Contents

3.1 Introduction
3.2 Site Selection
3.3 Site Preparation
3.4 Soil Investigation
3.5 Setting Out
3.1 Introduction
The material supporting a building may be broadly classified in to
two categories.
a. Soil and
b. Rock
 If the materials found below the structure (building) is soil, the
soil must have sufficient bearing capacity to resist the load
coming from the building.
 Rocks, if encountered as a layer on which a building is to be
constructed, ensure a good support for the building
3.2 Site selection
Soil investigation is the first things to know , So as to select the
type of building to be decided.
1.1 Site Selection and site plan
Site selection has an important bearing on planning and design
of a buildings. In selection of building site, the following
more important general principles should be borne in mind.
 The site should be selected keeping in view the general scope
or the purpose of the building and on the basis of extent of
desired privacy
 The plot should preferably be in a locality where the various
community and utility facilities, such as police and fire
protection, water supply, electricity, hospital, schools and
means of transport are available.
Contd,
 A site which comes with in the limits of an area where the
byelaws of the local authority enforce restrictions regarding
proportions of plot to be built up, vacant spaces to be left in
front and sides, heights of buildings, etc. should be preferred.
 Area of plot should be such that the house constructed, keeping
in a view the restrictions of local authority , would meet the
equipments of the owner preferably with future extension
 The site should be suited in locality which is already developed
or which is fast developing. to secure happy living conditions, it
is generally preferred to locate the site where the neighbor
belong to similar status in society could be sociable and
friendly.
Contd,
 A site should be abandoned under adverse circumstances
such as unhealthy, noise or crowded localities; reclaimed
soil or water logged areas and immediate neighborhoods of
rivers caring heavy floods.
A site plan is therefore a plan, which locates the area
belonging to any building, showing all the details of interior
together with surroundings. It shows, among other things,
the boundaries of a plot, shape of the site and exterior
house dimensions; setback lines at the front, back and
sides; name and widths of existing streets and roads; size
and location details of utility lines if there is and, a
direction of north line.
Contd,
Before constructing the building, it is very important to inspect
the topographical feature.
soil condition, and
The ground water conditions which are required for safe
and economical foundation.

We get useful information for selecting the suitable site from
Study of local topography,
Excavation, cuttings,
Evidence of erosion and land slides,
Water levels in wells,
 Drainage pattern at the building site are often helpful in setting useful information.
3.3 Site Preparation
Construction work starts with preparation of the site which
includes removal of all undesirable materials from the site.
It may include:-
1. Removal of existing structures (if there is) such as pipe lines,
telephone lines, drainage lines.
2. Removal of trees, stamps, fillings and compacting with suitable
material.
3. Removal of termite fills and termites, and compacting with suitable
material
3.4 Soil investigation
 Since the foundations have to transfer the load to the sub-soil,
surface conditions at any given site must be adequately
explored.

 Sub soil investigation is essential to gather information

required both for the design and construction of foundation.

 The object of soil investigation is to get information regarding:

 the nature, thickness and variation of soil strata on a place
 physical properties of the soil strata encountered, such as
bearing capacity, settlement, and
 the seasonal variations in ground water level and its effect
on the soil strata.
Soil investigation contd…
 Sub-soil investigation is done for the following purposes:
A. For New Structures
1. To select the type and depth of foundations.
2. To determine the bearing capacity of the soil and its
GWT.
3. To predict the settlement.
4. To evaluate earth pressure against walls, basements,
foundation bed etc.
5. To make the necessary provision if there is
constructional difficulties.
6. To check the stability of soil and degree of compaction
required.
B. For Existing Structures
1. To investigate the safety of structure.
2. To predict the settlement.
3. To take the remedial measure if the structure is
unsafe.
 Generally the reasons for sub-surface investigation:
Site suitability
Efficient, economic design
Anticipate immediate/future problems
Confidence in design assumption

 The various methods of site exploration may be grouped as

follow:
1. Open excavations.
2. Borings.
3. Sub-surface soundings.
4. Geophysical methods.

