Chapter 6

DESIGN OF FOOING

6.10 INTRODUCTION
Footings are structural members used to support columns or walls and transmit
their load to the underlying soils. Reinforced concrete is the most suited material
for footing for reinforced concrete and structural steel buildings, walls, towers,
bridges, and other structures.

Since the bearing capacity of soils is normally low (usually less than 400 kPA), and
the load from a column or wall is large (usually greater than 1000 kPA), the
footing spreads the column or wall pressure to the soil by providing bigger bearing
area, thus reducing the bearing pressure within permissible values.

6.20 TYPES OF FOOTINGS

The common types of footing are the wall footing, isolated or single-column
footing, combined footing, raft or mat, and pile caps.

1. A wall footing, is a continuous strip of concrete that supports a bearing wall.

2. An isolated or single-column footing, is a square, rectangular, or circular slab

of concrete that supports an individual column. These are widely used for
columns with light load and are not closely spaced.

3. A combined footing is a longer rectangular slab strip that supports two or more
individual columns. This type might be economical where two heavily loaded
columns are so spaced that when designed for isolated footing would run into
each other. Isolated footings are usually square or rectangular and, when used
for columns located right at the property line, would extend beyond those
lines. The footing for such a column can be combined with an interior column
to fit within the property line.

4. A floating, raft, or mat foundation is a single thick mat or slab that supports
the entire structure. This kind of foundation is used where soil strength is low
or where column loads are large but where piles or caissons are not used. For
these types of footings, the excavations are deep. The goal is to remove an
amount of earth approximately equal to the building weight.

5. Pile caps are slabs of reinforced concrete used to distribute column loads to
group of piles.

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Figure 6.1: Types of footing

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6.30 PERMISSIBLE SOIL PRESSURE, qa
The allowable soil bearing capacity qa to be used in the design of footing can be
obtained by the principles of soil mechanics through the services of a soils
engineer. This can be derived on the basis of test borings, load tests, and other
experimental investigation.

In the absence of soil investigation, the building code of the Philippines

provide certain approximate allowable bearing pressures that can be used for the
type of soil and soil conditions.

Table 6.1: Allowable Soil Pressure, qa

Source: National Building Code of the Philippines, Table 7.04 – (A)

Increase in
Minimum depth Value
value for each 1
Classification of of footing below permissible if Maximum
m of depth that
Material adjacent virgin footing is at value
footing is below
ground minimum depth
minimum depth
1 2 3 4 5
Meter Feet kg/m2 kPa kg/m2 kPa kg/m2 kPa
0.20 20% ultimate 20% ultimate
Rock crushing 0 0 crushing
0.3 1
strength strength
Compact coarse sand 0.6 2 *7,500 *75 *5,000 *50 40,000 400
Compact fine sand 0.6 2 *5,000 *50 *3,300 *33 40,000 400
Loose sand 0.9 3 *2,500 *25 *1,600 *16 15,000 150
Hard clay or sandy
0.6 2 20,000 200 13,300 133 40,000 400
clay
Medium stiff clay or
0.6 2 10,000 100 3,300 33 30,000 300
sandy clay
Soft sandy clay or clay 0.9 3 5,000 50 830 8.3 10,000 100
Compact inorganic
0.6 2 5,000 50 3,300 33 20,000 200
sand and silt mixtures
Loose inorganic and
0.9 3 2,500 25 1,600 16 5,000 50
silt mixtures
Loose organic and silt
0 0 0 0 0 0
mixtures and muck
* These values are for footing 300mm in width and may be increased in direct
proportion to the width of the footing to a maximum of three times the designed value

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 `Table 6.2: Allowable Foundation Pressure
Source: NSCP Table No. 7-B

