CHAPTER-I

INTRODUCTION
1.1 GENERAL
Construction of buildings started in an ancient period to protect human beings from different
climatic conditions. Constructing shelters were so easy at that time as the human used to have
a limited knowledge who could only think to construct shelters by the things around him.
Earlier, human shelters were very simple structures. But later, with development, these
temporary structures were converted into a more durable and strong structures known as
igloo. With the development of the agriculture, there was a need of storing raw and food
materials in more durable structures and with this need, the temporary structures began to be
more durable. The durability of structures and the increasing knowledge of the human created
a difference between structure and architectural drawing.

Fig 1.1(a): wood houses

Fig 1.1(b): igloo

Building a shelter was very easy. Earlier, Materials like leaves and branches were used to
build a shelter. Later, natural materials like clay, timber and stone replaced the leaves and
branches. And finally, the synthetic materials like concrete, cement and aggregates came into
play. With the construction of shelters, there was a quest of constructing building of greater
height and span to occupy the minimum area for more shelters. This was done by studying
the stronger materials like concrete and cement and how do they work if mixed with different
constituents.
Now-a-days, the building construction has become a very long process. The designing
process of buildings is highly complex. The construction process of the building includes
manufacturers of the building materials, labourers who works on the site, the contractors who
coordinate the labourerswork and the consultants.
1

CHAPTER-II
FOUNDATION

2.1 INTRODUCTION
Buildings consists of two major components: the super structure and the foundation. The
super structure is that part of the building which is above the ground and is used for making
shelters or flats. The foundation is that part of the building which is in direct contact with the
underground soil and is used for carrying and distributing the load of the super structure.
Some of the basic functions of a foundation are:

It distributes the load of the super structure to a larger area.

Foundations are helpful in distributing the non-uniform load evenly the underground
soil.

2.2 TYPES OF FOUNDATIONS

1. Shallow foundation: It is a type of foundation which transfers the load above it, very
near to earth surface rather than distributing the load at the larger depths.

Spread footing: Spread footing foundations are generally used in residential

buildings. The bottom width of this type of foundation is wider than the wall which it
supports, for spreading the load to a larger area for more stability.

Combined footing: combined footing foundation is a type of spread footing

foundation which supports two or more walls or columns.

Mat foundation: This type of foundation is also known as combined footing which
supports all the walls and columns of a structure.

Jaypee associates mostly uses single footing foundation in some of their buildings but at
times even pile and pier foundations have been noted to be in use.

Fig 2.1: Single footing fooundation

2. Deep foundation: It is the type of foundation in which the width of the footing is
comparatively smaller than the depth of the foundation.

Pile foundation: This type of foundation consists of long element made up of timber,
steel or concrete and are used where the soil is not appropriate to bear larger loads.
The load from the super structure are transferred through a medium or strata (water)
to a more stronger and compact soil or rock which increases the stability.

Pile foundation has two types mainly: end bearing pile and friction pile.

Fig 2.2: pile foundation

3. Pier foundation: A pier foundation consists of a large cylindrical column with large
diameter to support and transfer the large loads of the super structure to a firm strata
below. In pier foundation, the load is transferred only through bearing and in pile
foundation the load can be transferred through either bearing or friction.

Fig 2.3: Pier foundation