Geotechnical Engineering-II

Well Foundation By
Mrs. Dibyajyoti Saikia
Assistant Professor
Bineswar Brahma Engineering College

Sem 6th

Civil Engineering Department

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 Well Foundation
 Types of well & caissons.
 Necessity of well
 Different components of well
 Depth and Bearing capacity calculations.
 Forces acting on well
 Well sinking
 Control of shifts and tilts

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 Caissons
• Caissons foundation is a type of deep foundation.
• It is generally provided below the water level for
bridge foundation in rivers.
• Caissons can have a width ranging from 10-30
meters and can be founded at depths of 40 m or
more.
• It provides a solid and massive foundation for
heavy loads.
• It is also useful as foundations in situations where
the uplift loads are large.
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Caissons

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 Types of Caissons
Caissons are of three types:
1. Box Caissons
2. Open Caissons
3. Pneumatic Caisson
• Box Caissons: A box caisson is made of timber, metal, reinforced
concrete or masonry which is open at the top and closed at the
• It bottom.
is built on land, then
launched and floated to pier
site where it is sunk on
previously levelled foundation
base.
• It is used where bearing
stratum is available at shallow
depth, and where loads are
not very heavy.
• It is also known as floating D. Saikia 5
 Open Caissons
• An open caisson is a box of
timber, metal, reinforced
concrete or masonry which
is open both at the top and
at the bottom.
• It is used for building and
bridge foundation.
• It is also known as well.
• The famous Taj Mahal at
Agra stands on well
Foundation.

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 Pneumatic Caissons
• A pneumatic caisson has its
lower end designed as a
working chamber in which
compressed air is forced to
prevent the entry of water
and thus permit excavation
in dry.
• It is very high in cost and the
limit on the depth of
penetration below water
level, of about 35m.

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 Shapes of Well
The common types of well shapes are as
follows:
1. Single Circular: These are more commonly used
shape is circular, as it has high structural strength
and is convenient in sinking. The chance of tilting
is also minimum in this type.
2. Double-d wells: They are generally used for the
piers and abutments of bridges which are too
long to be accommodated on a circular well of 9
m diameter

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 Shapes of Well
3. Double octagonal or twin octagonal well: These are better
than double-d wells in many respects. The square corners
are eliminated and bending stresses are considerably
reduced.
They offer greater resistance than double-d against sinking
on account of increased surface area. The construction is
more difficult.

4. Twin-circular wells: these are two independent wells

placed, very close to each other and having a common well
cap. The wells are sunk simultaneously.
These are suitable where the length of the pier is
considerable, which cannotD. Saikia
be accommodated on a double-
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 Shapes of Well
5. Rectangular well: They are generally used for bridge
foundations having depth upto 7-8 m.
For large foundations, double-rectangular wells are used.
For piers and abutment of very large size, rectangular
wells with multiple dredge holes are used

Twin-hexagonal
6. Twin-hexagonal wells: These are better than double-d
wells in many respects.
The construction is more difficult. Due to sharp corner
they can dig and more likely to tilt. Also, the sharp
corners produce greater scour.
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 Component of well
1. Well curb
2. Cutting edge
3. Steining
4. Bottom plug
5. Top plug
6. Sand filling
7. Well cap

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Advantages of well foundation

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Disadvantages of well foundation

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 Depth of well
The selection of the depth of a well is based on
the following two criteria:
1. Minimum grip length below scour depth: The
grip length is taken as 1/3 R below the
maximum scour depth according to IRC and 1/2
R below the maximum scour depth according to
IR.
2. Base pressures to be within permissible limits:
the maximum base pressure should be less than
the allowable bearing pressure.
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Scour Depth of well

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Bearing capacity of well

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Forces acting on well

17
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Forces acting on well

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 Well sinking
• A sinking method is a specific way of sinking a
well.
• Wells may be dug by hand, drilled with hand
tools, or drilled with motorized equipment.
• The following precautions should be taken during
well sinking.
 Outer surface should be regular and smooth.
 Radius of the curb should be 2 to 4 cm larger than the
radius of the steining.
 Cutting edge should be of uniform thickness and
sharpness.
 Dredging should be done uniformly on all sides.
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 Sinking Operations
 Concrete the steining
 Dredge inside the well
 Sink the well in stages.
 Sinking is done by uniform excavation of
material.
 Use of water jetting and explosives may be done
 Normally dewatering should not be done.
 Tilts must be rectified wherever necessary.

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 shifts and tilts

The primary aim in well sinking is to sink them

straight and at the correct position.
• When the well is moved away horizontally from
the desired position, it is called shifting of the
well foundation.
• When the well is sloped against vertical
alignment, it is called tilting of the well
foundation.

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 Causes of Tilts and Shifts
1. Non uniform bearing capacity
2. Obstruction on one side of the well
3. Sand blowing in wells during sinking. It will cause
sudden sinking of well.
4. Method of sinking: material should be removed
from all sides equally otherwise the well may
experience tilt.
5. Sudden sinking due to blasting may also cause
tilting of well.
6. Irregular casting of steining will cause less friction
on one side leads to chances of tilting of well.
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precautions to avoid Tilts and Shifts

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Rectification measures to prevent tilt and shift
1. Eccentric grabbing
2. Eccentric loading
3. Water jetting
4. Arresting the cutting edge
5. Providing temporary obstacles below the
cutting edge.
6. Pulling the well
7. Strutting the well
8. Pushing the well by jacks
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Rectification measures to prevent tilt and shift

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Thank you

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