Allowable Lateral Bearing

Foundation (kN/m2/m of
Lateral Sliding (1)
Pressure depth) below
kN/m2 (3) natural
Resistant
Coefficient
Classes of Material (1) Grade (4) kN/m2
(5)
(6)
1. Massive Crystalline Bedrock 200 190 0.70 -
2. Sedimentary and Foliated
100 60 0.35 -
Rock
3. Sandy Gravel and/or Gravel
100 30 -
(GW & GP)
4. Sand, Silty Sand, Clayey
and Clayey Gravel and
75 25 0.25 -
Clayey Gravel (SW, SP, SM,
SC, GM and GC)
5. Clay, Sandy Clay, Silty Clay
and Clayey Silt (CL, ML, 50 15 7
MH, and CH)

(1) Lateral bearing and lateral sliding resistance may be combined

(2) For soil classification OL, OH, and PT (i.e. organic clays and peat), a foundation
investigation shall be required.
(3) All values of allowable soil pressure are for footing having a minimum width of
300 mm and a minimum depth of 300 mm into natural grade. Except as in
Footnote (7) below, increase of 20% is allowed for each additional foot of width
and/or depth to maximum value of three times the designated value.
(4) May be increased in the amount of the designated value for each additional
300mm of depth to a maximum of 15 times the designated value. Isolated poles
for uses such as flagpoles or signs and poles used to support buildings which are
not adversely affected by a 12-mm motion at ground surface due to short term
lateral loads may be designed using lateral bearing values equal to two times the
tabulated values.
(5) Coefficient to be multiplied by the dead load
(6) Lateral sliding resistance value to be multiplied by the contact area. In no case
shall the lateral sliding resistance exceed one half the dead load.
(7) No increase for width is allowed.

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6.40 LOADS AND REACTIONS IN FOOTING

According to the Code Section 5.15, the base area of footing and the number of
piles may be determined from unfactored forces and moments transmitted by
footing to soil or piles and permissible soil pressure or permissible pile capacity.

Unfactored load (DL +¿)

Area of footing = Eq. 6-1
Effective soil pressure , q c
Unfactored load (DL+¿)
Number of piles = Eq. 6-2
Load capacity per pile

where qe, is the effective soil bearing capacity and is given as

qe = qa – γchc – γshs Eq. 6-3

where γc is the unit weight of concrete (usually taken as 23.54 kN/m3) , hc is the
total depth of footing, γc is the unit weight of soil above the footing, and hs is the
height of soil above the footing.

6.50 CRITICAL SECTIONS IN FOOTINGS

The critical sections for moment, shear and development reinforcement in
footings supporting a rectangular or square columns or pedestals are measured at
the face of the column or pedestal. For footings supporting a circular or regular
polygon shaped columns or pedestal, the Code Section 5.15.3 permits to treat
these sections as square members with the same area.

Circle Square with equal Regular polygon Square with equal

area as the circle area as the polygon

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6.51 CRITICAL SECTIONS FOR MOMENT

Footings are similar to beams or slabs carrying the effective soil pressure as the
load and the column as the support, hence it is subject to moments. According to
Section 5.15.4.1, the external moment on any section for a footing may be
determined by passing a vertical plane to the footing, and computing the moment
of the forces acting over the entire area on one side of that vertical plane.

For isolated footings, the critical sections for moment are located as follows:

(a) At the face of column, pedestal, or wall for footings supporting a concrete
column, pedestal, or wall.

(b) Hallway between middle and edge of wall, for footing supporting a masonry
wall.

(c) Halfway between face of column and edge of steel base plate, for footing
supporting a column with steel base plate.

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6.60 DISTRIBUTION OF FLEXURAL OR MAIN REINFORCEMENT

Footing may be classified as a one-way footing or two-way footing. One-way

footings are those, which are reinforced in one direction only, while two-way
footings are reinforced in two directions.

According to Section 5.15.4, in one-way footings, and two-way square footings,

reinforcement may be distributed uniformly across the entire width of footing.

In two-way rectangular footings, reinforcements may be distributed as follows.

(a) Reinforcement in long directions may be distributed uniformly across the

entire width of footing.

