Building Construction

5
Dr Nabil El-Sawalhi
Associate professor
Engineering Projects Management
Foundation construction
 Pad foundations
• Pad foundations can be used to carry point loads or can be
designed so that the loads of the walls and the buildings
are transferred through ground beams that rest on pad
foundations.
• The area of this type of foundation depends on the load on
the foundation and the bearing and shear strength of the
subsoil, and its thickness on the strength of the foundation
material.
• Pad foundations are often used in combination with ground
beams. The ground beams can be used to transfer
continuous loads imposed by brickwork or infill cladding
panels to the reinforced or mass filled concrete pad
foundations
• A blinding layer of weak concrete some 50mm
thick is spread and levelled in the bed of the
excavation to provide a firm working base.
• Two-way spanning, steel reinforcing rods are
placed on and wired to spacers to provide
cover of concrete below reinforcement.
• Strip foundations
• Strip foundations consist of a continuous strip, usually
of steel reinforced concrete, formed centrally under
loadbearing walls.
• The strip of concrete may well need to be no wider
than the thickness of the wall.
• A continuous strip foundation of concrete is the most
economic form of foundation for small buildings on
compact soils.
• The width of a concrete strip foundation depends on
the bearing capacity of the subsoil and the load on the
foundations
• Stepping strip foundations
• Where strip foundations are used on sloping sites
it may be necessary to step the foundation
(Figure 3.8). In order to step the foundation, the
full thicknessof the upper foundation should
overlap twice the height of the step (thickness of
upper foundation), or 300mm, whichever is
greater.
• consideration should also be given to the
brickwork and blockwork that will be built on top
of the foundation
• Short bored pile foundations
• Where the subsoil is of firm, shrinkable clay,
which is subject to volume change due to
deep rooted vegetation for some depth below
the surface and where the subsoil is of soft, or
uncertain bearing capacity for a few metres
below the surface, it may be economic and
satisfactory to use a system of short bored
piles as a foundation (Figure 3.16)
• The piles that are excavated to a depth of 4 m
below the surface are termed short bore,
• Short bored piles are generally from 2 to 4 m
long and from 250 to 350mm diameter.
• A reinforced concrete ground beam is then
cast over the piles.
 Combined foundations
• The foundations of adjacent columns are
combined when a column is so close to the
boundary of the site that a separate foundation
would be eccentrically loaded.
• Combined foundations may also be used to resist
uplift, overturning and opposing forces.
• If the existing and new foundations were erected
next to each other, the combined force of the
existing building and new structure may
overstress the ground.
• Where the subsoil under the wall of an adjoining
building is comparatively sound and the load on
columns next to the existing wall is moderate, it
may be acceptable to use an asymmetrical
combined base foundation such as that
illustrated in Figure 3.27.
• A rectangular, combined base is used where the
columns next to the boundary are less heavily
loaded than those distant from the boundary, as
illustrated in Figure 3.28a.
• The load from heavily loaded columns next to
the boundary can be more widely spread
thanthat from less heavily loaded internal
columns by the use of a trapezoidal,
reinforced concrete, combined base illustrated
in Figure 3.28b.
 Raft foundations
• A raft foundation is a continuous slab of concrete usually
covering an area equal to or greater than the base of a
building or structure to provide support for walls or lightly
loaded columns and serve as a base for the ground floor.
• The word raft is used in the sense that the slab of concrete
floats on the surface as a raft does on water. Raft
foundations are used for lightly loaded structures on soils
with poor bearing capacity and where variations in soil
conditions necessitate a considerable spread of loads.
• Beam and raft and cellular raft foundations are used for
more heavily loaded structures, where the beams or cells
of a raft are used to provide wide spread of loads.
• The three types of reinforced concrete raft
foundations are:
• (1) Solid slab raft
• (2) Beam and slab raft
 Solid slab raft foundation
• solid reinforced concrete slab generally of uniform
thickness (Figure 3.29a), cast on subsoils of poor or variable
bearing capacity, so that the loads from walls or columns of
lightly loaded structures are spread over the whole area of
the building.
• Concrete rafts are reinforced with mild steel rods to provide
tensile strength against the upward or negative bending
and resistance to shear stress due to the loads from walls
or columns that are raised off the raft. For additional
strength under the load of walls, rafts are commonly cast
with downstand edge beams, as illustrated in Figure 3.29b,
and downstand beams under loadbearing internal walls.
• The solid slab raft foundation illustrated in Figure 3.29c is
cast with a wide toe to the beam under external walls so
that the concrete does not show above ground solely for
appearance sake.
• To provide a level bed for the concrete, a layer of
blinding is spread either on a hardcore bed or
directly on levelled soil to a thickness of 50mm.
The purpose of the blinding is to provide a level
bed, which will prevent wet concrete running
through it.
• The necessary reinforcement is placed and
supported
• (with concrete spacers) to provide the necessary
cover and the concrete spread, consolidated and
finished level
 Beam and slab raft foundation
• As a foundation to support the heavier loads of walls or
columns, a solid slab raft would require considerable
thickness. To make the most economical use of reinforced
concrete in a raft foundation supporting heavier loads, it is
usual practice to form a beam and slab raft.
