Raft foundations

• A raft foundation is a continuous slab of concrete

usually covering an area equal to or greater than the
base of the building or the structure to provide support
for walls or lightly loaded columns and serve as a base
for the ground floor.
• It spreads the load of the building over a larger area
than other foundations, lowering the pressure on the
ground.
• These are special cases of combined footings where all
the columns of the building are having a common
foundation.
• The word raft is used in the sense that the slab of concrete floats on the surface as a raft does on water.
• Raft foundations are used for lightly loaded structures on soils with poor bearing capacity and where variations in soil conditions
necessitate a considerable spread of loads.
• Beam and raft and cellular raft foundations are used for more heavily loaded structures, where the beams or cells of a raft are used
to provide wide spread of loads.
• This is an alternative if you can't use a traditional strip or trench fill foundations.

Applicability of Raft (Mat) Foundations

• Low bearing capacity soil, where
ground conditions are poor and strip or pad
foundations would require
significant excavation, for example on
soft clay, alluvial deposits, compressible fill,
and so on.
• Where spread footings cover about
70% of the structure
• High structure loads
• For structures like chimneys, silos,
tanks, large machines
• Structures and equipment sensitive to
differential settlement
• Watertight construction under
basements below groundwater table
• Highly compressible soil and extends to
a great depth
• When floor areas are small
and structural loadings are low, such as in one or two-storey domestic construction.
• It is employed for the construction of commercial buildings where the loads are commonly large. Mat foundations are popular in
areas where basements are common.
• Where a basement is required.
• Where it may be impractical to create individual strip or pad foundations for a large number of individual loads. In very general terms,
if strip or pad foundations would cover 50% or more of the floor area, then a raft may be more appropriate.
• When the columns and the Shear walls are placed so closely, where the individual footings overlap each other.
Construction of Mat or Raft Foundations
• Remove dirt and excavate soil to a uniform and flat level.
• The foundation bed is then compacted by ramming.
• Then, a waterproof plastic sheet is laid over the earth.
• After that, pour around 7cm layer of plain cement concrete to
create a perfectly flat and level base for the foundation.
• Lay reinforcement on spacers over the foundation bed.
Reinforcements are provided in both directions in the form of steel
mesh. Two meshes are reinforced at the top and bottom of the
foundation to balance upward and downward bending forces.
• After all the steel has been put in place, concrete is poured to the
desired thickness, which is usually in the range of 200mm to 300mm
thick for small buildings: this can be much thicker if heavy loads are
to be carried. A minimum rebar cover of 50mm should be
maintained.
• Finally, a suitable curing regime should be used to make sure that concrete achieves the designated compression strength.
Basic framework of raft foundations -

Working Principle of Raft Foundations –

It transmits the total load form the building to the entire ground floor area. The
stress distribution mechanism of the raft foundations there is also very simple. When
the total weight of the structure and self-weight of the mat calculate and divide by
the total area of the foundation it is covering to calculate the stress on the soil. Since
the raft ‘floats’ on the ground below, rather than being anchored in it, it is less prone
to the effects of ground movement, due to settlements, for example.

• Forms of pressure in raft foundations -

➢ The behavior of the raft foundation resembles the behaviour of a strip foundation
grid.
➢ The stresses applied on the soil are larger in the columns area and smaller in the
intermediate areas.
➢ The presence of beams acting as stiffeners helps in a more even distribution of the soil pressures between the columns’ areas and
the intermediate areas of the raft foundation.

• Position of construction joint is to be provided

in a raft foundation (if required)
➢ Construction joint shall be provided preferably at a
location where stress are zero
➢ Construction joint is provided at one-third or end of
support.
➢ Also provide key and rebar to transfer shear stress if
shear stress is not zero at point of construction joint.
➢ Provide construction joints as minimum as possible.
➢ Construction joint shall not be left on discretion of contractor. It must be approved by designer.

Types of Foundations -
➢ Based on the method of their support, raft can be –
Raft rests directly on the soil or beneath them but in some cases, they may be supported by piles

Type Description Graphics

Raft It is essentially a continuous slab resting on the soil
supported on that extends over the entire footprint of the
soil building, thereby supporting the building and
transferring its weight directly to the ground
below.

