SOILS AND FOUNDATION

THE PROFILE OF SOIL CONSISTS OF SEVERAL HORIZONTAL LAYERS CALLED HORIZONS. THE UPPER SIX TO EIGHT INCHES OF SOIL IS CALLED TOPSOIL. HUMUS IS THE DARK ORGANIC MATERIAL PRODUCED BY THE DECOMPOSITION OF VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL MATTER. VEGETATION IMPROVES THE DRAINAGE OF SOIL. BUILDING FOOTINGS SHOULD BE PLACED BELOW THE FROST LINE. THE DEPTH OF THE FROST LINE VARIES FROM ZERO TO AS MUCH AS 100 INCHES. FOOTINGS IN EXPANSIVE SOILS SHOULD BE EXTENDED BELOW THE DEPTH OF SEASONAL MOISTURE CHANGE, SO THAT THE MOISTURE CONTENT OF THE SUBSOIL REMAINS FAIRLY CONSTANT. THE TWO MOST COMMON SUBSURFACE EXPLORATION TECHNIQUES ARE BORINGS AND TEST PITS. ONE OF THE MOST COMMON BOREHOLE TESTS IS THE STANDARD PENETRATIO TEST (SPT , WHICH IS A MEASURE OF THE DENSITY OF GRANULAR SOILS AND CONSISTENCY OF SOME CLAYS. TEST PITS ARE TRENCHES DUG AT THE !OB SITE THAT ALLOW VISUAL INSPECTION OF THE SOIL STRATA AND DIRECT COLLECTION OF UNDISTURBED SAMPLES. SOILS ARE CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO THE UNIFIED SOIL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (USCS . HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE PUTS ADDITIONAL LOADS ON THE STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS, AND IT MAKES WATERPROOFING MORE DIFFICULT BECAUSE THE PRESSURE TENDS TO FORCE WATER INTO ANY CRACK OR IMPERFECTION IN THE STRUCTURE. PROCTOR TEST IS WHEN FILL SAMPLES ARE TESTED IN THE LABORATORY TO DETERMINE A STANDARD FOR COMPACTION. DENSIFICATION IS A TYPE OF ON SITE COMPACTION OF EXISTING MATERIAL USING ONE OF SEVERAL TECHNIQUES INVOLVING VIBRATION, DROPPING OF HEAVY WEIGHTS, OR POUNDING PILES INTO THE GROUND AND FILLING THE VOIDS WITH SAND. SURCHARGING IS THE PRELOADING OF THE GROUND WITH FILL MATERIAL TO CAUSE CONSOLIDATION AND SETTLEMENT OF THE UNDERLYING SOIL BEFORE BUILDING.

THE ANGLE OF REPOSE OR THE CRITICAL ANGLE OF REPOSE, OF A GRANULAR MATERIAL IS THE STEEPEST ANGLE OF DESCENT OR DIP OF THE SLOPE RELATIVE TO THE HORIZONTAL PLANE WHEN MATERIAL ON THE SLOPE FACE IS ON THE VERGE OF SLIDING. THIS ANGLE IS IN THE RANGE 0"#$0". GRADE BEAMS ARE OFTEN USED WHERE EXPANSIVE SOILS OR CLAY, SUCH AS BENTONITE, ARE ENCOUNTERED NEAR THE SURFACE. DESIGNING FOOTINGS% THERE ARE THREE PRIMARY FACTORS TO INVESITGAGE WHEN DESIGNING FOOTINGS. UNIT LOADING, SO THAT THE ALLOWABLE BEARING PRESSURE OF THE SOIL IS NOT EXCEEDED AND DIFFERENTIAL SETTLEMENT IN VARIOUS PARTS OF THE STRUCTURE IS ELIMINATED AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. THE OTHER TWO ARE SHEAR AND BENDING. A FOOTING FAILS IN PUNCHING OR TWO& WAY SHEAR WHEN THE COLUMN OR WALL LOAD PUNCHES THROUG THE FOOTING. A FOOTING CAN ALSO FAIL IN FLEXURAL SHEAR OR DIAGONAL TENSION THE SAME AS REGULAR BEAMS. FOOTINGS FAIL IN BENDING WHEN THE LOWER SURFACE CRACKS UNDER FLEXURAL LOADING. THERE ARE THREE TYPES OF RETAINING WALLS% THE GRAVITY WALL, THE CANTILEVER WALL, AND THE COUNTERFORT WALL. GRAVITY WALL RESISTS THE FORCES ON IT BY ITS OWN WEIGHT AND BY SOIL PRESSURE AND SOIL FRICTION AGAINST ITS SURFACE OPPOSITE TO THE EARTH FORCES. CANTILEVER WALL IS THE MOST COMMON TYPE AND IS CONSTRUCTED OF REINFORCED CONCRETE. THIS TYPE RESISTS FORCES BY THE WEIGHT OF THE STRUCTURE AS WELL AS BY THE WEIGHT OF THE SOIL ON THE HEEL OF THE BASE SLAB. FOR WALLS HIGHER THAN '0 TO '( FEET, THE COUNTERFORT WALLL IS USED. THIS IS SIMILAR TO THE CANTILEVERED WALL, BUT WITH COUNTERFORTS PLACED AT DISTANCES EQUAL TO OR A LITTLE LARGER THAN ONE&HALF THE HEIGHT. UNDERPINNING IS A METHOD TO TEMPORARILY SUPPORT EXISTING FOUNDATIONS WHILE THEY ARE BEING REPAIRD OR STRENGTHENED OR WHEN THEY ARE BEING EXTENDED TO A LOWER LEVEL. LATERAL SOIL PRESSURE LOADS ARE HORIZONTAL PRESSURES OF EARTH AND GROUNDWATER AGAINST BASEMENT WALLS. WHERE FOUNDATION SETTLEMENT OCCURS AT ROUGHLY THE SAME RATE THROUGHOUT ALL PORTIONS OF A BUILDING, IT IS TERMED UNIFORM SETTLEMENT. SETTLEMENT THAT OCCURS AT DIFFERING RATES BETWEEN DIFFERENT PORTIONS OF A BUILDING IS TERMED DIFFERENTIAL SETTLEMENT.