(b) For the reinforcement in the short directions, a portion of the total
reinforcement may be distributed uniformly over a bandwidth (with center on
centerline of column) equal to the length of the short side of footing. The rest
of the reinforcement may be distributed uniformly outside the center
bandwidth of footing. The area of reinforcement in the center band is given by
the formula.

A s∈center band width 2

= Eq. 6-4
Total A s∈ short direction β+1

Where

long side of footing

β= Eq. 6-5
short side of footing

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 Figure 6.2: Reinforcement distribution for two-way rectangular footing

6.61 SHEAR IN FOOTINGS

The shear strength of slabs and footings in the vicinity of the columns, concentrated
load, or reactions is governed by the more severe of two conditions, the beam action
or one-way shear and the two-way or punching shear. In any of these two
conditions, the Code requires that the maximum value of Vu if stirrups are not used
is ØVc, where Vc is the shear strength provided by concrete.

1. Beam action (one-way), where each critical section, to be investigated extends in

a plane across the entire width. For this case, the slab or footing may be designed
in accordance to Section 5.11.1 through Section 5.11.5. According to this section,
1
the shear strength provided by concrete Vc may not exceed √ f ' c b w d
6

1
V c= √ f ' c b w d Eq. 6-6
6
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 With reference to the figure, Vu = qu × shaded area, where qu is the factored soil
pressure and is equal to Pu/Afooting.
2. Two-way action where each of the critical section to be investigated may be
located so that its perimeter bo is a minimum but need not approach closer than
d/2 to:
(a) edges or corners of columns, concentrated loads, or reaction areas, or
(b) changes in slab thickness such as edges of capitals or drop panels.

With reference to the figure, bo = 4(c + d), Vu = qu × shaded area

For two-way action Vc is the smallest value of Eq. 6-7 & Eq. 6-9

1 √f ' c
V c =(1+ ) bo d Eq. 6-7
βc 6

where

long side of column

β c= Eq. 6-8
shortside of column
1
V c= √ f ' c b o d Eq. 6-9
3

One-way shear will very often control the depths for rectangular footing, whereas
two-way shear normally controls the depth of square footings.

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6.62 MINIMUM DEPTH OF FOOTING
According to Section 5.15.7, the depth of footing above bottom reinforcement may
not be less than 150 mm for footings on soil, and 300 mm for footings on piles.

6.63 CRITICAL SECTIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF REINFORCEMENT IN

FOOTINGS

The development of reinforcement in footings is an accordance with Section 5.12.

The critical sections for development of reinforcement may be be assumed at the
same location as those of critical moment.

LOAD TRANSFER FROM COLUMNS TO FOOTINGS

All forces acting at the base of a column must be transferred into the footing.
Compressive forces may be transferred directly by bearing, while uplift or tensile
forces must be transferred by developed reinforcing such as dowels and mechanical
connectors.

At the base of the column, the permissible bearing strength of for either surfaces is
Ø(0.85f’cA1), where Ø = 0.70, but it may be multiplied by √ A 2 / A 1 ≤2 for bearing in
the footing (Section 5.10.15) where A1 is the column area and A2 is the area of the
portion of the supporting footing that is geometrically similar and concentric with
the columns.

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6.64 DOWELS
If the computed bearing force is higher than the allowable value, it is necessary to
provide dowels to carry the excess force. This can also be done by extending the
column bars into the footing. If the computed bearing force is less than the
allowable, theoretically, no dowels are needed but the code specifies a minimum
value.

