42

ngllrt 1. 10 Pite fouJKblloos aRllnlilallro

u,ing apile dri'-cr. SUcllllS Ihis one.l1le pile
is hfteoJ ntO lhe vcnkaJ >tioo. i.
called Ihe luds. ,t..n drhen ;no!he: round
" ith \he plle lIarnmcr. Thus.!he Plle dn"cl
musl be shgtltly taller Ihan [he plle 10 be in
.. allcd.
)"IKurt l.1 1 As p;ut of. )C,smlC retrofit
prooecl. a des,gn enllinecr has caJled for in-
diarl\elcr. 9-m Ionll prc-
strnscd concme plle fooooalionlllO be
IIIstalled bellC.'31h Ihe of atI
building This pile foundalion desi gn IS un-
buildable Ihe n:qui..w pi lc_dri,-i ng
eql"pmcnl would nOl til in !he bascmcm.
and bec:all5C is r>OI coough room 10 50:1
lhe pile upnght
Performance Aequiremenls
1" '"
EXISlmg Tllree
V Office Bui ldln

g
Propost'tl Piles
V fOl"
Retrofil
understand-
ing of construction.
2.5 ECONOMIC REQUIREMENTS
Foundation designs are usually more conservative than tbose in tbe superstructure. This
approach is justified for tbe following reasons:
Foundation designs rely on our assessments of tbe soil and rock conditions. These
assessments a1ways inelude considerable uncertainty.
Foundations are not built witb tbe same degree of precision as the superstructure.
For example, spread footings are typically excavated witb a backhoe and tbe sides
of tbe excavation becomes tbe "fonnwork" for tbe concrete, compared to concrete
members in the superstructure tbat are carefully fonned with plywood or other ma-
terials.
The structural materials may be damaged when tbey are installed. For example,
cracks and splits may develop in a timber pile during hard driving.
There is sorne uncertainty in tbe nature and distribution of tbe load transfer between
foundations and tbe ground, so tbe stresses at any point in a foundation are not al-
ways known with as much certainty as might be tbe case in much of tbe superstruc-
ture.
The consequences of a catastrophic failure are much greater.
The additional weight brought on by tbe conservative design is of no consequence,
because tbe foundation is tbe lowest structural member and tberefore does not affect
tbe dead load on any otber member. Additional weight in tbe foundation is actually
beneficial in tbat it increases its uplift resislance.
However, gross overconservatism is not warranted. An overly conservative design can be
very expensive to build, especially witb large structures where tbe foundation is a greater
portion of tbe total project cos!. This a1so is a type of "failure": tbe failure to produce an
economical designo
The nineteentb-century engineer Arthur Wellington once said tbat an engineer's job
is tbat of "doing well witb one dollar which any bungler can do witb two." We must strive
to produce designs tbat are botb safe and cost-effective. Achieving tbe optimum balance
between reliability (safety) and cost is par! of good engineering.
Designs tbat minimize tbe required quantity of construction materials do not neces-
sarily minimize tbe cos!. In sorne cases, designs tbat use more materials may be easier to
build, and tbus have a lower overall cost, For example, spread footing foundations are
usually made of low-strengtb concrete, even tbough it makes tbem thicker. In tbis case,
tbe savings in materials and inspection costs are greater tban tbe cost of buying more con-
crete.
44 Chapler 2 Performance Requiremenls
SUMMARV
Major Points
1. The foundation engineer must determine Ihe necessary performance requirements
befare designing a foundation.
2. Foundations must support various types of structuralloads. These can inelude nor-
mal, shear, moment, andlor torsion loads. The magnitude and direction of Ihese
loads may vary during Ihe life of Ihe structure.
3. Loads also are elassified according to Iheir source. These inelude dead loads, live
loads, wind loads, earlhquake loads, and several olhers.
4. Oesign loads may be expressed using eilher Ihe allowable stress design (ASO) or
Ihe load and resistance factor design (LRFD) melhod. It is important to know which
melhod is being used, because Ihe design computations must be performed accard-
ingly.
5. Strenglh requirements are Ihose Ihat are intended to avoid catastrophic failure.
There are two kinds: geotechnical strenglh requirements and structural strenglh re-
quirements.
6. Serviceability requirements are Ihose intended to produce foundations Ihat perform
well when subjected to Ihe service loads. These requirements inelude settlement,
heave, tile, lateral movement, vibration, and durability.
7. Settlement is oflen Ihe most important serviceability requirement. The response of
structures to settlements is complex, so we simplify Ihe problem by considering two
types of settlement: total settlement and differential settlement. We assign maxi-
mum allowable values for each, Ihen design Ihe foundations to satisfy Ihese require-
