KYAMBOGO UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING.
DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND ARCHITECTURE.
BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURE.
 Foundation and floors
FOUNDATION;
This is the structural part of a house that supports the superstructure of a
house and transfer the building loads onto the ground.
FLOOR;
A floor is the base/lower surface of a room on which one walks.
Structural loads have shifted from being transferred to the ground by the usage of poles
before the industrial evolution.
The pole, was at first drilled into the ground and it supported the roof loads of the huts
which was the main weight of the ancient structures. This was later supported by fixing
stones into the hole with the pole for extra strength. Strong tree poles were however used
such as eucalyptus tree poles.
Later on, stone work was introduced which was at first laid at the ground level on which
the walls/house structures were erected. Stone was later put into trenches and walls were
constructed onto the arrangement. At this stage, bricks were as well used as footings,
which were sundried and fired bricks
The industrial revolution later introduced cement. This was then used to make a stronger
base for the walls by the mixing of stone and cement to make stronger foundation slabs.
Which mix was then used to replace stones in trenches.
Industrial revolution also gave birth to metallic elements such as steel which is then used
to make a base for the raft by the making of reinforced concrete slabs other methods such
as pile were then born in the same error.
Key parts of a foundation.
The footing: this is the base that supports the foundation and transfers the loads to the
ground.
Stem wall/plinth wall: this is a short wall rising onto of the footing running around the
perimeter of the structure and it protects the structure from flooding
Dump proof membrane; this is a water proof membrane that is placed into the wall/
foundation to prevent the penetration of water into the wall.
Types of foundation.
Foundations can be divided based on their depth into the ground. This can either be
shallow forexample; raft, pad and strip foundation AND deep foundation forexample the
pile and shaft.

1. STRIP FOUNDATION
The strip foundation is the most used foundation across Uganda mostly for residential
houses.it is used for houses with a low load weight and as well applied in subsoils or soil
with a good bearing capacity.
The strip depth should be at least half a meter into the ground to avoid frost action with a
width of about 600mm, if its wider, the strip is then reinforced with steel bars if the soils
are soft. A deeper strip may be applied if the stable soils are a bit deeper. Therefore the
strip foundation is further divided into deep strip foundation and wide strip foundation.

The strip transfers the loads to the ground at 45 degrees onto the ground.
2. RAFT FOUNDATION
The raft foundation is made up of a reinforced slab on which columns are erected.
The steel bars are lain onto the ground on which vertical steel bars are tied using binding
wire. The vertical bars are used to support the walls or load bearing structures. This is
mainly used for tall buildings whose weight is equally very big.
 This foundation transfers the load of the building equally onto the group thus
being suitable for heavy structures.

3. Pad foundation;
This is the type of foundation that is used to support single/isolated load bearing
structures such as a column in a hall. This load can then be spread evenly onto the load
bearing soil or ground. It is constructed as the raft foundation but however it is smaller
because it is used to support small isolated load bearing structures or walls
4. Pile foundation;
This is the type of foundation used for heavy structures that can be supported by
the underlying rock bedding. Piles are drilled into the ground until they rest onto
the hard rock bedding in the ground, this is then used as the strong support of the
structure on which the slabs can then be constructed onto the ground

Raft can however further be divided into four types as shown above basing on the
type of support of the structure.
 Friction based pile on which the pile is supported by friction caused by the
blades on the edges of the pile.
 Reinforced pile; which is supported on the bedding but however of
reinforced concrete
 Piles supported by the bedding.

CONSTRUCTION OF THE FOUNDATION

 Clearing of the ground on which the foundation is to be put.