For cast-in-place columns and pedestals, the area of reinforcement across interface
sjall not be less than 0.005 times the gross area of the column or pedestal, and at
footings and 36-mm longitudinal bars, in compression only, may be lap spliced
with dowels to provide the required reinforcement. Dowels may not be larger than
32 mm bar and may extend into column a distance not less than the development
length of 36 mm bars or the spliced length of the dowel, whichever is greater, and
into the footing a distance not less than the development length of the dowels
(Section 5.15.8.2.1 and 5.15.8.2.3)

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ILLUSTRATIVE PROBLEMS
Design of
Square Footing
Problem 6.1
A square column footing is to support a 400-mm square tied column that carries
a dead load of 880 kN and a live load of 710 kN, the column is reinforced with 8 –
25 mm bars. The base of the footing is 1.50 m below the natural grade where the
allowable soil pressure is 235 kPa. The soil above the footing has a weight of 15.6
kN/m3. Assuming fy = 275 MPa, f’c = 27.5 Mpa, and unit weight of concrete as
23.50 kN/m3, design the footing. Use 25 mm main bars.
Solution:
Our first task in the design of footing is the determination of its depth. This
requires several cycles of trial and error procedure because its value affects the
effective soil bearing capacity. There are several rules of thumb used by designers
for making initial thickness estimates, such as 20% of the footing width plus 75
mm. However, with the aid of computer, this will become easier.

Initial estimate of footing depth:

Aftg = L2 = (880 + 710)/235
L = 2.6 m
L = 2600 mm
Depth = 20%(2,600) + 75 = 595 mm say 600 mm

Effective soil bearing capacity:

q e =q a−Σ γh
= 235 – 23.5(0.6) – 15.6(1.5 – 0.6)
q e =206.86 kPa
Dimension of the footing:
Unfactored Load
A ftg=
qe
880+710
¿
206.86
Aftg = 7.69 m2 = L × L
L = 2.77 m say 2.8 m
Footing dimension = 2.8 m × 2.8 m
Depth of Footing:
Factored Load
q u=
Area of Footing
1.4(880)+1.7 (710)
¿ =311.1 kPa
2.8(2.8)
q u=0.3111 MPa

Based on wide-beam shear:

V u=qu A shaded

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 = (0.3111)[2800(1200 – d)]
V u = 871.08(1200 – d) N
1 1
V c = √ f ' c b w d= √ 27.5(2800)d=2447.2 d N
6 6

V u=ϕ V c
871.08(1200 – d) = 0.85(2447.2d)
1200 – d = 2.388d
d = 354.2 mm

Based on two-way or punching shear:

V u=qu A shaded
= (0.3111)[(2800)2 - (400 – d)2]
= 0.3111(28002 – 160000 – 800d – d2)
V u = 0.3111(7,680,000 – 800d – d2)
1
V c= √ f ' c b o d
3
b o=4(400+d )
1
V c = √27.5 [4(400+d )]d
3
2
V c =6.99 (400 d +d )

[Vu = ØVc]
0.3111(7,680,000 – 800d – d2) = 0.85[6.99(400d + d2)]
7,680,000 - 800d – d2 = 7639d + 19d2
20d2 + 8439d – 7,680,000 = 0
−8439 ± √ (8439)2−4(20)(−7,680,000)
d=
2(20)
d = 443.6 mm say 445 mm
Total depth of footing = 445 + 1.5(25) + 75
Total depth = 557.5 mm < 600 mm (OK)

Required Steel Area:

d = 445 mm

Mu = (311.1)(1.2)(2.8)(1.2/2)
= 627.18 kN-m

Mu = ϕ Ru b d2

627.18 × 106 = 0.9 Ru b d2

Ru = 1.26 MPa
0.85 f ' c
ρ= ¿
fy

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 0.85(27.5)
¿ ¿
275
ρ = 0.00471
1.4 1.4
ρmin = =
fy 275
ρmin =0.005091

Use ρ = 0.005091
As = ρbd
= 0.005091 (2800)(445)2
As = 6,343 mm2

Number of 25-mm bars:

π 2
(25) N =6,343
4
N = 12.9 say 13

Development Length:
l db=0.02 Ab fy/ √ f ' c
π
l db=0.02 × (25) (275)/ √ 27.5=¿515 mm
2
4
or l db=0.06 d b fy=0.06(25)(275)=412.5 mm
Furnished Ld = 1200 – 75 = 1125 mm > 515 mm (OK)

