Foundation Engineering

FOUNDATION ENGINEERING
AN INTRODUCTION
V Vinayaka Ram
BITS Pilani
Hyderabad Campus 9010202846
TEXT BOOK
Murthy, V. N. S.
Geotechnical Engineering:
Principles and Practices of
Soil Mechanics and
Foundation Engineering
CRC Press, Taylor &

Francis Group, First Indian
Reprint, 2010
BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus

INTRODUCTION
Art of selecting, designing, and constructing the elements that

transfer the weight (both horizontal and vertical loads) of a
structure to the underlying soil or rock
• An interface between the superstructure and the soil or rock
• Loads transmitted by the foundation to the underlying soil shall

not cause shear or settlement failure of the superstructure
• The role of engineer is to select the type of foundation, its design

and supervision of construction

INTRODUCTION - SCOPE
• Pre requisites: Background knowledge of Soil Mechanics

and Exploration
• Includes
• Foundations for buildings and other structures
• Retaining walls
• Cofferdams
• Tunnels
• Earth dams
• Natural slopes
• Dewatering of soils
• Stabilization of soils

INTRODUCTION - SCOPE
• Provide an in-depth understanding regarding

different types of foundation systems for various
structures and machines subjected to static and
dynamic loads
• Analyze different types of foundation systems –

Spread, Combined, Raft, Ring, Pile, Machine,
Retaining Structures
• Understand the suitable strengthening measures for

existing and new foundations
REQUIREMENTS OF FOUNDATIONS
 Economic
 Adequate Safety: Bearing Capacity, Sliding, Overturning
 Settlements: Total and Differential Settlements
 Seasonal changes: Drying, frost and heave
 Construction Problems: Stability during excavation, bottom

heave, ground water problems, vibrations and noise
 Environmental Effects: Permanent lowering of ground water

level
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS OF FOUNDATIONS
 Location and Depth of Foundation
 Bearing Capacity of Foundation
 Settlement of Foundation

LOCATION AND DEPTH OF FOUNDATIONS
 IS:1904-1986: Minimum depth shall be 0.50 m

 Foundation shall be placed below the zone of
• The frost heave
• Excessive volume change due to moisture variation
(usually exists within 1.5 to 3.5 m depth of soil from
the top surface)
• Topsoil or organic material
• Peat and Muck
• Unconsolidated material such as waste dump

LOCATION AND DEPTH OF FOUNDATIONS

FOUNDATION ADJACENT TO FLOWING WATER
• Determine foundation type
• Estimate probable depth of scour and its effects
• Estimate cost of foundation for normal and

various scour conditions
• Determine the scour versus risk and revise the

design accordingly

DEPTH OF FOUNDATIONS
(depends on)
• Securing adequate allowable bearing capacity
• Clayey soils: Penetration below the zone where shrinkage

and swelling occur
• Fine sands and silts: Penetration below the zone in which

trouble may be expected from frost
• Roots of trees causing appreciable movements
• Maximum possible depth of scour
• Ground movements
(depends on)
• At least 50 cm below natural ground level
• Rocks - Removal of the loose top soil
• Problematic Soil Conditions
 Foundation shall be taken down to a depth beyond

the detrimental influence of such conditions
 Retaining walls shall be constructed for the

purpose of shielding from their effects

(depends on)
• Below the zone significantly weakened by root

holes or cavities produced by burrowing animals
• The depth shall be enough to prevent the

rainwater scouring below the footings

FOUNDATIONS AT DIFFERENT LEVELS
Adjacent to sloping ground or where the bottom of the

footings of a structure are at different levels or at levels
different from those of the footings of adjoining
structures, the depth of the footings shall be such that

When the ground surface slopes downward adjacent to a footing, the sloping surface shall not
intersect a frustum of bearing material under the footing having sides which make an angle of 300
with the horizontal for soil and horizontal distance from the lower edge of the footing to the
sloping surface shall be at least 60 cm for rock and 90 cm for soil
Footing on a sloping ground

