently unstable so that the differential settlement would be
difficult to control. In such situation, this type of foundation is
provided.
HOUSE CONSTRUCTION
What are the Different Types of Raft Foundation?
Mahadev Desai
November 28, 2017
02. Deep Foundation
According to ‘ Terzaghi’ (Austrian Civil Engineer, Geotechnical
Engineer and Geologist also Known as the Father of Soil
Mechanics), a foundation is profound if its depth of footing is
equal to or greater than its width.The deep foundation is a
building foundation to distribute the structural loads at
considerable depth below the ground level. According to ‘ Sushil
Kumar’ (Author of Building Construction), the various types of
deep foundations are:
Pile foundation
Caissons / Well Foundations
(a) Pile Foundation
A pile foundation is generally used in compressible or water-logged
soil.
A pile is an element of a structure composed of timber, concrete or
a combination of such materials.
Provision of pile foundation is a common solution to all difficult sites
with problems.
HOUSE CONSTRUCTION
Necessity of Pile Foundation!
Ravin Desai
December 17, 2016
(b) Caissons / Well Foundations
A caisson is a box type watertight structure used to place a
foundation in the correct position underwater, which ultimately
becomes a part of the permanent structure.
They are used for deep foundations under water where the
foundations extend below the river bed