Verify if dowels or column bars extension are necessary:

Actual bearing strength = Pu = 1.4(880) + 1.7(710)

Pu = 2439 kN

Permissible bearing stress:ϕ 0.85 f ' c A 1=0.7 (0.85)(27.5)(4002 )

= 2,618,000 N
ϕ 0.85 f ' c=2,618 kN

But this may be multiplied by √ A 2 / A 1 ≤2

A1 = 0.4 × 0.4 = 0.16 m2
A2 = 2.8 × 2.8 = 7.84 m2
√ A 2 / A 1=7 use 2
Permissible bearing stress = 2,618 (2) = 5,236 kN > 2439 kN (no need)
Minimum area of dowel or extension bar required by the Code:
Area = 0.005(400 × 400) 800 mm2
At least two column bars (25-mm) must be extended into the footing.
Use 2.8 m × 2.8 m footing with an effective depth to top bars of 445 mm (total
depth = 560 m), with 13-25 mm bars on each side of the footing, and at least
two column bars (25-mm as given) must be extended into the footing.

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 Design of
Rectangular Footing
Problem 6.2
A 600 mm × 600 mm column carries a total live load of 1,2oo kN and a total dead
load of 1,500 kN. The column is to be supported by a rectangular spread footing
whose width is limited to 3 m and whose bottom is 2 m below the ground surface.
Allowable soil bearing capacity at the base of the footing is 230 kPa. Unit weight
of soil above footing is 16 kN/m3 and unit weight of concrete is 23.5 kN/m3,
Assume f’c = 28 MPa and fy = 275 MPa.
Solution
Trial depth = 20%(3000) + 75 = 675 say 700 mm
Effective soil pressure
q e =q a−Σ γh=230−16 (1.3)−23.5(0.7) ¿ 192.75 kPa
Size of footing:
Unfactored Load 1200+1500 2
A ftg= = =14.01 m
qe 192.75
3(L) = 14.01 ; L = 4.67 m say 4.7 m
Depth of footing:
Factored Load
q u=
A ftg
1.4(1500)+1.7(1200)
¿
3(4.7)
= 293.6 kPa
q u=0.2936 MPa

Based on wide beam shear:

V u=qu A shaded
= 0.2936(3000)(2050 – d) N
V u=880.8(2050−d)
1
V c= √ f ' c b w d
6
1
V c = √28 (3000)d =2645.75 d N
6
Vu = ϕVc
880.8(2050 – d) = 0.85(2645.75d)
2050 – d = 2.55d ; d = 577 mm → depth
Based on two – way shear:
V u=qu A shaded
= 0.2936[4700(3000) – (600 + d)2]
2
V u=0.2936[13,740,000−1200 d −d ]

1
V c= √ f ' c bo d
3
b o=4 ¿

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 1
V c= √28 [4(600+ d)]d
3
2
V c =7.055 (600 d +d )
[V u = ϕ V c]
0.2936[13,740,000 – 1200d – d2] = 0.85[7.055(600d + d2)]
13,740,000 – 1200d – d2 = 12255d –20.4 d2
21.4 d2 + 13,455d - 13,740,000 = 0
−13,455 ± √ (13,455)2−4 (21.4)(−13,740,000)
d=
2(21.4 )
d = 546 38 mm
Use d = 577 mm
Total depth = 577 + 1.5(25) + 75
Total depth = 689.5 < 700 (OK)