Footing on a granular soil

Footing on a Clayey soil

SPACING BETWEEN
THE EXISTING AND NEW FOUNDATIONS
• The deeper the new foundation and the nearer to

the existing it is located, the greater the damage
(Which building?)
• The minimum horizontal spacing between existing

and new footings shall be equal to the width of the
wider one
• Analysis of bearing capacity and settlement shall be

carried out to have an appreciation of the effect on
the adjacent existing foundation
FOUNDATIONS CLASSIFICATION
Foundation Engineering/Foundation Systems
Foundation Retaining Substructures

Structures Structures
Shallow Deep 1. Retaining Walls 1. Tunnels

Foundations Foundations 2. Sheet Pile Walls 2. Conduits
1. Coffer Dams 1. Diaphragm Walls

1. Footings 1. Piles 2. Cut Supports 2. Pavements
2. Rafts 2. Piers
3. Caissons

FOUNDATIONS CLASSIFICATION
Shallow Foundations
Footings Rafts
For Load For Individual For two or more For two or more
Bearing Walls Columns columns in one row columns in several rows
Continuous or Independent Footings Combined Footings 1. Grids

Strip Footings 1. Isolated 2. Rafts
2. Spread or Pad Shape:
a. Rectangular Shape:
Shape: b. Trapezoidal a. Rectangular
a. Rectangular c. Cantilever b. Square
b. Square c. Circular
c. Circular d. Annular
e. Octagonal

CLASSIFICATION
Deep Foundations
Piles Piers Caissons
1. Replacement
2. Displacement 1. Drilled
2. Excavated Box Open (Well) Pneumatic
3. End Bearing
4. Frictional Shape:
5. Bored Shape:
a. Circular a. Circular
6. Driven b. Double-D
7. Cast-in-situ etc…..
8. Precast
Shape:
a. Circular
b. Square

RAFT OR MAT FOUNDATION

PILE FOUNDATIONS

PIER FOUNDATIONS

CAISSONS

ISOLATED FOOTING

COMBNED FOOTING

Shallow Foundations – Part I
Ultimate Bearing Capacity
• Foundation must not settle beyond a tolerable
limit to avoid damage to the structure
• The Foundation must be stable against the shear

failure of the supporting soil
• Location and depth of foundation – Erosion due

to flowing water, underground defects such as
root holes, cavities, unconsolidated fills, ground
water level, presence of expansive soils etc.
Loads on Foundations
• Dead Loads, Live Loads

• Wind Loads
• Earth quake loads
• Lateral pressure exerted by the foundation earth on the
embedded structural elements
• Effects of dynamic loads
• Lateral or uplift forces on foundation elements due to high
water table
• Swelling pressure due to expansive soils
• Heave pressures on foundations where frost heave is possible
• Negative frictional drag on pile foundation where highly
expansive soils are found

Types of Shallow Foundations
(a) Plain concrete foundation,

(b) Stepped reinforced concrete
foundation
(c) Reinforced concrete rectangular
Foundation
(d) Reinforced concrete wall
foundation

Steps for the Selection of the
Type of Foundation
• Obtain the required information concerning the nature of

the superstructure and the loads to be transmitted to the
foundation.
• Obtain the subsurface soil conditions.
• Explore the possibility of constructing any one of the types

of foundation under the existing conditions by taking into
account (i) the bearing capacity of the soil to carry the
required load, and (ii) the adverse effects on the structure
due to differential settlements. Eliminate in this way, the
unsuitable types.
Steps for the Selection of the
Type of Foundation
• Once one or two types of foundation are selected on the

basis of preliminary studies, make more detailed studies.
These studies may require more accurate determination
of loads, subsurface conditions and footing sizes. It may
also be necessary to make more refined estimates of
settlement in order to predict the behavior of the
structure.
• Estimate the costs of each of the promising types of

foundation and chose the type that represents the most
acceptable compromise between performance and cost

