UNIVERSITY OF GONDAR

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION

Chapter Four

FOUNDATION
 Objective of this lecture
At the end of this lecture students will be able to
understand:
Building component
 Sub structure
 Foundation.
 Shallow foundation.
 Deep foundation.
 INTRODUCTION

Every building consists of two basic parts

the sub structure or foundation which is
lower portion of the building usually
located below ground level and The
super structure is usually the part of
building which is located above natural
ground level .
 INTRODUCTION
• The sub structure: It is located below the
ground level. And It has direct contact to the
ground (Sub-soil) or foundation soil to which
the loads are transmitted to the soil is called
foundation. Example, Footing pad

• The soil which is located immediately below the

base of the foundation is called the Sub - Soil or
Foundation Soil.
 INTRODUCTION
4.1 Foundations: - the function of any foundation is to
safely sustain and transmit load to the ground and intended
to prevent excessive and unequal settlement or other
movement which would impair the stability or cause
damage to any part of the building.
• If foundation load exceeds maximum passive pressure of
ground (i.e. bearing capacity) a downward movement of
the foundation could occur which is called settlement.
• Unequal Settlement - might be caused due to weak sub soil,
shrinkable and expansive soil, frost action ground water
movement, excessive vibration, consolidation settlement or
slipping of strata
 4.1 Purposes of Foundations

• Reduction of load intensity: - by increasing the area of contact, so

that the total load divided by the total area (intensity of load)
doesn’t exceed the bearing capacity of the soil.
• Even distribution of load: - Foundations distribute the non uniform
load of the superstructure evenly to the sub soil.
• Lateral stability:- It anchors the super structure to the ground, thus
imparting lateral stability to the super structure.
• Protection against soil movements:- - minimizes cracks in the super
structure due to expansion or contraction of sub soil because of
moisture movement in some problematic soils.
• Provision of level surface
• Safety against undermining provides structural safety against undermining (scouring) due
to burrowing animals and flood water.
 Essential Requirements of a Good Foundation

1. Foundations shall sustain and safely transmit the Dead

and Live Loads of the Superstructure, in a way that the
pressure will not cause settlement which would impair
the stability of the building or adjoining structures
2. Foundation shall be rigid to avoid differential settlement,
specially when the superstructure load is not evenly distributed
3. Foundations shall be sufficiently deep to guard against damage
or distress caused by swelling or shrinkage of the sub - soil
4. Foundations should be located at depth that its performance
may not be affected due to any unexpected future influence.
 Cont’d
• The selection of a particular type of foundation
is often based on a number of factors, such as:
• Ground water level
• Bearing Capacity Failure
• Settlement
• Quality
• Adverse Soil Changes
• Seismic Forces
• Adequate Strength
 TYPES OF FOUNDATION
A. Shallow Foundation:
• Depth is equal to or less than its width.
• It is often selected when the structural
load will not cause excessive settlement
of the underlying soil layers D
• In general, shallow foundation are more
economical than deep foundations
• E.g Mat foundation
B. Deep Foundation: W
 Depth is greater than its width mostly,
it is greater than 5 m below NGL.
 E.g Pile foundation
 TYPES OF SHALLOW FOUNDATIONS

a. Strip foundation
b. Spread (Isolated) foundation
c. Mat (Raft) foundation
d. Combined foundation
e. Strap foundation
 A. Strip foundation

• It is consisting of
continuous strip of
concrete, centrally load-
bearing wall.
• It’s central load-bearing
wall is used to built wall
• suitable for most sub soils
and light structural
loadings such as those
encountered in low to
medium rise domestic
dwellings where mass
concrete can be used.
 B. Spread (Isolated) foundation
 It is used to support load by
column or wall.
 used to support a single column
load located directly in the center
of Footing.
• suitable for most sub-soils except
loose sands, loose gravel
 It’s shape of looks like:
 Circle
 Square
 Rectangle
 Types of spread footing:-
 Single footing
 Stepped footing
 Sloped footing
 C. Mat (Raft) foundation
 It is used to:
Used when the bearing capacity
of the soil is low or when there is a
compressible layer , erratic strata
prone to differential settlement
 Spread the load over large area.
 Reduce settlements.
 It will be used when: if their is
 Low allowable soil pressure
 Heavy building loads.
 Need basement construction.
 used when spread footing
covers more than the one half
the area.
 Equal Distribution of Loads.
 Large Individual Footings.
Examples of mat foundation
 D. Combined foundation

 It is consisting of two or
more columns.
 Types of combined footing:
I ) Rectangular combined
II) Trapezoidal combined
III) Combined column
 E. Strap foundation

 It is consisting of two independent footings and columns

connected by a beam.

