SPREAD

FOOTINGS
CHAPTER 6

Joseph Angelo C. Durohom

 SPREAD FOOTING
Spread footing is the most common type of foundation constructed in the world as a shallow
foundation especially in the buildings and their related construction works.

Spread footing is also called a spread foundation or spread footing foundation.

What is a spread footing?

It is a type of foundation designed and constructed to support superstructure elements such as steel
or concrete columns, walls, etc. It is the most common type of construction done to rest the structure
on the ground.

It has low construction cost and the quality assurance and quality control process is more convenient
when compared to the other foundations such as cast-in-situ bored piles.

[Link]
01. Wall
Footing 04. Monolithic
Footing

02. Spread
Footing 05. Combined
Footing

03. Steel
Grillage 06. Strap
Footing

07. Mat
Footing
 DESIGN OF FOOTINGS
Footings may be designed by the following procedure:

1. Calculate the loads applied at top of footings. 7. Check for danger of overstressing the soil strata at
greater depths.
2. Sketch a soil profile or soil profiles showing the
soil stratification at the site. 8. Predict the total and differential settlements
3. Establish the maximum water level. 9. Check stability against horizontal forces.
4. Determine the minimum depth of footings. 10. Check uplift on individual footings and basement
slab.
5. Determine the bearing capacity of the
supporting stratum. 11. Design the footings.
6. Proportion the footing sizes. 12. Check the need for foundation drains,
waterproofing or damproofing.
 DEPTH OF FOOTINGS

Footings should be carried below the top (organic) soil, miscellaneous fill, abandoned foundation,
debris, or muck. If the top soil is too deep, two alternatives may be used depending upon the the
relative economy and the time available:

b) Removing the top soil in an area larger than

1
a) Removing the top soil directly under the the footing and replace it with compacted sand
footing and replacing it with lean concrete. and gravel fill.
 DEPTH OF FOOTINGS

Footings should be carried below the depth of frost penetration. In heated buildings, the interior
footings are not affected by frost, therefore they may be as high as other requiements permit.

2
The damage of footings, and of the superstructure,
due to frost action is caused by the volume expansion
and contraction of water in the soil at freezing
temperature.

Gravel and course sand above water level containing

less than 3 percent silt, fine sand, or clay particles
cannot hold any water and consequently are not
subject to frost damage.
 DEPTH OF FOOTINGS

It is not good practice to place footings on the ground surface even in localities
where freezing temperatures do not occur because of the possibility of surface
erosion.

3 The minimum depth of footings should be one foot for one and two storey
dwellings and stores, two feet for heavier construction.
 DEPTH OF FOOTINGS

4 Footings on sloping ground should have

sufficient edge distance (minimum 2 to
3 ft) as protection againts erosion.
 DEPTH OF FOOTINGS

The difference in footing elevations should not be

so great as to introduce undesirable overlapping

5
of stresses in soil. This is generally avoided by
maitaning the maximum difference in elevation
equal to, or equal to one half of the clear distance
between two footings. This requirement is also
necessary to prevent disturbance of soil under the
higher footing due to the excavation for the lower
footing.
 A. Bearing capacity of granular soils.

The bearing capacity of granular soil depends upon the unit weight and the
angle of internal friction of the soil, both of which vary primarily with the
relative density of the soil.
BEARING BEARING
Compact soils are naturally not very compressible, therefore cause little
CAPACITY settlement. Loosse soils, on the other hand, have small unit weight and
CAPACITY
OF SOILS internal friction values, and low bearing power. OF SOILS

UNDER The relative density of granular soils in situ is generally determined by UNDER
FOOTINGS AND standard penetration tests. FOOTINGS AND
MAT MAT
FOUNDATIONS Therefore, the bearing capacity as calculated from this relationship is FOUNDATIONS
sometimes considerably lower than the real capacity of the soil.
 A. Bearing capacity of granular soils.

In conventional design, the allowable bearing capacity should be taken as

the smaller of the following two values.

1. The allowable bearing pressure based on ultimate capacity.

BEARING BEARING
CAPACITY This allowable pressure is equal to the ultimate bearing capacity divided by CAPACITY
OF SOILS an appropriate factor of safety. A factor of safety of 3 is usually used under OF SOILS
normal loading conditions and a factor of safety of 2 under combined
UNDER maximum load. UNDER
FOOTINGS AND FOOTINGS AND
MAT The following empirical equations are more convinient to use. MAT
FOUNDATIONS FOUNDATIONS
 A. Bearing capacity of granular soils.

In conventional design, the allowable bearing capacity should be taken as

the smaller of the following two values.

2. The allowable bearing pressure bassed on tolerable settlement.

BEARING BEARING
CAPACITY CAPACITY
OF SOILS OF SOILS

UNDER UNDER
FOOTINGS AND FOOTINGS AND
MAT MAT
FOUNDATIONS FOUNDATIONS
 B. Bearing capacity of clay and clayey soils.

The ultimate bearing capacity of these soils depends primarily upon its
consistency (or shear strength).

1. Standard penetration tests.

BEARING BEARING
CAPACITY For small jobs where a better economy can be achieved by using a CAPACITY
OF SOILS conservative design value based on simple test results, the standard OF SOILS
penetration tests is used.
UNDER UNDER
FOOTINGS AND FOOTINGS AND
MAT MAT
FOUNDATIONS FOUNDATIONS
 B. Bearing capacity of clay and clayey soils.

The ultimate bearing capacity of these soils depends primarily upon its
consistency (or shear strength).