Ultimate Bearing Capacity of the Soil

• Load settlement Curve – Similar to stress strain curves
• Shape of the curve = f(Size and shape of the footing)
• This curve indicates the ultimate load “Qu” that the

foundation can support
• The curve C1 is for very stiff clay or dense sand – Curve

travels abruptly to peak and then drops down – Qu is
pronounced here
• For the C2 curve – for loose sand or soft clay – Point

beyond which there is a constant rate of penetration
• Load settlement Curve – Similar to stress strain curves
• Shape of the curve = f(Size and shape of the footing)
• This curve indicates the ultimate load “Qu” that the

foundation can support
• The curve C1 is for very stiff clay or dense sand – Curve

travels abruptly to peak and then drops down – Qu is
pronounced here
• For the C2 curve – for loose sand or soft clay – Point

beyond which there is a constant rate of penetration
DEFINITIONS
• When all the voids are filled with water the

bulk unit weight is identical to the saturated
unit weight, γsat,
• When all the voids are filled with air the bulk
unit weight is identical with the dry unit
weight, γdry

DEFINITIONS

DEFINITIONS

DEFINITIONS

DEFINITIONS

DEFINITIONS

DEFINITIONS

DEFINITIONS

DEFINITIONS

TYPES OF BEARING CAPACITY FAILURES IN SOILS

GENERAL SHEAR FAILURE
• This type of failure is seen in dense and stiff soil

• Dense sand with relative density greater than 70%, fails when
settlement reaches 7% of the foundation width
• Continuous, well defined and distinct failure surface develops between
the edge of footing and ground surface
• Dense or stiff soil that undergoes low compressibility experiences this
failure
• Continuous bulging of shear mass adjacent to footing is visible
GENERAL SHEAR FAILURE
• Failure is accompanied by tilting of footing

• Failure is sudden and catastrophic with pronounced peak in P – δ curve
• The length of disturbance beyond the edge of footing is large
• State of plastic equilibrium (a body of soil is in a state of plastic
equilibrium if every part of it is on the verge of failure) is reached
initially at the footing edge and spreads gradually downwards and
outwards
LOCAL SHEAR FAILURE
• Sand of relative density between 35% to 70% do not show a

sudden failure
• When settlement exceeds 8% of foundation width, sand starts

bulging at the surface
• When settlement exceeds 15% of foundation width, Visible

boundary of sheared zones at the surface appears
LOCAL SHEAR FAILURE
• A significant compression of soil below the footing and partial

development of plastic equilibrium is observed.
• Plastic equilibrium: State of stress within a soil mass or a portion

thereof that has been deformed to such an extent that its
ultimate shearing resistance is mobilized
• Failure is not sudden and there is no tilting or partial tilting of

footing
LOCAL SHEAR FAILURE
• Failure surface does not reach the ground surface and slight
bulging of soil around the footing is observed
• Failure surface is not well defined
• Failure is characterized by considerable settlement
• Well defined peak is absent in P – δ curve

PUNCHING SHEAR FAILURE
• Relatively loose sand with relative density less than 35%

penetrate into the soil without bulging of the sand surface
• Base resistance gradually increases as the settlement

progresses
• The rate of settlement increases and reached a maximum at a

settlement of about 15 to 20% of the foundation width
• Sudden jerks and shears can be observed as soon as the

settlement reaches about 6 to 8% of foundation width
• Failure never reaches the sand surface

• Failure is characterized by very large settlement

• Continuous settlement with no increase in P is
observed in P – δ curve
General shear
failure
Local shear
failure
Punching
shear failure

FACTORS AFFECTING FAILURES

According to experimental results from foundations resting

on sands (Vesic, 1973), likely mode of failure depends on
• Size of the foundation and the relative density of the soil
• Permeability: relating to drained/ un-drained behavior
• Compressibility
• Shape of the footing

