Shear keys for basement walls:
pros and cons
The familiar key and keyway at the wall-footing joint
present some construction problems
BY BRUCE A. SUPRENANT
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR DEPARTMENT OF
CIVIL ENGINEERING AND MECHANICS
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
TAMPA, FLORIDA
E ngineers and architects fre-
quently show a shear key at the
joint between a footing and a base-
ment wall. Usually the detail is like
that in Figure 1, with the keyway or
g ro ove formed in the footing and
the shear key cast as part of the wall
extending into the slot in the foot-
ing. Many standard references in-
clude these keysundimen-
sionedin their drawings of typical
structures.
Purpose of the shear key
Shear keys are used to resist later-
al forces such as earth and water
p re s s u re s, earthquakes, and wind.
In engineered construction the ar-
chitect or engineer will design a
connection of sufficient strength to
resist this horizontal shear and as-
sure wall stability. In residential
work where lateral forces are often
less critical, a standard detail may
be followed.
Alternate ways to resist shear
Although a shear key cast as part
of the wall is the most frequently
specified connection, there are oth-
er ways to resist shear. Vertical rein-
forcing bars or a combination of
shear key and bars are also satisfac-
tory. An upturned shear key, cast as
part of the footing, is sometimes
used but usually not in residential
work.
Reinforcing bars usually resist
bending. Howe ve r, reinforcement in
excess of that required for bending
can also resist shear, and thus bars
can be an alternate to the shear key.
The yield strength of the reinforcing
bar governs the load capacity of this
connection. Since the yield strength
of the bar is clearly established, the
capacity of the connection may be
easily calculated. It is necessary
however to anchor the bar into both
the footing and the wall to use its
full strength. Vertical re i n f o rc i n g
bars, whether used for shear or
bending should be accurately
placed and firmly supported before
concrete is placed in the wall forms.
How to form the keyway
Contractors have always consid-
ered keyways to be a nuisance. Al-
though plastic keyway formers are
now available, a wood 2x4 or 2x6 is
generally used to form a shear key.
The sides of the wooden member
are beveled to make form removal
easier. Traditionally this keyway for-
mer has been supported from the
side footing forms as shown in Fig-
ure 2. Frequently the beveled 2x4 is
splintered during form removal.
An easier method consists of the
following steps:
Place and level the footing con-
crete to the desired elevation.
Figure 1. Shear connections between a Where the keyway is to be formed,
basement wall and its footing may be place an 8-foot-long beveled 2x4
made by: (A) a concrete shear key at on the concrete surface.
the base of the wall cast in a formed
keyway in the footing; (B) a shear key Use a 2-pound hammer to drive
plus reinforcing bar; or (C) the the 2x4 into the fresh concrete,
reinforcing bar without a shear key. pushing up concrete from under
 the wood.
When the 2x4 is flush with the top
of the footing forms, screed off
excess concrete from the top sur-
face.
As the concrete begins to stiffen
remove the wood to reveal a
formed keyway.
This simplified method wont
work where reinforcing bars are
used with the shear key. If there are
vertical bars in the middle of the
shear keyway, as is often the case,
holes must be drilled in the beveled
2x4 at the exact spacing of the bars.
The 2x4 is then supported from the
footing side forms and re i n f o rc e-
ment is positioned in the drilled
holes before concrete is placed.
To avoid the expense of drilling
holes, you may be able to shift the
position of the shear key if the engi-
neer or architect approves. You
might also request approval to split
the wood piece and form a half key
on each side of the vertical bars. But
if coarse aggregate particles are too
large to fit into each half-key open-
ing when the wall concrete is
placed, this solution would not be
acceptable.
How effective is the shear key?
Some engineers question the ac-
tual resistance of the shear key. The-
oretically, its strength is calculated
by multiplying the cross-sectional
COST COMPARISON: SHEAR RESISTANCE PROVIDED BY
SHEAR KEYS VERSUS #4 REINFORCING BARS
Wall height Factored shear Shear resistance
force to be provided, pounds
resisted, pounds
per foot
4 feet 544
8 feet 2176
NOTES: Shear key assumed to be built by simplified method described in article.
Cost data provided by Heritage Development and Construction Company,
Kankakee, Illinois.
Figure 2. The keyway may be formed by a beveled wood strip supported from side
forms for the footing. A simpler way of forming the footing is described in the text.
failure area by the shear strength of
the concrete. Forming a shear key
with a 2x4 should provide a 312-inch-
wide failure surface, but estimating
the strength of concrete in the key is
a problem.
Have you ever watched as ready
mixed concrete leaves the truck?
What is the quality of the first con-
crete from the truck, and where is
that concrete placed? The answers
to these questions indicate why
some engineers avoid shear keys.
Because of inadequate mixing or
improper batching and delivery,
concrete from the first portion of a
truck load may be too wet or too
rocky. When deposited directly into
the shear key, this lower quality con-
crete will reduce the capacity of the
connection. Also if consolidation is
poor, the key may sometimes lack
strength because it is not entirely
filled.
Method Cost,
dollars
per foot per
foot
3900 Concrete key 0.50
544 1
#4 @ 7 2 feet 0.10
3900 Concrete key 0.50
2176 #4 @ 2212 inches 0.39
Comparing the costs
Finally, cost is an important as-
pect of shear resistance. The table
shows the shear force to be resisted,
the shear resistance provided, and
the cost to provide it in some typi-
cal residential walls. The needed
shear resistance is a shear force cal-
culated assuming an equivalent flu-
id pressure of 40 pounds per cubic
foot and applying a load factor of 1.7
as required by current concrete de-
sign pro c e d u re s. For a 4-foot wall,
the resistance needed is 544 pounds
per lineal foot. For an 8-foot wall,
2176 pounds per lineal foot is need-
ed.
A concrete key formed by a 2x4
provides 3900 pounds of resistance
per lineal foot. A single vertical #4
bar acting in shear can provide 4080
pounds of resistance. The concrete
shear key offers more than enough
resistance, but being continuous, it
cannot be adjusted to match more
closely the needed strength. The re-
inforcing bars, on the other hand,
can be spaced to match closely the
needed resistances. This spacing,
shown in the table, gives the ve rt i-
cal bars a cost advantage in residen-
tial construction.
The final choice
Engineers and architects are
questioning the strength capacity of
a typical shear key. And contractors
consider the key a construction nui-
sance. While a shear key is frequent-
ly shown on standard basement wall
details, the cost for this practice
should be investigated. Vertical bars
Figure 3. Where vertical bars are required in the center of the keyway, the beveled
wood strip may be drilled with holes at the exact spacing of the bars (A). Less
expensive methods may involve (B) shifting the keyway location if the engineer or
architect permits, or (C) splitting the keyway former.

used to resist both bending and

shear forces are easy to place and
can be spaced exactly to match the
loading re q u i re m e n t s. They also
avoid the problem of estimating the
strength of poor quality concrete
which may be placed into a shear
key.

PUBLICATION #C870620
Copyright 1987, The Aberdeen Group
All rights reserved