Steel requirements
Along long direction:
Mu = (293.6)(2.05)(3)(2.05/2)
Mu = 1850.781 kN-m
Mu = ϕ Ru b d2
1850.781 × 106 = 0.90 Ru(3000)(577)2
Ru = 2.059 MPa
0.85 f ' c
ρ= ¿
fy
0.85(28)
¿ ¿
275
ρ = 0.0078
1.4 1.4
ρmin = = =0.0051
fy 275
0.85(28)(0.85)(600)
ρmax =0.75 ρb ; ρmax =0.75 =0.0378
275(600+275)
Use ρ = 0.0078
As = ρbd
As = 0.0078(3000) (577) = 13052 mm2
π 2 2
(28) N =13052 mm
4
N=21.9say 22
Along short direction:
Mu = (293.6)(4.7)(1.2)(1.2/2)
Mu = 993.54 kN-m
Mu = ϕ Ru b d2
993.54 × 106 = 0.90 Ru(4700)(577)2
Ru = 0.7055 MPa
0.85 f ' c
ρ= ¿
fy

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 0.85(28)
¿ ¿
275
ρ = 0.0026 < ρmin

Use ρ = ρmin = 0.0051

As = ρbd = 0.0051(4700)(577 + 28) = 14,502 mm2

π 2 2
(28) N =14,502 mm
4
N=23.55say 24

Development length:

Ld =l db=0.02 A b fy / √ f ' c
π
Ld =0.02 × (25) (275)/ √ 27.5 = 515 mm
2
4
or Ld =0.06 d b fy=0.06 (25)(275)=412.5 mm
Minimum Ld furnished = 1200 – 75 = 1125 mm > 515 mm (OK)
(no need to bend the bars)
Bar distribution in short direction:
long side of footing 4.7
β= =
shortside of footing 3
𝛽 = 1.57

Along center band:

N center band 2
=
N β+1
N center band 2
=
24 1.57+1
N center band = 18.7 say 19 bars
N outer band = (24 – 19)/2 = 2.5 say 3 bars

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 Footing on
Pile Cap

Problem 6.3
A reinforced concrete square footing supports a 400 mm × 400 mm square column
carrying a total dead load of 700 kN and a total live load of 1100 kN. The footing
dimension is 3m × 3m and is supported by 9 piles spaced 1 m apart on a 3 × 3
formation. f’c = 30 MPa, fy = 375 MPa. Design the footing. Assume the piles are
adequate to resist the loads.

Solution
Factored load on each pile:
Pu = 1.4(700) + 1.7(1100)
Pu = 2850 kN
9Ru = Pu = 2850
Ru = 316.67 kN

Effective depth of Footing

Based of wide-beam shear

1
V c= √ f ' c b w d
6
1
V c = √30 (3000)d
6
V c =2738.6 d ¿

V u=3 Ru =3(316.67)\
V u=950 kN

[V u = ϕ V c ]
950 × 103 = 0.85 × 2738.6 d
d = 408 mm
Based on punching shear
1
V c= √ f ' c b o d
3
1
¿ √ 30[4 (400+ d)]d
3
2
V c =7.303 (400 d +d )

V u=8 R u=8(316.67 )\
V u=2533.36 kN

[V u = ϕ V c]
2533.36 × 103 = 0.85(7.303)
× ( 400 d+ d 2)

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 d2 + 400d – 408,109 = 0
d = 469.4 mm
Use; d = 470 m

Main bars:
Mu = (3Ru)(0.8)
= (3 × 316.67)(0.8)
Mu = 760 kN-m
Mu = ϕ Ru b d2
760× 106 = 0.90 Ru(3000)(470)2
Ru = 1.274 MPa
0.85 f ' c
ρ= ¿
fy
0.85(30)
¿ ¿
375
ρ = 0.0035
1.4
ρmin = =0.0037
375
Use ρ = 0.0037
As = ρbd = 0.0037(3000)(470) = 5,217 mm2

Using 25 mm bars:
π 2
(25) N =5217
4
N=10.6 say 11 bars on both sides
Development length:
Ld =l db=0.02 A b fy / √ f ' c
π
Ld =0.02 × (25) (375)/ √ 30 = 672 mm
2
4
or Ld =0.06 d b fy=0.06 (25)(375)=562.5 mm
Ld furnished = 1300 – 75 = 1,225 mm > 672 mm (OK

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