• This raft consists of upstand or downstand beams that take
the loads of walls or columns and spread them to the
monolithically cast slab, which bears on natural subsoil.
• Figure 3.31 is an illustration of an upstand beam raft and
Figure 3.32 shows a section through a downstand beam
raft.
 Pile foundations
• The word ‘pile’ is used to describe columns,
usually of reinforced concrete, driven into or
• cast in the ground in order to carry foundation
loads to some deep underlying firm stratum or
to transmit loads to the subsoil by the friction
of their surfaces in contact with the subsoil
(see Figure 3.37).
• The main function of a pile is to transmit loads
to lower levels of ground by a combination of
friction along their sides and end bearing at
the pile point or base.
• Piles that transfer loads mainly by friction to
clays and silts are termed friction piles, and
those that mainly transfer loads by end
bearing to compact gravel, hard clay or rock
are termed end-bearing piles (Figure 3.37).
• Four or more piles may be used to support
columns of framed structures. The columns
are connected to a reinforced concrete pile
cap connected to the pile, as illustrated in
Figure 3.38. Piles may be classified by their
effect on the subsoil as displacement piles or
non-displacement piles.
• Displacement piles are driven, forced or cut (by
an auger) into the ground to displace subsoil. The
strata are penetrated.
• No soil is removed during the operation. Solid
concrete or steel piles and piles formed inside
tubes which are driven into the ground and which
are closed at their lower end by a shoe or plug,
which may either be left in place or extruded to
form an enlarged toe, are all forms of
displacement pile
• Non-displacement piles are formed by boring or
other methods of excavation that do not
substantially displace subsoil. Sometimes the
borehole is lined with a casing or tube that is
either left in place or extracted as the hole is
filled.
• Driven piles are those formed by driving a precast
pile and those made by casting concrete in a hole
formed by driving. Bored piles are those formed
by casting concrete in a hole previously bored or
drilled in the subsoil.
• Driven piles – Concrete
• Square, polygonal or round section reinforced
concrete piles are cast in moulds in the
manufacturer’s yard and are cured to develop
maximum strength.
• The placing of the reinforcement and the mixing,
placing, compaction and curing of the concrete
can be accurately controlled to produce piles of
uniform strength and cross section.
• The precast piles are often square section with
chamfered edges, as illustrated in Figure 3.39
• The head of the pile is reinforced with helical binding
wire; this helps prevent damage that would otherwise
be caused by driving the pile into the ground.
• Once the pile is in place, the concrete at the top of the
pile is removed to expose the main reinforcement. The
helical reinforcement can be removed once the main
reinforcement bars, which will be tied into the pile cap,
are exposed.
• To connect the top of the precast pile to the reinforced
concrete foundation, the top 300mm of the length of
the pile is broken to expose reinforcement to which the
reinforcement of the foundation is connected.
• Precast-driven piles are not in general used on sites in
built-up areas. Difficulties are often experienced when
attempting to move large precast piles through narrow
streets; however, using smaller sections (Figure 3.42)
can overcome this problem.
• Where vibration is excessive, or buildings and
structures are sensitive to vibration, damage may be
caused to adjacent buildings, structures and services.
• Driven piles are used as end-bearing piles in weak
subsoils where they are driven to a firm underlying
stratum
• Driven piles give little strength in bearing due
to friction of their sides in contact with soil,
particularly when the surrounding soil is clay.
 Driven cast-in-place piles
• Driven cast-in-place piles are of two types: the
first has a permanent steel or concrete casing and
the second uses a temporary casing. The purpose
of driving and maintaining a permanent casing is
to consolidate the subsoil around the pile casing
by the action of driving.
• The lining is left in place to protect the concrete
cast inside the lining against weak strata of
subsoil that might otherwise fall into the pile
excavation
• Permanent casings also protect the green
concrete (concrete which has not set) of the
pile against static or running water that may
erode the concrete.
 Bored piles
• Auger bored piles . A hole is bored or drilled by means
of earth drills (mechanically operated augers), which
withdraw soil from the hole into which the pile is to be
cast. Occasionally, it is necessary to lower or drive in
steel lining tubes as the soil is taken out, to maintain
the sides of the drilled hole. As the pile is cast, the
lining tubes are gradually withdrawn.
• The mechanical rigs used to install the piles come in a
range of sizes, from small units weighing just a few
tonnes to large rigs exceeding 20m and weighing in
excess of 50 tonnes (Photograph 3.5a and b).
• Figure 3.49 illustrates the drilling and casting
of a bored cast-in-place pile. Photograph 3.6a
and b shows the piling rig and steel piling
tubes used for the pile excavation.
• Soil is withdrawn from inside the lining tubes
with a cylindrical clay cutter that is dropped
into the hole, which bites into and holds the
cohesive soil. The cutter is then withdrawn
and the soil knocked out of it
 Pile caps and spacing of piles

• Piles may be used to support pad, strip or raft

foundations. Commonly a group of piles is used to
support a column or pier base. The load from the
column or pier is transmitted to the piles through a
reinforced concrete pile cap, which is cast over the
piles.
• To provide structural continuity, the reinforcement of
the piles is linked to the reinforcement of the pile caps
through starter bars protruding from the top of the
cast-in-place piles or through reinforcement exposed
by breaking off the top concrete from precast piles.