• Interaction between adjacent foundations and other

structures
• Relative stiffness of soil and footing/structure
• Incidence and relative magnitude of horizontal

loadings or moments
• Presence of stiffer or weaker underlying layers

WHY FOUNDATIONS FAIL?
Drainage

Evaporation

Inferior Ground Preparation

Plumbing Leaks

Poor Soil

Liquefaction - 1964 Niigata earthquake

FAILURES

CASE STUDY

CASE STUDY

CASE STUDY

CASE STUDY

CASE STUDY –
Crack through middle of the building

CASE STUDY
Splitting of building due to differential settlement

CASE STUDY
Splitting of building due to differential settlement

CASE STUDY
Rare Foundation Failure of a Building in Shanghai, China

FAILURE THEORIES – TERZAGHI’S THEORY
• Basic system of equations describing the yield

problems is nonlinear
• Terzaghi (1943) - semi-empirical equation for

computing the ultimate bearing capacity of strip
footings - Cohesion, friction, weight of soil
(Replacing the overburden pressure with an equivalent
surcharge load at the base level of the foundation)

FAILURE THEORIES – TERZAGHI’S THEORY
• General shear failure condition and the principle of

superposition
• Extension of the work of Prandtl (1921)
• The final form of the equation proposed by

Terzaghi is the same as the one given by Prandtl
• Terzaghi estimated qu for C - ɸ soils

TERZAGHI’S THEORY - ASSUMPTIONS
• The soil is semi infinite, homogeneous and

isotropic
• The problem is two dimensional
• The base of the footing is rough
• The failure is by general shear
• The load is vertical and symmetrical
• Ground surface is horizontal

TERZAGHI’S THEORY - ASSUMPTIONS
• The overburden pressure at foundation level is

equivalent to a surcharge load q0’ = γDf Where γ is the
effective unit weight of the soil and Df is depth of the
foundation(less than the width of the foundation)
• The principle of super position is valid
• Coulomb’s law is strictly valid

TERZAGHI’S THEORY – MECHANISM OF FAILURE
General shear failure surface as assumed by Terzaghi for
a strip footing

a strip footing
• General failure surfaces under ultimate loading conditions
• Zones of plastic equilibrium bounded by “gedcfg”

 Zone 1 – Elastic Equilibrium
 Zone II – Radial shear state
 Zone III – Rankine's passive state

a strip footing
Zone 1 – Elastic Equilibrium

• Tendency of the soil – To spread
• Counteracted by – Friction and adhesion between the soil and
base of the footing
• Due to this resistance against lateral spreading, this soil in this
zone remain in a state of elastic equilibrium
• Soil in Zone I behaves as if it is a part of the footing and sinks with
the footing under superimposed load
• The depth of this wedge shaped body ‘abc’ remains practically
unchanged, yet the footing sinks
• This is possible when the soil below the point ‘C’ moves vertically
downwards BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus
TERZAGHI’S THEORY – GENERAL SHEAR FAILURE
Strip footings
Ultimate Bearing Capacity ‘qu’ is given by
• Where Qult = Ultimate load per unit length of the footing

• c = Unit Cohesion
• Γ = Effective unit weight of the soil
• B = Width of the footing
• Df = Depth of the footing
• Nc, Nq, Nγ are the bearing capacity factors (functions of the
angle of internal friction ɸ)
Strip footings

TERZAGHI’S THEORY – GENERAL SHEAR FAIURE
Strip footings

Terzaghi’s Bearing Capacity Factors for
General Shear Failure

Footings (With Shape Factors)

ULTIMATE BEARING CAPACITY FOR
LOCAL SHEAR FAILURE
When the soil fails by local shear, the actual shear parameters c and
Φ are to be reduced as per Terzaghi (1943). Now the lower limiting
values of c and Φ are given by

Ultimate Bearing Capacity qu in
purely cohesion less and
cohesive soils under general shear failure

