Foundations

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Denition of the Term Foundation
A foundation is that part of a building or structure which is in direct contact with the
ground and which transfers the loads imposed upon it to the subsoil beneath.
The foundation that is constructed as part of the building or structure is termed
the articial foundation, whilst the ground that supports this is termed the
natural foundation.
TYPES OF FOUNDATIONS
Purpose of a Foundation
The purpose of a foundation is to spread the load, from the structure above, over an
adequate bearing area of the subsoil, and to provide a stable, level base on which to build.
Although foundations are normally out of sight, the effect of any movement of a foundation
is likely to be very noticeable in the structure above.
The foundation is sandwiched between the forces from the structure and those from the
ground thus subjecting it to compressive forces, so the foundation must be constructed from
a material that is strong enough to resist any forces being imposed upon it.
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TYPES OF FOUNDATIONS
Foundations are required to prevent undue settlement and consequent fracture of the
building due to unequal loads and stresses at various points and to distribute these loads
evenly over an area.
The foundation then, requires both strength and stability to full its role.
The strength is related to the materials used to construct the foundations, but the stability
depends on the way in which the foundation transmits the load to the subsoil, and the way
in which the subsoil reacts.
The strength of a material is a measure of its power to resist forces placed upon it. Some
materials will resist both tensile and compressive forces; others will resist compressive but
not tensile forces.
It is therefore very important to know both the nature of the forces acting on a material and
how the material reacts to such forces.
The forces which act on a foundation are the weight of the building acting downwards, and
the supporting resistance of the ground underneath which acts upwards (see gure above).
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Spread of Loads on Foundations
The manufactured material which is used to carry the weight of the building is usually
concrete. Concrete is stronger than the natural soil which has to support it, so that the
forces acting through the foundation may have to be distributed over a wider area of subsoil
to support the weight.
It is usually assumed that this spreading of the forces through the foundation happens
within an angle of 45 from the vertical.
As long as the foundation does not extend beyond this 45 line at its base, the forces within
it can be assumed to be compressive only.
To maintain this, however, when the wall becomes wider, the foundation should also
become wider and deeper.
Load
Wall
Foundation
Spread of compressive forces in the natural foundation
45
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Spread of Loads on Foundations
As stated previously the effect of spreading the load through 45 will affect the width and
thickness of foundation as the load being carried becomes wider.
The effects of spreading of loads on foundations
This widening and deepening of the foundation is unlikely to be economical though.
The amount of excavation and concrete required would result in a very heavy and
expensive structure.
Solving the problem
The solution is to make the foundation wider without making it thicker. This will ensure the
load is spread over an adequate area of ground to support it safely.
In this case, there is a tendency for the foundation to bend across its width and this in turn
results in tensile forces in the bottom of the foundation.
In this case, a material which is strong in tension and compression must be used to
reinforce the foundation.
The material most commonly used is steel reinforcement. Steel reinforcement can be either
steel bars or steel mesh which is encased within the concrete.
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Bearing Pressure
The bearing capacity of a foundation is the force per unit area imposed by the foundation
on the subsoil beneath it.
The bearing pressure of the subsoil is the force per unit area that the subsoil is capable
of supporting.
Factor of Safety
Subsoil is a mixture of solid particles, air and water. As with any other material it has to be a
certain strength to resist compressive forces, but it will fail if it is overloaded.
In order to provide a factor of safety, it is usual to design a foundation so that the
bearing pressure on the ground, imposed by the structure through the foundation, is about
one third of the bearing pressure of the subsoil.
Since on any particular building site it is necessary to take the subsoil as it is found, it is the
foundation which has to be designed to provide a safe bearing pressure.
This can be carried out in one of two ways:
1. By spreading the load over a wide area so that the force per unit area imposed upon the
soil is reduced.
2. By taking the load to a greater depth where the subsoil is stronger and the force per unit
area that the subsoil can carry is greater.
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Settlement and Heave
The pressure which the foundation exerts on the soil will cause it to compress and
move downwards, taking the foundation with it. This downwards movement is known as
settlement, and one of the functions of a foundation is to ensure that uneven settlement
across a building does not occur.
Very little of the settlement of the soil under the weight of the building is due to the
compression of solid particles in the soil. Almost all of the settlement is due to the water
between the particles being forced out, enabling the solid particles to pack closer together.
Therefore anything else which changes the amount of water in the subsoil will cause
soil movement.
When water freezes, it expands; in very cold weather, the water in the subsoil may freeze
and cause the soil to heave, i.e. move upwards. When this occurs beneath a foundation,
the pressure exerted could be sufcient to lift the foundation.
Wall tends to tilt
when ground moves,
and cracks can occur
Soil exposed
to elements
Depth of foundation
base 600mm or less
below ground level
Roof and oor of
the building protects
the ground below from
the elements
Foundation will tend
to tilt since the ground
movement is greater
at the outer edge
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Further Factors Affecting the Depth Required for Foundations
After a long dry spell of weather, cracks sometimes appear in buildings which have stood
for many years, indicating that the foundation has moved.
In this case, the cause is likely to be that the water in the subsoil has dried out and the soil
itself has shrunk.
Tree roots tend to accelerate this process by absorbing water in the soil and consequently
drying it out. The roots of certain trees can often extend out in all directions greater than
the tree.
When a site has been cleared of trees, the reverse can happen. The roots no longer dry out
the subsoil which in turn becomes wet and swells, resulting in heave, and possible cracking
of the structure.
Cracks in external brickwork are often stepped and diagonal. The walls tend to be drawn
outwards and downwards by the movement in the ground. Care must be taken when
building near trees.