2. Unconfined compression tests.

BEARING BEARING
CAPACITY For average projects the consistency of soil should be determined by CAPACITY
OF SOILS unconfined compression tests of samples taken with thin-walled steel OF SOILS
tubing known as Shelby tubes.
UNDER UNDER
FOOTINGS AND FOOTINGS AND
MAT MAT
FOUNDATIONS FOUNDATIONS
 B. Bearing capacity of clay and clayey soils.
The ultimate bearing capacity of these soils depends primarily upon its
consistency (or shear strength).

2. Unconfined compression tests.

BEARING BEARING
CAPACITY If the clay under the footing (within a depth equal to the width of the CAPACITY
OF SOILS footing) consists of two layers, the bearing capacity may be determined by OF SOILS
the following equation.
UNDER UNDER
FOOTINGS AND FOOTINGS AND
MAT MAT
FOUNDATIONS FOUNDATIONS
 B. Bearing capacity of clay and clayey soils.

The ultimate bearing capacity of these soils depends primarily upon its
consistency (or shear strength).

3. Triaxial tests.
BEARING BEARING
CAPACITY For very large projects, the shear strength may be determined from triaaxial CAPACITY
OF SOILS tests of undisturbed samples. OF SOILS

UNDER UNDER
FOOTINGS AND FOOTINGS AND
The triaxial shear tests must be made so that the drainage conditions in the
MAT MAT
sampe will resemble that in the field.
FOUNDATIONS FOUNDATIONS
 C. Bearing capacity of silts, loesses, and organic soils.

Silt.

Unless it is vey hard or dense, silt is often a poor foundation soil, and
should be avoided for supporting footings.
BEARING BEARING
CAPACITY Load bearing tests may be resorted to for determining the bearing capacity CAPACITY
OF SOILS of silt. OF SOILS

UNDER Apparent cohession is a temporary cohesive strength of soil produced by UNDER

FOOTINGS AND surface tension of water in the tiny pores among the fine soil grains. FOOTINGS AND
MAT MAT
Laboratory tests on silt samples are also largely influenced by the effect of
FOUNDATIONS FOUNDATIONS
apparent cohesion.
 C. Bearing capacity of silts, loesses, and organic soils.

Loess.

Natural deposits of loess in the dry state generally have moderate or low
bearing capacity.
BEARING BEARING
CAPACITY Upon wetting they lose a large portion of their strength and suffer large CAPACITY
OF SOILS settlement. OF SOILS

UNDER The ordinary method of settlement analysis may give results too high UNDER
FOOTINGS AND comparison with the actual settlement (Bolognesi, 1957) FOOTINGS AND
MAT MAT
FOUNDATIONS FOUNDATIONS
 C. Bearing capacity of silts, loesses, and organic soils.

Organic soils.

When a soil contains a large amount of organic matter with visible

vegetable matter or organic odor, it is not suitable for supporting footings.
BEARING BEARING
CAPACITY When in doubt, the organic content should be determined in the laboratory. CAPACITY
OF SOILS OF SOILS
Highly organic soils will settle in due time even under their own weight.
UNDER UNDER
FOOTINGS AND FOOTINGS AND
MAT MAT
FOUNDATIONS FOUNDATIONS
 D. Bearing capacity of compacted fills.

Soils ranging from plastic clay to sand and gravel have been used for
compacted fill to support structures.

The bearing capacity of fill depends largely on the type of soil and the
BEARING BEARING
degree of compaction.
CAPACITY CAPACITY
OF SOILS The bearing capacity of compacted fill may be determined before or after OF SOILS
the placement of the fill:
UNDER UNDER
FOOTINGS AND 1. Determine the bearing capacity before placement of the compacted fill. FOOTINGS AND
MAT MAT
2. Determine the bearing capacity after placement of fill
FOUNDATIONS FOUNDATIONS
 E. Bearing capacity of rocks.

Almost all rocks can withstand a compressive stress higher than concrete.
Following are some of the exceptions:

1. Limestone with cavities and fissures which may be filled with clay or
BEARING BEARING
silt.
CAPACITY CAPACITY
OF SOILS 2. Rocks with bedding planes, folds, faults, or joints at an angle with the OF SOILS
bottom of footing.
UNDER UNDER
FOOTINGS AND 3. Soft rocks often to reduce their strength after wetting. Weathered rocks FOOTINGS AND
MAT are very treacherous. Shales may become clay or silt in a matter of MAT
FOUNDATIONS hours soaking. FOUNDATIONS
 F. Bearing capacity determined by load test.
Load bearing tests give reliable results only when the soil condition is
uniform from the bottom of the footing to a depth at least equal to the width
of the largest footing.

BEARING The results of load bearing tests on granular soils are useful provided that BEARING
CAPACITY the test is made with extreme care. The following are some of the factors CAPACITY
that should be considered.
OF SOILS OF SOILS
1. The test should be made on the loosest area contemplated to support
UNDER any footing. UNDER
FOOTINGS AND FOOTINGS AND
MAT 2. The depth of ground water in the test case and in the actual cases MAT
FOUNDATIONS should be comparable. Avoid making test on a layer affected by FOUNDATIONS
capillary water.

3. Each load increment is maintained until no further settlement of

significant magnitude takes place.

4. The ground is not frozen during the test.

 Footing Size Proportions
Footing sizes determined by allowable bearing pressures are usually satisfactory
provided that a settlement analysis is made and that the footing sizes are revised if
the analysis indicates excessive settlement.

The service load is the actual load expected to act on the foundation during the
normal service of the structure.
Footing Size Proportions
 SPREAD
FOOTINGS
CHAPTER 6

Joseph Angelo C. Durohom