EARTH MATERIAL S ARE CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO PARTICLE SIZE, THE PRESENCE OF ORGANIC CONTENT, AND, IN THE CASE OF FINER GRAINED SOILS, SENSITIVITY TO MOISTURE CONTENT. PEAT, TOPSOIL, AND OTHER ORGANIC SOILS ARE NOT SUITABLE FOR THE SUPPORT OF BULDING FOUNDATIONS. THE SPACES BETWEEN SOIL PARTICLES ARE CALLED SOIL PORES. THE STABILITY OF A SOIL IS ITS ABILITY TO RETAIN ITS STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES UNDER THE VARYING CONDITIONS THAT MAY OCCUR DURING THE LIFETIME OF THE BUILDING. COARSE GRAINED SOILS CONSISTING OF PARTICLES OF ALL SIZES ARE TERMEDWELL GRADED OR POORLY SORTED. COARSE GRAINED SOILS CONSISTING OF PARTICLES WITH A SMALLER RANGE OF PARTICLE SIZES ARE TERMED POORLY GRADED OR WELL SORTED, AND THOSE WITH PARTICLES MOSTLY OF ONE SIZE ARE TERMED UNIFORMLY GRADED. LIQUID LIMIT IS THE WATER CONTENT AT WHICH THE SOIL PASSES FROM A PLASTIC STATE TO A LIQUID STATE. THE PLASTIC LIMIT IS THE WATER CONTENT AT WHICH THE SOIL LISES ITS PLASTICITY AND BEGINS TO BEHAVE AS A SOLID. ICE LENSES ARE THICK LAYERS OF FROZEN WATER CRYSTALS THAT CAN LIFT FOUNDATIONS BY EVEN LARGER AMOUNTS. THE MOST COMMON TYPES OF SLOPE SUPPORT, OR SHORING, ARE SOLDIER BEAMS AND LAGGING, AND SHEET PILING. WITH SOLDIER BEAMS AND LAGGING, STEEL COLUMNS CALLED H&PILES OR SOLDIER BEAMS ARE DRIVEN VERTICALLY INTO THE EARTH AT SMALL INTERVALS AROUND AN EXCAVATION SITE BEFORE DIGGING BEGINS. AS EARTH IS REMOVED , THE LAGGING, USUALLY CONSISTING OF HEAVY WOOD PLANKS, IS PLACED AGAINST THE FLANGES OF THE COLUMNS TO RETAIN THE SOIL OUTSIDE THE EXCAVATION. SHEET PILING OF SHEETING CONSISTS OF VERTICAL PLANKS OF WOOD, STEEL, OR PRECAST CONCRETE THAT ARE PLACED TIGHTLY AGAINST ONE ANOTHER AND DRIVEN INTO THE EARTH TO FORM A SOLID WALL BEFORE EXCAVATION BEGINS. CROSSLOT BRACING UTILIZES TEMPORARY STEEL WID&FLANGED COLUMNS THAT ARE DRIVEN INTO THE EARTH BY A PILDRIVER AT POINTS WHERE BRACES WILL CROSS.

THE MOST COMMON METHOD OF DEWATERING IS TO REMOVE WATER BY PUMPING AS IT ACCUMULATES IN PITS, CALLED SUMP, CREATED AT LOW POINTS IN THE EXCAVATION. WELL POINTS ARE COMMONLY USED TO DEPRESS THE WATER TABLE. THESE ARE VERTICAL SECTIONS OF PIPE WITH SCREENED OPENINGS AT THE BOTTOM THAT KEEP OUT SOIL PARTICLES WHILE ALLOWING WATER TO ENTER. A PILE IS DISTINGUISHED FROM A CAISSON BY BEING FORCIBLY DRIVEN INTO THE EARTH RATER THAN DRILLED AND POURED. IT MAY BE USED WHERE NONCOHESIVE SOILS, SUBSURFACE WATER CONDITIONS, OR EXCESSIVE DEPTH OF BEARING STRATA MAKE CAISSONS IMPRACTICAL. THE SIMPLEST KIND OF PILE IS A TIMBER PILE. FRICTION PILES WORK BEST IN SILTY, CLAYEY, AND SANDY SOILS. THEY ARE DRIVEN EITHER TO A PREDETERMINED DEPTH OR UNTIL A CERTAIN LEVEL OF RESISTANCE TO HAMMER BLOWS IS ENCOUNTERED, RATHER THAN TO REFUSAL AS WITH END BEARING PILES.