De La Salle University -Manila

Department of Civil and Engineering

FOUNDEN
Foundation Engineering

Jonathan Rivera Dungca, [Link].

Associate Professor
 Textbook
 Foundation Design:
Principles and Practices
(2nd Edition)

 Author: Donald P.
Coduto
Course Content
 Part A- General Principles
 Foundations (historical development,
dealing with uncertainties, building
codes, types of foundations)
 Performance Requirements (Design
loads, strength, serviceability,
constructability, economy)
 Part B- Shallow Foundations
 Shallow Foundations (Types of shallow foundations;
estimating bearing pressure) 
 Bearing Capacity (Estimating bearing capacity using
different methods, Factor of safety, Accuracy in
bearing capacity analyses
 Settlement (Induced stresses, Settlement in clays,
Settlement in sands, Accuracy in Settlement
estimations) 
 Spread Footings-Geotechnical Design (Design for
Concentric downward loads)
 Spread Footings-Structural Design (Design of
continuous, square, rectangular, and combined
footings)
 Mat Foundations
Part C - Deep Foundations

 Deep Foundations (Types of deep foundations;

Piles, Drilled shafts, Auger cast piles; load
transfer) 
 Deep Foundations-Structural design
 Deep Foundations-Axial load capacity based on
static load tests 
 Deep Foundations-Axial load capacity based on
analytical methods 
 Deep Foundations-Axial load capacity based on
dynamic methods .. Not covered
 Deep Foundations-Lateral load capacity .. Not
covered
 Deep foundation-design
Course Content
 Part D- Special Topics.. Not covered
 Part E-Earth Retaining Structure Analysis
and Design .. Not covered
Grading Policy
 THREE 60-min Exams ……. 50%
 Design Project ………. 30%
 Final Exam …………. 20%

TOTAL
100%
Exams
 3 Exams each 60-mins.
 Exam dates will be announced at least
one week before the exam.
 Each exam counts 50% towards your final
grade
 Formula sheets will be provided if
necessary
 Design Project
CRITERIA EXEMPLARY SATISFACTORY DEVELOPING BEGINNING RATING
4 3 2 1
Design The design criteria The design criteria The design criteria The design  
Criteria / and structural and structural and structural criteria and
Structural analysis are analysis are analysis are structural
Analysis complete. Structural complete. The satisfactory but analysis are
(30%) plans are drawn drawing is some items are unsatisfactory.
showing the labels, satisfactory. incomplete. Poor Many items are
dimensions and drawing. missing.
drawn to scale. The
drawing is
exemplary.
Design of The final design of The final design of The final design of The final design  
foundation shallow or deep shallow or deep shallow or deep of shallow or
(30%) foundation is foundation is foundation is deep foundation
complete with sizes, complete with satisfactory but is unsatisfactory
spacing and sizes, spacing and incomplete (sizes, and incomplete.
reinforcement details. reinforcement spacing and
The design is details. reinforcement
economical and details)
practical.
Structural Structural detailing of Structural detailing
Structural Structural  
detailing of the foundation is of the foundation is
detailing of the detailing of the
foundation complete with sizes, complete with
foundation is foundation is
(30%) spacing and sizes, spacing and
satisfactory but unsatisfactory
reinforcement details. reinforcement incomplete (sizes, and incomplete.
The design is details. spacing and
economical and reinforcement
practical. details)
Commitment The group showed The group showed The group showed The group  
(10%) full commitment satisfactory little commitment showed no
commitment commitment
Design Project
 Will be conducted as an individual project
 “Real Life” Design Project
 Design project Includes:
 Design of Shallow foundations
 Design of Deep foundations
The Parable of the Wise
and the Foolish
“Whoever comes to Me , and hears My sayings and does
them, I will show you whom he is like:
He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the
foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the
stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not
shake it, for it was founded on the rock.
But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a
house on the earth without a foundation, against which
stream beat vehemently, and immediately it fell. And the
ruin of that house was great…”
(Luke 6:47-49 New King James Version)
“A structure is no stronger than its
connections”
Chapter 1. Foundations
 Emergence of Foundation Engineeri
ng
 Uncertainties
 Rationalism vs. Empiricism
 Factors of Safety
 Building Codes
 Types of Foundations
Chapter 1. Foundations
 Emergence of Foundation Engineering
 Early foundation designs were based on
precedent, intuition, and common sense
 Empirical rules usually produced acceptable
results as long as they were applied to
structures and soil conditions similar to
those encountered in the past
 However, … the results were often
disastrous when builders extrapolated the
rules to new conditions
Chapter 1. Foundations
 Emergence of Foundation Engineering
 new methods of building construction began
to appear in the late 19th century
 The introduction of steel and reinforced
concrete led to a transition away from rigid
masonry structures to more flexible rigid
frame structures
 New materials also permitted buildings to be
taller and heavier than before
 Good sites became occupied, builders were
forced to consider sites with poorer soil
conditions.
 Foundation Design
Eiffel Tower, Paris, France,
built in 1887-1889
 Adjacent to seine river
 Underlain by difficult
soil condition
(uncompacted fill and
alluvial deposits)
 Pier of a nearby bridge
settled nearly 1 meter
 Eiffel devised a new
way of exploring the
soils, which consisted
of driving 200-mm
diameter pipe filled
with compressed air.
 Foundation Design
Eiffel Tower, Paris, France,
built in 1887-1889
Eiffel placed the foundations
for the two legs furthest
from the river on the
shallow but firm alluvial
soils. The bottom of these
foundations were above
GWT
 He made the foundations
for the other two legs much
deeper so they too were
founded on firm soils. This
required 12m-excavation
below the ground surface
(6m below GWT).
Transcosna Grain Elevator
Canada (Oct. 18, 1913)
Foundation Design