• A strap footing can be used to obtain a nearly uniform

distribution of soil pressure or pile loads.

• The strap footing becomes more economical than a combined

footing when the spacing between the columns becomes larger
Footing of wall
STRAP BEAM
A B

Adjoining wall
 B. TYPES OF DEEP FOUNDATIONS

a. Pile foundations
b. Pier Foundations (drilled caisson foundation)
c. Well Foundations (Caissons)
 A. Pile foundations

• Where sufficient soil strength is available only at lower levels.

• Driven piles are slender members, made of wood, steel, or precast
concrete, that are driven into place using pile-driving equipment.
• A cast-in-place pile is formed by making a hole in the ground and
then filling the hole with concrete.
• Pile foundations are preferable under the following situation
– When the load of the super structure is heavy and its
distribution is uneven.
– the top soil has poor bearing capacity
– The sub soil water level is high so that pumping of water from
the open trenches for the shallow foundations is difficult and
uneconomical.
– when there is large fluctuations in sub soil water level
– when the structure is situated on the sea shore or river bed
– Canal or deep drainage lines exist near the foundations.
 Types of piles foundations

Piles may be classified by their basic design

function or by their method of construction
I ) End bearing pile
II) Friction piles
III) Combined end bearing and friction pile
IV) Compaction piles
 I ) End bearing pile

• It is used to carry heavy loads safely to hard strata.

• It is used to construct multi-story buildings b\c reduce
settlement.

loose loose
soil soil

Hard strata

a. End bearing piles

 II) Friction piles
• It is used to transfer load to a depth by means of side
friction.
• It is used in granular soil.

side friction

b. Friction pile
 III) Combined end bearing

• It is used to transfer load to a depth by means of side

friction as well as end bearing.
• It is used in granular soil especially end bearing.

C. Combined end bearing and friction pile

 IV) Compaction piles
• It used to compact loose granular soils to increase bearing
capacity.

d. Compaction piles
 B. Pier Foundations (Drilled Caisson Foundation)

– Pier foundation is preferred in a location where the top strata

consist of decomposed rock over laying a stratum of sound rock
– It is used to carrying a heavy structural load which is constructed in
situ in a deep excavation.
– The difference between pile foundation and pier foundation lies in
the method of construction.
– Pile foundations transfer the load through friction and or bearing,
pier foundations transfer the load only through bearing.
– pier foundation is shallower in depth than pile foundation
 C. Well Foundations (Caissons)

• It is not used for building.

• Much large in diameter than the pier foundations
 These are used for major foundation works, such as.
• bridge piers and abutments in rivers, lakes, etc
• wharves, quay, walls, docks (related to ships)
• Break waters and other structures for shore protection.
• large water front structures Pier
such as pump houses

Well cap

Top plug

Top plug
Seining
Sand filling

Curb Curb

Bottom plug
Well foundation…..
 Classification of piles base on materials and composition

 
• Timber piles
• Concrete piles
• Steel piles
a) pre- cast
a) H- pile
b) cast in – situ
b) Pipe pile
 Driven piles (cased or
c) Sheet pile
uncased)
 Bored piles (pressure • Composite pile
piles, under- reamed piles, a) concrete and
bored compaction piles) timber
b) concrete and
steel
 Methods of pile construction

B. Replacement
A. Displacement • In this method of
• In this method of construction piles soil
construction pile is is removed and the
driven in to the ground resulting hole filled
and causes the soil to with concrete a precast
be displaced radially as concrete pile is
well as vertically as the dropped into the hole
pile shaft is driven into and grouted in.
the ground.
CONT’D…..
CONT’D
 Summery
Building component
 Sub structure
 Foundation.
 Shallow foundation.
 Deep foundation.
Thank you !!!
 Review questions

1.What is settlement? when settlement occur in

one building? and what are the causes that
settlement occur in a building?
2.As an engineer you are a contractor and you want
to construct a building have two sites(site “A” and
“B”).Site A soil type is clay soil and site B soil type is
black cotton soil, so which site do you select? and
why ? Reason out
3.According to economy which type of foundation is
more economical? Shallow or deep foundation
why? Reason out
 Review question
1.What is foundation? what is the purpose of
foundation in a building? discuss briefly
2.As an engineer you want to built foundation on
the low bearing capacity soil which type of
shallow foundation do you use/prefer? Why do
you prefer that type of foundation? Reason out.
3.What is the difference between combined and
strap footing? briefly discus and also from the
two which is more economical when the
spacing b/n columns becomes larger? Why?