Buoyancy ➢ The buoyancy raft foundations are also known

raft as compensated foundations or deep cellular
rafts. Whatever be the name they are known
for, they come under the category of floating
foundations.
➢ These are known as fully compensated
foundations as during their construction the soil
underneath the foundation is removed, whose
weight is equal to the weight of the whole
superstructure. Hence the weight removed
from the soil is compensated by the weight of
the building.
➢ Those areas with soft soil, layer in a huge depth
is observed, it is economical to go for floating
foundation. No other foundation like pile
foundation cannot be an efficient replacement
for these.
➢ Occupants in low-altitude areas face the
problem of high floods resulting in the collapse
of houses. The construction of buoyant
foundation would help in increasing the
elevation of the house.
➢ This arrangement is a flexible method, as the
building would remain on the ground under the
normal conditions. When flood approaches, the
building would rise to a necessary height.
Raft ➢ The addition of piles to a raft increases the
supported on effective size of a foundation and can help
piles resist horizontal loads which can improve
the performance of the foundation in reducing
the amount of settlement and
differential settlement, as well as improving the
ultimate load capacity.
➢ Piles under raft help in reducing settlement and
provides resistance against buoyancy.
➢ Uses -
o Piled raft foundations are typically used for
large structures
o in situations where soil is not suitable to
prevent excessive settlement.
o They are an increasingly popular choice
for high-rise buildings.
o water table is close to the ground surface or
when the minimization of settlement is
extremely important for the serviceability of
the superstructure.
o structures that require a single foundation
element, such as silos, tanks and chimneys.
➢ During the design process, the optimum
number and position of piles, as well as their
diameter, reinforcement and length, is
determined to ensure the stability of
the structure while providing an economical
solution, with the raft and piles acting together
to ensure the required settlement is not
exceeded.
➢ Typically, the piles provide most of
the stiffness while the raft provides
additional capacity at the ultimate loading.
➢ If there are one or more ineffective piles,
the raft can allow some degree of load
redistribution to other piles, reducing the
influence of the pile’s weakness on the
overall performance of the foundation.
Innovative piled raft foundation scheme used on building
➢ In an Unconnected Piled Raft
project in London
Foundation (UCPRF), the piles are not directly
The construction site of the 33-storey student accommodation building at Miles
connected to the raft, but are separated from it
Street, London was too tight to fit a piling rig, thus the engineering team adopted an
be a structural fill 'cushion' (such as a alternative piled raft foundation solution for the building's support. The Urbanest
compacted a sand-gravel mixture or Student Accommodation building is being constructed with a slip formed core, on a
compacted soil) which small site, with a quite tight construction timeline. The challenges concerning its
redistributes load between the raft and piles. foundation had to do with the combination of a restricted 1000 m2 triangular site
This can be a more efficient, and so economic next to a Network Rail viaduct and several existing buildings (meaning sensitive
solution. settlement requirements), as well as a deadline to start work, meaning that a pile load
test to reduce the design factor of safety was not possible. Without such a test,
➢ Whereas a standard raft foundation involves a
Balfour Beatty - contractor of the project - could only use piles of 1200mm diameter
concrete slab that sits on compressed ground, in order to achieve the loads. However, the necessary piling rig would have been too
the slab in a piled raft sits instead on a number big for the site. In cooperation with geotechnical consultant CGL, structural engineer
of much deeper pile foundations that are bored Walsh Associates proposed an innovative piled raft foundation as a solution to the
deep enough to reach a suitably stiff soil layer. problem. They designed a lean concrete frame to reduce the foundation loads,
These piles are long, thin footings made of supporting it with a piled raft, using high and deep level ground support capacities to
reinforced concrete or steel, and they are limit deflections. Along with the design of a slip formed core for the building, drainage
spaced evenly across the site. The raft then was also placed on top to shorten the required design time, allowing the construction
of the foundation before the drainage scheme was fixed, while water attenuation
‘floats’ on top of these pilings.
pipes were used instead of the typical attenuation tanks.