Chapter One

Introduction to Foundations

“A building is Only as Strong as its Foundation”

Contents
• Introduction
• History of Foundation Design
• Modern Foundation Design
• Uncertainties in Foundation Design
• Foundation Types
• Performance Requirements for Foundations
• Selection of Appropriate Foundation
• Codes & Standards for Foundation Design
• References

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Definitions
• The foundation is the part of an engineered system
that transmits to, and into, the underlying soil or rock
the loads supported by the substructure and its self-
weight
• The term superstructure has particular significance for
buildings and bridges; however, foundations also may
carry only machinery, support industrial equipment
(pipes, towers, tanks), act as sign bases, and the like
• For these reasons it is better to describe a foundation
as that part of the engineered system that interfaces
the load-carrying components to the ground
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Foundations, Superstructure &
Substructure
• Buildings
• Pipe Foundations

• Bridges

• Tower Foundations
• Machine Foundations

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History of Foundation Design
• Early foundation design were based solely on precedent ,
intuition and common sense
• Through trial and error, builders developed empirical rules
of thumb for sizing and constructing foundations
• Load bearing masonry walls built on compacted gravel shall be
supported on spread footing 1.5 times width of the wall
• Those built on clay and silt shall be supported on spread footing 3
times the width of the wall (Powell,1884) New York
• These rules work satisfactorily only if they are applied to
similar structures and soil conditions which were
encountered before

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History of Foundation Design
• Eiffel Tower (1889
• Required a new technique of
foundation design due to its
height and weight
• Adjacent to Seine River, hence
two of the footings were on soft
deep alluvial soil risks excessive
settlement
• Hence,two legs 12m below OGL,
other legs only 6m below OGL
• Major lesson :
Investigation of soil Conditions

What do you reckon is the problem of the ‘Leaning tower of Piazza’?

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History of Foundation Design
• Modern Foundation Design Practice
• From Empiricism to Rationalism
• Fredrick Baumann (1879) Recommended that the base area of
foundation should be proportional to the load they support
• and forwarded allowable bearing capacity for soils in Chicago
area
• After 1920 soil mechanics grew in leaps and bounces
and allowed a more rational practice based on scientific
theories and soil exploration
• It is know possible to build reliable, cost effective high
capacity foundation for all types of structures

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History of Foundation Design
• Modern Foundation Design Practice
• Minimum steps required in modern foundation design
• Locate the site and position of the load
• Physically inspect the site for potential geological and
geotechnical problems
• Establish field exploration (site investigation) program and on
the basis of findings in step above schedule field testing
• Determine the necessary soil design parameters based on field
and laboratory test results, scientific principles and engineering
judgment
• Select appropriate foundation type
• Design the foundation using the results in step above
• Geotechnical Design (Proportioning)
• Structural Design

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Uncertainties in Foundation Design
• The greatest uncertainties in foundation design are;
• Limited Knowledge of soil condition
• Limitation in understanding structure-soil interaction
• Difficulty in predicting service loading (Live Loads)
• Human errors
• Due to these and other uncertainties the test results and
analysis results need to be tampered with precedent, common
sense, and engineering judgment
• Since we do not fully understand underground soil conditions
and soil-structure interactions a combination of empirical rules
and rational methods are employed foundations design
• Hence Foundation Engineering is both Science and Art

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Foundation Types
• Foundations can classified based on mechanism of
how they spread the load or their flexibility
• Based on the mechanism of load distribution;
• Shallow foundations
• Deep foundations
• Bases of classification is that the depth to width ratio (D/B<1)
must be less or equal to 1.
• Shallow foundations spread the concentrated load from the
superstructure laterally hence known as spread footings
• Deep foundation spread the same load vertically
• Foundations can also be Rigid Foundations or Flexible
Foundation

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Foundation Types
• Shallow Foundations are further divided in to;
• Isolated Footings
Isolated
• Continuous Footings Footing

• Combined Footings
• Strap Footings
• Mat/Raft Foundations Continuous
Footing

Combined
Strap Footing
Footing
Mat/Raft
Foundation

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Foundation Types
• Deep Foundations
• Deep foundations can be
floating/friction piles or end bearing
or a combination of the two
mechanisms
• Furthermore, they can be categorized
based on the construction material
and/or the construction method
• Pile Foundations
• Concrete, steel, or timber piles
• Precast or in situ piles
• Replacement Piles/Displacement Piles
• Under Reamed piles
• Battered Piles

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Foundation Types
• Shallow foundations can further be classified based on
their shape and structural make up;
• Isolated Footings – Square, Rectangular or Circular
• Pad, Stepped or Sloped
• Combined footings- Rectangular, Trapezoidal
• Mat/Raft Foundations- Simple Mat, Stiffened Mat

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Performance Requirements for Foundations

• Expected Performance of foundation can be

summarized in to
• Strength Requirements
• Geotechnical strength requirement
• Structural strength requirements
• Serviceability Requirements
• Settlement [Immediate(elastic Settlement) and Consolidation
Settlement]
• Heave, Tilt, Lateral Movements, Vibration and Durability
• Constructability Requirements
• Economic Requirements
• Environmental Requirements
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Selection
• Selection of Appropriate Foundation Type
• Any chosen foundation type should satisfy the
aforementioned strength and serviceability
requirements in an economical manner and it should be
possible to construct it using the current technology
• More Specifically the appropriateness of a foundation
type is determined by
• Loading Requirements
• Site specific Geological Conditions
• Site Accessibility
• Overhead Clearance
• Existence of Utility Lines
• Closeness of Existing structure
• Limitations on Noise and Vibration Levels

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Selection
• Although foundations type selection requires
experience and sound engineering judgment, the
following can be used as an initial guidelines
• Shallow Foundations i.e. Df/B≤1
• Isolated/Continuous Footings
• Used for individuals Columns and Walls
• Applicable Conditions include
• Any condition where bearing capacity is adequate for the
applied loads
• May use on a single stratum;
• Firm layer over soft layer or soft layer over firm layer, check
settlement for any source
• Combined Footings
• Used for two to four columns on footings and/or space is limited
• Applicable Conditions are similar to Isolated footings

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Selection
• Cont…..
• Mat/Raft Foundations
• Used for Several rows of parallel columns, heavy columns loads &
used to reduce differential settlement
• Applicable Conditions Include
• Loads are so heavy or the bearing capacity of soil low to support
isolated/combined footings
• Soil contain compressible lenses or the soil sufficiently erratic and it is
difficult to define and asses the extent of each of the weak pockets or
cavities and estimate the overall or differential settlement
• When the structure to be supported are very sensitive to differential
settlement
• When the structure naturally lends itself for mat foundation example
silos water tankers etc
• Floating foundation situation where the bearing capacity is very poor
and the weight of the supper structure is proposed to balanced by
the removed soil
• Buildings where basements are required for utilization
• Varying and large magnitude moments are expected from the super
structure loads risking rotation

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Selection
• Cont….
• Deep Foundation Generally Lp/B ≥ 4
• Floating Piles
• Used in groups of 2+ supporting a cap that interfaces with column(s)
• Applicable soil conditions include
• Surface and near surface soils have very low bearing capacity
and competent soil is at great depth
• Sufficient skin resistance can be developed by soil to pile
perimeter to carry anticipated loads
• End Bearing Piles
• Used in groups of 2+ supporting a cup which interfaces with
column(s)
• Applicable soil conditions include
• Surface and near surface soils not relied on for skin resistance
• Competent layer for point load resistance is at reasonable depth
(8-20m)

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Codes and Standards
• Foundation design is difficult to regulate as much as other
parts of buildings
• A number of national and international codes are available,
including British Standards and Euro Code, International Building
Standards and EBCS
• Building codes govern the design and construction of all
foundations
• Building codes represent the minimum design requirements.
• Specify the extent of soil investigation
• These establish to the ultimate and serviceability limit states
• The method of construction, supervision of construction etc
• Simply meeting code requirements does not produces satisfactory
design especially in foundation design.
• In Ethiopia the code that governs foundation design and
construction is EBCS 7
• References shall be made to appropriate code provisions through
out the course

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References
Bowels, J., E.,(1996) Foundation Analysis and Design,5th Ed.,
McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.
Codato, P.D,(2001), Foundation Design, principle and practice
2nd Ed, Prentice Hall, Hobekan NJ

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