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The Solution to Movement of the Structure Due to Inadequate Depth
To avoid settlement or heave due to the effects of frost (or to extreme changes in water
content, more likely in clay subsoils) the foundation must be taken down to a greater
depth. For some soils this may need to be 600mm deep, and for clay the depth must be a
minimum of 1 metre.
Benets of ensuring the foundation is at an adequate depth
Wall remains stable
under most
conditions
At least
1.00m
Roof protects
the ground oor
from elements
Note! No ground
movement should
occur if the
foundation is at
a depth of more
than 1.80m
Depth at least 1.00m below ground level will produce
only very slight movement which will not affect foundation
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Typical Failure of Foundations
Strip foundations can fail due to cracking at their base induced by bending of the
foundation, or due to shear cracking when it becomes overloaded.
Reinforcing the foundation to resist the forces that cause bending and cracking
The foundation can be reinforced by inserting steel reinforcement bars or mesh into the
concrete. This will reduce the tendency of the foundation to crack or bend.
Foundation reinforced with steel
Load
Tension cracks appear when
stress exceeds the concretes
own resistance. Failure will
occur through bending
Load
Strip foundation
fails through
shear force
Un-reinforced strip
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Foundation Types
Foundations are generally described by their shapes.
Pad foundation
For single loads which are transmitted down a brick pier, concrete column or steel
stanchion, the most common foundation is a square or rectangular block of concrete of
uniform thickness known as a pad foundation.
In order to spread the load over a greater area it is necessary either to make the pad thicker
or use reinforced concrete.
Pad foundation
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Strip Foundation
Under a wall, where the loading on the foundation is continuous, the support is commonly a
continuous strip of concrete known as a strip foundation.
The width of the strip will depend on the load to be carried and the strength of the ground.
The traditional or shallow strip foundation consists of a continuous strip of un-reinforced
mass concrete under the walls. This type of foundation is suitable for most subsoils and
structural loadings associated with low to medium rise domestic and industrial buildings.
In order to reduce failure through bending and shear, the foundation concrete has to be
a minimum 150mm thick, and the projection from the face of the wall to the edge of the
foundation concrete has to be at least equivalent to the concrete thickness. The diagram
below shows the dimensions which will satisfy the current Building Regulations.
The depth D must be 150mm minimum and must be equal to, or greater than, the projection
P and the distance P must be equal on either side of the wall.
Strip foundation
Depth to suit
ground conditions
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Wide strip foundations
If the use of traditional strip foundations is likely to overstress the bearing strata (the layer of
ground on which the foundation sits), a wide strip foundation can be employed.
The wide strip foundation would be designed to transmit the foundation loads across the
full width of the strip.
This might necessitate the foundation thickness being increased to overcome the bending
and shear stress.
In some cases, the thickness of concrete could become uneconomic and so reinforcement
is used. Both longitudinal and transverse reinforcement are added to ensure the applied
loads are supported without failure of the strip.
Longitudinal
reinforcement
Transverse reinforcement
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Stepped strip foundation
On sloping sites it is usual to step the foundation to follow the line of the ground and
therefore reduce the amount of excavation required.
A second benet of using stepped foundations is that the foundation is more likely to
remains seated in the same strata of ground, avoiding potential differential settlement.
When constructing stepped foundations, the construction starts at the lowest level of
the site.
Building regulations relating to stepped foundations states:
The minimum overlap L should be equal to twice the height of the step S or the foundation
thickness T or a width of 300mm whichever is the greatest.
Height of step = three
courses 225mm
Height of step = two
courses 150mm
Steps should be constructed
to gauge of brickwork
or blockwork to avoid
unnecessary cutting
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In some cases, the working space required to build on top of a concrete strip foundation
would make the strip wider than it would need to be to carry the load.
In these circumstances, an economical alternative is the narrow strip foundation
(or trench ll foundation as it is sometimes known).
A narrow strip is excavated by the mechanical excavator and backlled with mass concrete.
The bricklayer can then build off the foundation from ground level.
A high standard of accuracy in constructing such a foundation is required, particularly if
drains are to be let through the foundation.
It is normal practice to box out drainage holes across the trench when pouring the concrete;
this allows any drainage pipe or other services to pass through the foundation without risk
of fracture at a later date.
This foundation is often used where tree roots exist, the face of the trench being lined with
polythene sheeting before pouring the concrete. This ensures that the concrete has a more
smooth and dense surface. This tends to divert roots and avoids any potential root ingress
into any holes in the foundation.
Narrow strip or trench ll foundation
Short bored piles
It is sometimes necessary to avoid constructing foundations on soil close to the surface.
This is usually due to poor bearing capacity of the soil. If this so then one alternative
method is to transfer the load on the foundation to a greater depth. In this situation an
economical solution is the use of a short bored pile foundation.
Short bored piles are formed by boring circular holes 300mm diameter to a depth of about
3m by means of an auger.
The holes are then lled with concrete and reinforced with steel bars which are left
projecting from the top.
The piles are placed at the corners of the building and at intermediate positions along
the walls.
The piles support reinforced concrete ring beams which are cast in place in the ground on
top of the piles. It is on to these ring beams that the brickwork is built.
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Raft foundations
Raft foundations are often used on poor subsoils for lightly loaded buildings and are
designed to be capable of accommodating small settlements of the subsoil.
A raft foundation covers the whole of the oor and wall area of the structure. The reinforced
oor slab is generally thickened out substantially under all the walls, and the loads from the
walls are subsequently transferred into the whole of the slab.
The simplest and cheapest form of raft is the thick reinforced concrete raft. Its rigidity
enables it to minimise the effects of differential settlement.
Thick raft foundation
Raft foundation with thickened edges used in poor soil conditions
No thickened toe
on edge required
for lightweight
buildings
Reinforced
concrete raft
No thickened toe
on edge required
for lightweight
buildings