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Dudley earthquake
Force = 1 x g = 9.81 N
1 kN = 1000 Newtons
Foundations Carry 3 Principal Loads
Force = 1 x g = 9.81 N
1 kN = 1000 Newtons
The main purpose of foundations is to spread out
concentrated structural loads from walls and
columns onto the generally softer materials that
form the surface of the earth’s crust
total weight
Bearing Pressure =
foundation contact area
120 tonnes
Bearing Pressure = = 8 tonnes/m²
30 x 0.5
= 80 kN/m²
1m
The main purpose of foundations is to spread out
concentrated structural loads from walls and
columns onto the generally softer materials that
form the surface of the earth’s crust
total weight
Bearing Pressure =
foundation contact area
120 tonnes
Bearing Pressure = = 8 tonnes/m²
30 x 0.5
= 80 kN/m²
Soil - can be
up to 2 miles
deep
Soil comes from rock mixed with organic material like leaves and bark, and
even dead bugs and animals. It takes thousands of years for natural processes
to break this mixture of materials down into soil. Physical and chemical forces
like wind, rain, ice and temperature changes erode rocks, causing them to
crack and break up. Eventually these pieces of rock become smaller and
smaller, until finally they become sands, silts and clays - the mineral
components of soil. Biological processes set in train by plants, microbes and
animals also play a part, adding complex organic molecules from broken down
organic material.
Typical Ground Bearing Capacities
Types of rock and soil Maximum safe bearing
(kN/m²) capacity
Rocks
Non-cohesive soils
Dry Submerged
Cohesive soils
The base is level to within just 22 mm, the average deviation of the
sides from the cardinal directions is 3´6″ of arc; and the greatest
difference in the length of the sides is 44 mm.
The Great Pyramid contains about 2,300,000 blocks of stone with an average
weight of 2.5 tonnes, giving a combined weight of 6 million tonnes.
Rocks
Non-cohesive soils
Dry Submerged
Cohesive soils
Rocks
Non-cohesive soils
Dry Submerged
Cohesive soils
100
Percentage finer than a given size
Glacial
80
London fill
clay
60
Coarse
40 sand
Medium
sand
20 Estuarine
silt
0
0.002 0.006 0.02 0.06 0.2 0.6 2 6 20 60 200
Size (mm)
Rocks
Non-cohesive soils
Dry Submerged
Cohesive soils
Rocks
Non-cohesive soils
Dry Submerged
Cohesive soils
qult
qa =
SF
where:
Sc
S, t ne mel tt e S
Ss
0 tp
0.5B
0.8 q
1B
0.4q
•Strip foundations
•Trench fill
•Raft foundations
•Piles
0.5 m
m
10
5m
damp-proof course
200mm concrete slab
ground level
hard-core
damp-proof membrane
mass concrete
3 Expansion and
1 Naturally occurring
soluble sulphates in cracking of concrete
soil dissolved and eventual loss and
disintegration
2 Migrate to concrete
strip and react with
C3A in cement
Concrete
Soil press essure fill or solid
ure Soil pr
block
(a) (b)
depth at least
equal to
projection
width
620 - 275
Projection from wall = = 173mm
2
Depth below
ground level
Saturated soil
Ice lenses
500mm min.
Heave
Evaporation to atmosphere
of ground water
1 - 1.5m
Shrinkable clay
Water, Trees and Clay Soil
Trees shift a prodigious quantity of water – from the soil up into the
leaves, out through the stomata, and away into the air. If we had x-ray
eyes, trees would appear as sheaths of rising water (shown on the right
above). Water flows through trees (via thin threads in the xylem) at the
rate of 6 metres per hour and a big tree can transpire 500 litres of
water in a day. A hectare of wood planted with, say, 100 mature trees
pushes out about 50,000 litres or 50 cubic metres per day (enough to fill
a hotel swimming pool).
The presence of trees on shrinkable clay can dry the soil, causing
shrinkage and resultant downward movement of the foundations.
Cutting trees down massively increases the water content of clay soil,
causing it to swell and move foundations upwards.
Source: Trudge, C., The Secret Life of Trees: How they Live and Why
they Matter, 2005
Avoidance of Surcharge on Excavation
d
Excavation or
drainage
trench
45°
h
H
New
Existing footing
footing
Overlapping
of
stresses
Stress
distribution
at depth H
Existing
D
Flow of
soil and New
water
Four Main Foundation Systems for Houses
•Strip foundations
•Trench fill
•Raft foundations
•Piles
depth below
ground level
(min. 1m in
clay soil)
Advantages:
depth below
ground level
(min. 1m in
clay soil)
Advantages:
Brickwork in Brickwork
GL correct incorrectly
position set out
“A” “B”
True centre
line
Trench Fill Footing
20mm screed
dpm
min 150
min 75
500 mm
A raft foundation is a large rigidly reinforced concrete slab that covers the entire
area beneath a house and supports all walls
Advantages:
•Bearing pressure is less than strip or trench fill foundations, hence useful on
poor or unstable ground
•Rafts resist horizontal tensile stresses in soil affected by subsidence, hence useful
in coal mining areas like Nottingham
•Rafts provide complete tied together foundation - less concrete can be used than
strip because thickness of slab reduced
Raft Foundation - MacDonalds Restaurant,
East Finchley
Design of Raft Foundations
Raft thickness can be calculated using Olders’s formula:
2400W x C
D=
S
Where:
•Concrete for raft should normally contain not less than 280kg of
cement per m³ of concrete
Pile Foundation
dpc
ground beam -
reinforcement to
design
Pile Design
dia. 150-300 mm
lengths 2-4m
spacing 1.8-4.0m pile
loading 40-170kN
per pile
•By friction
weak stratum
bulb of
pressure for
friction pile
Skin friction develops between the surface area of the pile and
the surrounding soil (similar to driving a nail into timber). The
frictional resistance must provide an adequate factor of safety
for the pile load
weak stratum
bearing stratum
bulb of
pressure for
end bearing
pile
Qu = Qb + Qs
Where
2.875m 3.475m
4.175m
3.175m
6.175m
3.0m
2.175 m 4.175m
Claimed benefits:-
•Minimal disruption of soil
•No wet trades and therefore fast construction
•Offsets difficult soil conditions such as high water
table, contaminated soil, weak ground/made up
ground
•Guaranteed quality of construction in a factory
built environment
•Reductions in excavation and landfill taxes
•Reduced overall construction costs
•Safer working practices
•Contributes towards reducing foundation failure
Possible problems:-
•Rusting of cables and anchors associated with
post-tensioning
•Use of skilled operatives in the assembly process
Roger Bullivant Precast Modular
Foundation System
Inside Outside
Driven bored or
vibrated pile