ments.
8. Ourability is anolher important serviceability requirement. Foundations must be
able to resist Ihe various corrosive and deteriarating agents in soil and water.
9. Foundations must be buildable, so design engineers need to have at least a rudirnen-
tary understanding of construction methods and equipment.
10. Foundation designs must be economical. Allhough conservatism is appropriate, ex-
cessively conservative designs can be too needlessly expensive to build.
2.5 Economic Requirements 45
Vocabulary
Allowable differential Earthquake load Self-straining load
settlement
Economic requirement Serviceability requirement
Allowable total settlement
Failure Settlement
Allowable angular
Fluid load Shearload
distortion
Geotechnical strength Snow load
Allowable stress design
requirement
Stream flow loads
Braking load
Heave
Strength requirement
Cathodic protection
Impactload
Structural strength
Centrifugalload
Lateral movement requirement
Column spacing
Live load Sulfate attack
Constructibility
Load factor Tilt
requirement
Load and resistance factor Torsion load
Deadload
design
Total settlement
Design load
Momentload
Vibration
Differential settlement
Normal load
Windload
Durability
Performance requirement
Earth pressure load
Resistance factor
COMPREHENSIVE QUESTIONS ANO PRACTICE PROBLEMS
2.9 A certain clayey soi! contains 0.30 pereent sulfates. Would you anticipate a problem witb con-
crete foundations in this soil? Are any preventive measures necessary?
2.10 A series of 50-ft long sleel piles are to be driven into a natural sandy soil. TIle groundwater
table is at a depth of 35 ft below tbe ground surface. Would you anticipate a problem witb cor-
rosioo? What additional data could you gather to make a more informed decision?
2.11 A one-story steel warehouse building is to be built of structural steel. TIle roof is to be sup-
ported by steel trusses tbat will span tbe entire 70 ft width of tbe building and supported on
columns adjacent to tbe exterior walls. These trusses will be placed 24 ft on center. No inte-
rior columns will be presenl. TIle walls will be made of corrogated steel. There will not be any
roll-up doors. Compute tbe allowable total and differential settlements.
2.12 TIle grandstands for a minor league baseball stadium are to be bui!t of structural steel. TIle
structural engineer plans to use a very wide columo spacing (25 m) to provide the best specta-
tor visibility. Compute tbe allowable total and differential settlements.
2.13 TIle owner of a lOO-story building purchased a plumb bob witb a very long slring. He selected
a day witb no wind, and tben gentIy lowered tbe plumb bob from his pentbouse office win-
4'
Chapter 2 Performance ReqUlrements
Flgun' 2.1 2 l'roposed '>10'" for I'robl.m
dow. When ;1 rcachcd lhe 11 was 1.0 m from Ihe sidc oflhe building. h thil bUIlding
lilting Explain.
2. 1" "h\(HlOry departrnenl <;tore idemicaJ 10 he one in Figure 2. l2 is lO be built. This SU\lcturt'
will have reinforced m:lsonT) exterior wal1s. The gmund floor \\ ,11 be dab-on-grade. The relll-
foreed concrete upper Ooor and roof"i ll be on "ith COllLlUtlS 50 ti on-
center. Compute lhe allowlIble IOtal and diffcn::mial <eu1cmcnt< for his
3
Soil Mechanics
Measure it with a micrometer,
mark it with chalk,
cut it with an axe.
An admonition to maintain a consistent degree olprecision throughout
the analysis. design, and construction phases ola project.
Engineers classify earth materials into two broad categories: rock and soil. AIlhough bolh
materials play an important role in foundation engineering, most foundations are sup-
ported by soil. In addition, foundations on rock are often designed much more conserva-
tively because of lhe rock' s greater strenglh, whereas economics prevents overconser-
vatism when building foundations on soil. Therefore, it is especially important for lhe
foundation engineer to be familiar wilh soil mechanies.
U sers of this book should a1ready have acquired at least a fundamental understand-
ing of lhe principies of soil mechanies. This chapter reviews lhese principies, emphasiz-
ing lhose lhat are most important in foundation analyses and designo Relevant principies
of rack mechanics are included in later chapters wilhin lhe context of specific applica-
tions. Geotechnical Engineering: Principies and Practices (Coduto, 1999), lhe compan-
ion volume to this book, explores a11 of lhese topies in much more detail.
3.1 SOIL COMPOSITION
One of lhe fundamental differences between soil and most olher engineering materials is
lhat it is a particulate material. This means lhat it is an assemblage of individual particles
ralher lhan being a continuum (a continuous solid mass). The engineering properties of
47