THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE

SCHOOL OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING DESIGN III

M. B. Jaksa

FOUNDATION DESIGN
References:

1.

Bowles, J. E. (1996). Foundation Analysis and Design, 5th ed., McGraw-Hill, 1175p.
Coduto, D. P. (1994). Foundation Design - Principles and Practices, Prentice Hall, 796p.
Craig, R. F. (2004). Soil Mechanics, 7th ed., Spon Ltd., 464p.
Das, B. M. (1995). Principles of Foundation Engineering, 3rd ed., PWS Publ. Co., 828p.
Peck, R. B., Hanson, W. E. and Thornburn, T. H. (1974). Foundation Engineering, 2nd ed.,
Wiley, 514p.
Tomlinson, M. J. (1986). Foundation Design and Construction, 5th ed., Longman, 842 p.
Whitlow, R. (1990). Basic Soil Mechanics, 2nd ed., Longman, 528 p.

TYPES OF FOUNDATIONS

A foundation, or footing, is a structure which transfers the load of the superstructure to the
underlying soil or rock. Foundations can be broadly divided into two categories: (a) shallow
foundations; and (b) deep foundations. Shallow foundations include: (i) spread or pad footings; (ii)
strip footings; and (iii) mat or raft foundations. Deep foundations include piles and caissons.

1.1

Spread or Pad Footings

A spread, or pad, footing is generally an isolated footing placed beneath a column, or point of
concentrated load. Examples of spread footings are shown in Figure 1.1.

1.2

Strip Footings

Strip footings are essentially continuous spread footings which are usually reinforced concrete
beams which transfer the loads from walls or a number of columns to the underlying ground
material. An example is shown in Figure 1.2.

1.3

Mat or Raft Footings

A mat, or raft, foundation is a large concrete slab used to interface one or more columns in several
lines with the underlying soil or rock. Examples of mat foundations are shown in Figure 1.3.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)

(g)
Figure 1.1 Examples of spread or pad footings: (a) isolated pad footing; (b) stepped footing;
(c) sloped footing; (d) footing with pedestal; (e) rectangular combined footing;
(f) trapezoidal combined footing; (g) strap footing.

Figure 1.2 Example of a strip footing.

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Figure 1.3 Examples of mat or raft foundations: (a) flat plate; (b) plate thickened under
columns; (c) waffle slab; (d) plate with pedestals; (e) basement walls form part of mat.

A mat foundation may be used where the base soil has a low bearing capacity and/or the column
loads are so large that more than 50% of the area is covered by conventional spread footings.

1.4

Pile Foundations

A pile foundation is essentially a column, or group of columns, which transfers load at the ground
surface to some point at depth within the subsurface profile which has the necessary strength and
compressibility properties to satisfactorily carry the required load. Piles derive their strength from
two mechanisms: (i) end bearing; and (ii) skin friction, as shown in Figure 1.4. The end bearing
component is the strength derived from the base of the pile, whereas the skin friction component is
derived from the friction, or shear stress, developed along the shaft of the pile. An end bearing pile
is one that derives most of its load carrying capacity from end bearing, whereas a floating pile is one
that derives most of its load carrying capacity from skin friction.

2.

FOUNDATION DESIGN CRITERIA

Requirements for a satisfactory foundation:

(i)

The foundation, plus the underlying soil and rock must be safe against a failure which could
result in sudden collapse of the structure bearing capacity failure.

(ii)

The foundation must not suffer undue settlement or differential settlement which could
damage the structure or impair its useful function serviceability failure.

(iii)

The foundation must be feasible both technically and economically, and practical to
construct.
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(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

Figure 1.4 Examples of pile foundations: (a) mechanisms; (b) pile group; (c) Franki pile;
(d) continuous flight auger (CFA) piles.
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Figure 1.4 cont. (e) screwed piles.

3.

FOUNDATION SELECTION

Selection of a suitable foundation system requires:

1.

Analysis and synthesis of available data;

2.

Preparation of preliminary designs and estimates of construction costs;

3.

Evaluation of construction problems.

The following factors may affect the selection process:

(a)

Structural requirements and foundation loads:

type of structure and useful life;
magnitude, distribution and type of loads;
allowable settlement and differential settlement;
foundation and floor elevations.

(b)

Soil and groundwater conditions:

strength and compressibility of soil and rock layers;
swelling soils;
existing fills;
groundwater level and effect changes;
corrosion and chemical effects;
false driving resistance and negative friction;
underground defects.

(c)

Site conditions and environmental factors:

topography;
flood levels and site drainage;
proximity of adjacent structures and property lines;
frost action and thermal effects;
earthquake and seismic effects.

An excellent treatment of factors one needs to consider when designing foundations is given in
Chapter 7 of Bowles (1996).

Geotech3_LS6_Foundations.doc
2006, M. B. Jaksa