REPORT ON FACULTY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

ON FOUNDATION ENGINEERING
Report on the faculty development program in Velalar College of Engineering
and Technology(VCET), Erode on the topic, CE6502 Foundation Engineering
organized by Department of Civil Engineering from 18th to 20th June 2015.
On the first day(18th June) there was an inaugural function for the FDP.
Dr.P.D.Arumairaj, Associate Professor, Department of Geotechnical Engineering,
Government College of Technology, and the Principal of VCET, Dr.M.Jayaraman
were the chief guests. The FDP was a continuation of the FDP in the previous
semester on the topic, Soil Mechanics. From the feedbacks of the last FDP, there
were requests to conduct FDP on foundation engineering. So, the initiatives were
taken to conduct the FDP on foundation engineering.
After the inaugural ceremony, the FDP session was handled by Dr.P.D.Arumairaj.
He has given a vast explanation on the geotechnical exploration and site investigation.
First of all, he explained the needs of soil investigation in a building site. It is needed
to determine the strength of soil(SBC), deformation characteristics, hydraulic
characteristics. Soil investigation also helps in economic design of foundations.
To plan a site exploration program, we need to have a knowledge on the type of
building which is to be planned on the site and the loads predicted to be transferred to
the soil and the strength of soil at the site. For this three types of surveys are possible:
Reconnaissance: It is the field visit to plan an exploration program.
Preliminary soil investigation: One or two boreholes to decide the loose or stiff strata
of soil and to determine whether, the building project is feasible or not at that site.
Detailed soil investigation: After deciding the feasibility, the borehole investigations
are carried out at the required places, upto the required depth of exploration.
The depth of exploration is approximately 1.5 times the width of the foundation
whereas for multistory buildings the depth of exploration is decided based upon the
loads transferred to the soil or rock strata.
And he explained the soil sampling and soil test procedures with his photographs.
He has also discussed some of the case studies of failures of structures due to lack of
thorough geotechnical investigation.
A site visit to a soil bore hole investigation site was also organized. The proposed
building was a shopping complex and there practical exposure of SPT, soil sampling,
rock core drilling were explained by Dr.E.Ravi, HOD, Civil Engineering,VCET.
On the second day, the FDP session was handled by Dr.G.Ramasamy, HOD, Civil
Engineering, EBET, Erode. He has discussed about pile foundation and raft
foundation design with a case study of foundation design for a 15 storey apartment
near Delhi. He has explained the soil tests carried out for the site and he started
designing the foundation. Since the area required by foundation exceeds the plinth
area, the type of foundation need to be adopted is either pile foundation or raft

foundation.
In case of pile foundation, he explained the calculation of pile capacity, design of
group of piles. He has also explained the settlement considerations as per IS 19041986. He has also explained the raft foundation design for the same building. Since
water table is at shallow depth, we need to dewater it before laying raft foundation
and the walls of the basement need to be waterproofed to avoid seepage or intrusion
of moisture from the ground.
Design of shallow foundations, the contact pressure of different type of soils and
the previous year Anna university solved question paper problems were discussed.
On the third day, the session was handled by Dr.E.Ravi. He has discussed about
the slope stability analysis and earth pressure theories. He discussed the active
pressure, passive pressure, Rebhmanns method and Culmanns method of slope
analysis.
He has also shared his practical experiences of pile load testing, plate load test in
Reliance mall construction in Erode, and compaction tests of soil.
After the session, there was a valedictory function presided by the Principal,
VCET, Erode.