Leaning Tower, Pisa,

Italy
Built 1173-1350
Foundation Design

Palacio de las Bellas

Artes, Mexico City
Built 1932-1934
Chapter 1. Foundations
As structures continued to become larger and
heavier, engineers continued to learn more
about foundation design and construction.
Instead of simply developing new empirical
rules, they began to investigate the behavior of
foundations and developed more rational
methods of design thus establishing the
discipline of foundation engineering…
Chapter 1. Foundations
 Uncertainties
From an unknown structural engineer:
“Structural engineering is the art and science of
molding materials we do not fully understand into
shapes we cannot precisely analyze to resist forces
we cannot accurately predict, all in such a way that
the society at large is given no reason to suspect the
extent of our ignorance… ”
Chapter 1. Foundations
 Uncertainties
 Limited knowledge of soil conditions
 Limitations in our understanding of
the interaction between a foundation
and a soil
 Difficulty in the prediction of the
actual service loads that will act on
the foundation
Chapter 1. Foundations
 Rationalism vs. Empiricism
 Design methods include a mixture of
rational and empirical techniques
 Rational techniques are those developed
from the principles of physics and
engineering sciences
 Empirical techniques are based primarily on
experimental data
 One of the keys to successful foundation
engineering is to understand this mix of
rationalism, empiricism, the strength and
limitations of each, and how to apply them
to practical design problems
Chapter 1. Foundations
 Factors of Safety
 In spite of the many uncertainties in
foundation design and analysis, the
public expects the engineers to
develop reliable and economical
designs in a timely and efficient
manner.
 We compensate these uncertainties
by using factors of safety in our
designs
Chapter 1. Foundations
 Building Codes
 NSCP – Buildings
 NSCP – Bridges
 UBC
 ACI
 AASHTO
Chapter 1. Foundations
 Types of Foundations
Ch 2. Performance
Requirements
 Design Loads
 Allowable Stress Design vs LRFD
 Performance Requirements
 Strength Requirements
 Serviceability Requirements
 Total Settlement
 Differential Settlement
 Constructibility Requirements
 Economic Requirements
Ch 2. Performance
Requirements
 Design Loads
Design Loads
 Allowable Stress Design (ASD)
 Sum loads
 Consider direction
 Use one global factor of safety
 Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD)
 Use factored loads (factors almost always >1)
 Apply strength reduction factors (factors <1)
Ch 2. Performance
Requirements
Allowable Stress Design (ASD) vs Load and
Resistance Factor Design (LRFD)
Allowable Stress Design (ASD)
 Sum loads
 Consider direction
 Use one global factor of safety
Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD)
 Use factored loads (factors almost always
>1)
 Apply strength reduction factors (factors <1)
Strength Requirements
Foundation soil must be strong enough to
support imposed loads …..
Serviceability Requirements
Settlement must be within
acceptable limits …..
Total vs. Differential Settlement
Ch 2. Performance
Requirements
 Design Loads
 Allowable Stress Design vs LRFD
 Performance Requirements
 Strength Requirements
 Serviceability Requirements
 Total Settlement
 Differential Settlement
 Constructibility Requirements
 Economic Requirements