LOCAL AND GENERAL SHEAR FAILURES – MIXED STATE

LOCAL AND GENERAL SHEAR FAILURES – MIXED STATE

NET ULTIMATE BEARING CAPACITY
AND SAFETY FACTOR
Net ultimate bearing capacity qnu is the pressure at the base

level of the foundation in excess of the effective overburden
pressure q0’ = Ƴ Df . The net qnu for a strip footing is
Similar expressions can be written for square, circular and

rectangular foundations and also for local shear failure
conditions

Gross allowable Bearing Pressure (qa) and
Net Allowable Bearing Pressure (qna)
Gross allowable Bearing Pressure is

SKEMPTON'S BEARING CAPACITY FACTOR NC

FOR CLAYEY SOILS

The lower and upper limiting values of Nc for strip and square
foundations may be written as follows

FOR CLAYEY SOILS
The equation for rectangular foundation may be written as follows

EFFECT OF WATER TABLE ON BEARING CAPACITY
Case 1: When the water table lies above the base of the foundation
Case 2: When the water table lies within depth B below the base of the
foundation






METHOD 2
EQUIVALENT EFFECTIVE UNIT WEIGHT METHOD

NUMERICAL 1
Consider a C- ɸ soil with cohesion of 35 kN/m2 and an angle of

shearing resistance of 300. A strip footing with a width of 2.0m is built
at a depth of 2.5 m below the ground surface. The water is a depth of
4.5 m below the ground level. The moist weight of the soil above the
water table is given as 18 kN/m3. Using Terzaghi’s General and local
Shear Failure conditions, find the ultimate bearing capacity, net
bearing capacity, net allowable bearing pressure and the load/meter.
Consider the factor of safety as 3.0.
Work out the solutions for the cases of square, rectangular and
circular cases with 2 m x 2 m, 2 m x 4 m, 2 m diameter dimensions
respectively. Also for the case when the water table touches the
ground level, calculate all the above parameters. Consider the
saturated unit weight as 18.5 kN/m2.
NUMERICAL 1

NUMERICAL 1

BITS Pilani
Hyderabad Campus
THANK YOU!

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FOUNDATION ENGINEERING

CRC Press, Taylor &

BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus

Art of selecting, designing, and constructing the elements that

• An interface between the superstructure and the soil or rock

• Loads transmitted by the foundation to the underlying soil shall

• The role of engineer is to select the type of foundation, its design

BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus

• Pre requisites: Background knowledge of Soil Mechanics

BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus

• Provide an in-depth understanding regarding

• Analyze different types of foundation systems –

• Understand the suitable strengthening measures for

 Adequate Safety: Bearing Capacity, Sliding, Overturning

 Settlements: Total and Differential Settlements

 Seasonal changes: Drying, frost and heave

 Construction Problems: Stability during excavation, bottom

 Environmental Effects: Permanent lowering of ground water

 Location and Depth of Foundation

 Bearing Capacity of Foundation

BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus

 IS:1904-1986: Minimum depth shall be 0.50 m

BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus

BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus

• Determine foundation type

• Estimate probable depth of scour and its effects

• Estimate cost of foundation for normal and

• Determine the scour versus risk and revise the

BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus

• Clayey soils: Penetration below the zone where shrinkage

• Fine sands and silts: Penetration below the zone in which

• Roots of trees causing appreciable movements

• Maximum possible depth of scour

• At least 50 cm below natural ground level

• Rocks - Removal of the loose top soil

• Problematic Soil Conditions

 Foundation shall be taken down to a depth beyond

 Retaining walls shall be constructed for the

BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus

• Below the zone significantly weakened by root

• The depth shall be enough to prevent the

BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus

Adjacent to sloping ground or where the bottom of the

BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus

Footing on a sloping ground

BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus

BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus

• The deeper the new foundation and the nearer to

• The minimum horizontal spacing between existing

• Analysis of bearing capacity and settlement shall be

Foundation Engineering/Foundation Systems

Foundation Retaining Substructures

Shallow Deep 1. Retaining Walls 1. Tunnels

1. Coffer Dams 1. Diaphragm Walls

BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus

Continuous or Independent Footings Combined Footings 1. Grids

BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus