SOIL, GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING

AND
FOUNDATION ENGINEERING

SOIL :

Natural aggregates of mineral grains, loose or

moderately cohesive inorganic or organic in nature
that have the capacity of being separated by means
of simple mechanical processes.
Structures are built with soil
Dams , embankment
Structures are built in soil
Structural foundations footings, piles, rafts,
tunnels

Geotechnical engineering

A unique

combination of science, experience, judgment

and a passion for understanding the uniqueness and
variability of ground conditions resulting from the forces of
nature.

It

is the art of determining the properties of unseen and

variable materials to provide a facility that perform as
expected at acceptable level of risk and at an optional cost.

Geotechnical engineering involves investigation and

engineering evaluation of earth materials including soil,
rock, ground water and man-made materials and their
systems, structural foundations and other civil engineering
works.

The practice involves applications of the principles of the

soil mechanics and knowledge of engineering principles,
formulas, construction techniques and performance
evaluation of civil engineering work influenced by earth
materials.

The base up on which knowledge structure is built in

Geotechnical Engineering is a through comprehension of
the elements of geologic environment.

Foundation Engineering

In

a broad sense, foundation engineering is a art of selecting,

designing and constructing the elements that transfer the
weight of structure to the underlying soil or rock.
The role of engineer is to select the type of foundation, its
design and supervision of construction.
Before the engineer can design a foundation intelligently, he must
have a reasonably accurate conception of the physical properties
and the arrangement of the underlying materials. This requires
detailed soil explorations.

General Observation

1.
2.
3.
4.

5.

Soil does not posses a unique or linear stress-strain

relationship.
Soil behavior depends up on the pressure, time and
environment.
Soil at every location is essentially different
Nearly in all the cases, the mass of soil involved is
underground and cannot be seen entirely, but must be
evaluated on the basis of small size samples, obtained
from isolated locations.
Most soils are very sensitive to disturbance from
sampling and thus the behavior measured by a lab test
may be unlike that of in situ soil.

The foundation engineer should posses the

following information
Knowledge of soil mechanics and background
of theoretical analysis
Composition of actual soil strata in the field.
Necessary experience-precedents-what
designs have worked well under what designs
have worked well under what conditionseconomic aspects
Engineering judgment or intuition - to find
solutions to the problems.

Definition of foundation

The lowest part of a structure is generally referred to as

foundation.
Function of foundation

To transfer load of the superstructure to the soil on which it is

resting.
Requirements (Functional)

A properly designed foundation is one that transfers the

structural load throughout the soil without overstressing of soil
which can result in either excessive settlement or shear failure,
both of which can damage the structure.

Classification of Foundations

Shallow foundations
Deep Foundations

Shallow foundations located just below the lowest part of the

superstructure they support; deep foundations extend
considerably deeper in to earth.

Shallow Foundations

Concentrated Load

PLAN

ELEVATION

Distributed Load

PLAN

ELEVATION
Combined Rectangular Footing

Shallow Foundations

PLAN

ISOMETRIC VIEW

Combined Trapezoidal Footing

ELEVATION

Wall Footing

Shallow Foundations

Raft Foundation

Loads on foundation
Dead Load : Refers to the overall weight of the structure. Includes
weight of the materials permanently attached to the structure (such as
flooring) and fixed service equipment (such as air conditioning)
Live load : Refers to the weight of the applied bodied that are not
permanent parts of the structure. Applied to the structure during part of
its useful life (e.g. people, warehouse goods). Specified by code.
Wind loads : Acts on all exposed parts of the structure. Calculated using
building codes.
Earthquake Forces : Building code is consulted.

Depth and location of foundation

Depth and location of foundation depends on
1. Zone of significant volume changes in soil.
2. Adjacent structures and property lines.
3. Ground water
4. Underground defects

Depth and location of foundation

Zone of significant volume changes in soil :
Clays having high plasticity shrink and swell considerably up
on drying and wetting respectively.
Volume change is greatest near ground. Decreases with
increasing depth. Volume changes usually insignificant below
a depth from 1.5-3.0 m and does not occur below volume changes.

Depth and location of foundation

Adjacent structures and property lines.

Part extending
property line

Structures may be damaged by the construction

of new foundations, as a result of vibrations,
undermining by excavation or lowering of the
water table. After new foundations have been
constructed, the (new) loads they place on the
soil may cause settlement of previously existing
Property line
structures as a result of new stress pattern in the
surrounding soil.
New Footing

In general, deeper the foundations

and closer to the old structure,
greater will be the potential for
damage to old structures.

450
Limit for bottom of
deeper Footing

Existing
Footing

Depth and location of foundation

Ground water
Presence of water reduces soil bearing capacity, larger footing size
more cost. During construction pumping is necessary adds to the cost
of construction.
Underground defects
Footing location affected by underground defects
Faults, caves, mines, sewer lines , underground cables and utilities.

Bearing Capacity : Modes of Failure

Strip footing in

Load q (kN/m2)

Settlement (mm)

dense soil

Sudden appearance of a clearly

defined distinct failure shape
General shear Failure

Bearing Capacity : Modes of Failure

Strip footing in

Local shear Failure

Settlement (mm)

Relatively loose soil

Load q (kN/m2)
qu (1)
qu (2)

When Load reaches qu(1) further settlement takes place with jerks
At q = qu(1)
Not so distinct failure surface develops; does not reach
ground surface
At q = qu(2)
Failure surface finally reaches ground surface; not distinct
Settlement are more in this case as compared to earlier.

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