 The choice of particular exploration method depends on

nature of ground, topography and cost.
3.5 Setting out of building works
3.5.1 Definition
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) define
setting out as:
Setting out is the establishment of the marks and lines to define
the position and level of the elements for the construction work
so that works may proceed with reference to them.
This process may be contrasted with the purpose of surveying
which is to determine by measurement the position of existing
features.
Mistakes in setting out can be costly.
3.5.2 The aims of setting out
There are two main aims when undertaking setting out
operations:
 The various elements of the scheme must be correct in all
three dimensions both relatively and absolutely, that is
each must be its correct size, in its correct plan position
and correct reduced level
 Once setting out begins it must proceed quickly with little
or no delay in order that the works can proceed smoothly
and the cost can be minimized.
It must always be remembered that the contractors main
commercial purpose is to make a profit therefore setting out
needs to be done efficiently.
3.5.3 Principles of setting out
3.5.3.1 Horizontal control techniques
In order that the design of the scheme can be correctly fixed in
position, it is necessary to establish points on the site which the
E, N coordinates are known.
These are horizontal control points and, once they have been
located they can be used with a positioning technique to set out
E, N coordinates of the design points.
Two factors need to be taken into account when establishing
horizontal control points.
 The control points should be located throughout the site in order
that all the design points can be fixed from at least two or three
of them so that the work can be independently checked.
 The design points must be set out to the accuracy stated in the
specifications
Contd,
 The construction and protection of control points is very
important. Wooden pegs are often used for non-permanent
stations. For permanent control points it is recommended that
they be constructed with concrete – as shown below.
Baselines
A baseline is a line running between two points of a known
position.
Baselines can take many forms: they can be simply two specified
points joined, they can run between two buildings, they can mark
the boundary with an existing building/development or they can
mark the centre line for a new road.
A baseline is specified to run between two points then once the
points have been established on site, the design points can be set
out from the baseline by offsetting using tapes (as seen below).
Contd,

Fig.3 base line as horizontal control

point

A design point D is to be set out at right angles to a baseline

AB from point C which lies at a distance y from point A. The
required offset distance from C to D is x. Distances x and y
will be given by the designer and will usually be horizontal
distances
Primary site control points, such as traverse stations E & F in the
figure below can be used to establish a baseline AB by angle α
and distance l values.

Subsidiary offset lines can then be set off at right angles from each
end of the baseline to fix two corners R and S of building Z. Once
R and S have been pegged out, the horizontal length of RS is
measured and checked against its designed value. If it is within the
required tolerance, points R and S can be used as a baseline to set
out the corners T and U.
Design points can be set out by taping known as distances from
each end of a baseline as shown below.

At point A on building X is set out by taping dimensions 1 and 2

from the baseline and point B by taping dimensions 3 and 4. As
before, the set out lengths of AB is then checked against its
designed value and within tolerance, it can be used as a baseline to
set out corners C and D.
Reference grids
 A control grid enables points to be set over a large area. Several
different grids can be used in setting out
 Survey grid: is drawn on the survey plan from the original
traverse or network. The grid points have known easting and
northing related either to some arbitrary origin or to the national
grid.
 Site grid: is used by the designer. It is usually related in some way
to the survey grid and should, if possible, actually be the survey
grid, the advantage of this being that if the original control stations
have been permanently marked then the design points will be on
the same coordinate system and setting out is greatly simplified.
 The structural grid is established around a particular building or
structure which contains much detail such as columns, which
cannot be set out with sufficient accuracy from the grid site.
Coordinate positioning techniques
For setting out by coordinates to be possible, a control network
consisting of coordinated points (with heights) must be
established on site. These are obtained by using theodolites,
tapes, GPS and total station.
Setting out using a theodolite and tape
To set out using coordinates by theodolite and tape, one of the
following procedures is used:
1.Angle and distance from two control points e.g. from point A
below, can be set out from a control point S using one of two
methods:
Using the inverse calculation, determine the horizontal length l
(SA) and the whole circle bearings of ST and SA.
With the theodolite set up at S, sight T and set the horizontal circle
to read zero along this direction. Then the telescope is rotated
through angle α to fix the direction to A and measure l along this
direction to fix the position of A. This is known as setting out by
angle and distance.
Offset pegs
Whether used in the form of a baseline or a grid, the horizontal
control points are used to establish design points on the proposed
structure.
Once excavations for foundations began, the corner pegs will be
lost. To avoid this extra pegs called offset pegs are used.
Sight Rails
These consist of a horizontal timber cross piece nailed to
a single upright or a pair of uprights driven into the
ground (see below)
Travelers and boning rods
•A traveler is similar in appearance to a sight rail on a single support
and is portable. Travelers are used in conjunction with sight rails.
Boning rod is made up of 2 wooden sticks in T shape, measuring
100mm X 30mm. The length of the rod is standard, based on the
depth of excavation.

As excavation works proceeds, the traveler is sighted in between

the sight rails and used to monitor the cutting and filling.
Slope rails or batter boards
For controlling side slopes on embankments and cuttings slope rails
are used. For an embankment the slope rails usually define a plane
parallel to the slope of the embankment offset by a convenient
distance:
Profile boards
• These are similar to sight rails but are used to determine the
corners and sides of buildings. Offset pegs are normally used to
enable building corners to be relocated after foundation
excavation. Profile boards are normally erected near each offset
peg and used in the same way as a sight rail.
A variation on corner profiles is to use a continuous profile all
around the building set to a particular level above the required
structural plane. The advantage of a continuous profile is that the
lines of the internal walls can be marked on the profile and strung
across to guide construction.
Thank you