BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION
Syllabus: Unit-3: Single basement construction along with waterproofing details,
alternative ways of providing and constructing access and provisions to be made
for ventilation.
Assignment: Manually drafted scaled drawings of Single basement construction
with various types of waterproofing Techniques.
Information on materials and methodology for waterproofing should be included
in the journal.
Introduction: Basement is defined by National building code as ‘The lower storey of a
building, below or partly below ground level.’ It also states that:
‘Every basement shall be in every part at least 2.4 m in height from the floor to the underside
of the roof slab or ceiling’
‘The height of the ceiling of any basement shall be minimum 0.9 m and the maximum,
1.2 m above the average surrounding ground level.
However, in case of parking, mercantile or business occupancy at ground floor, minimum
height of the ceiling of the basement may be 0.3 m above the average surrounding
ground level subject to mechanical ventilation being provided.’
BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION
Since basement is to be wholly or partly to be constructed below local ground level,
Construction of basement involves;
• Excavation of the entire footprint of the basement floor.
•Retaining of the soil during the construction and permanently after construction.
•Making arrangement for Preventing the ground water from entering the basement or
exert hydrostatic pressure on the retaining wall and floor of the basement.
Basements can be used for various purposes like parking spaces, installation of air-
conditioning, water tanks etc or even habitable spaces like offices, retail outlets etc.
Depending on the type of use the basement is put to, provisions are also to be made for;
•Making appropriate provision to provide access and emergency exits to basement for
people, vehicles etc.
•Ventilation of spaces by appropriate number of air changes per unit time and quick
removal of harmful gases accumulated due to vehicular exhaust or radon seepage.
•Lighting
•Signage and assistance to way finding.
•Installation of fire detection and fire fighting.
BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION
Single Basement and Multi basement
•Construction of basement becomes complicated in its methodology as it gets dipper in the
ground.
• Excavating dipper, as an open hole in the ground would involve extensive structural
efforts to retain the sides of excavation from collapsing, also the pressure of the soil on the
external wall of the basement will be substantial, calling for appropriate structural system
to resist it.
• Providing access, ventilation , lighting and emergency evacuation also becomes
substantially complex.
•Thus the methodology of constructing single basement is very different than that of
constructing very deep basement or multi-basements.
•For example excavating to a deeper level and laterally supporting the high perimeter wall
of the basement is more economically done by using a ‘top down’ method of construction
instead of conventional ‘bottom up’ method used for single basement.
•Also ventilation of multi-basement is essentially by mechanical installation and
appropriate provisions of ducts and shafts would be required to cater to it whereas, single
basement do have an option of having natural lighting and ventilation .
BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION
Single Basement: construction of single Basement below ground floor would involve
comparatively less depth of excavation which would minimize the problems of excavation,
retaining of surrounding ground and ground water.
As per the definition of National building code, for single basement, minimum excavation
required is around 1.5 mts when the ground floor slab is 1.2mts above surrounding ground
level and the minimum height of the basement is 2.4 mts.
However the basement constructed for different purposes may have greater floor height and
may involve excavation dipper than that.
Excavation: Single Basement construction begins with excavation and construction of
retaining wall.
Selection of appropriate excavation method should be done in consideration to the
following aspects;
Extent of the available site beyond the basement line.
Type of strata
Existence of adjacent excavation
Condition of surrounding buildings
foundation types of surrounding buildings
Construction budget
Allowable construction period
Availability of excavation Equipments.
BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION
Shallow excavations for single basements are generally carried out by full open cut excavation
method, along with strutting of the excavated sides or sloped profile of excavation.
The slope method does not require constructing the retaining wall prior to the process of
excavation.
However it involves substantial increase in the amount of excavation to be done so as to
retain the profile of the slope to an angle lesser than the angle of repose of the excavated
material.
The amount of extra excavation required to be done is dependent on the type of strata.
This method is most cases the cheapest method of shallow excavation and saves the cost of
strutting.
BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION
However for dipper excavations or in strata with very shallow angle of repose open
excavation method may not always prove economical.
Also in consideration to the bulb of pressure of the footings of surrounding buildings it may
not be advisable in certain situations.
In such situation perimeter retaining wall is constructed first and then the excavation is
carried out. The simplest way of doing it for the excavation up to 3.00 mts is called
Dumpling method.
This is used where there are buildings or street in the proximity. The method is to construct
a series of retaining wall in trench, section by section, around the site perimeter ,leaving a
centre Called "dumpling"
When the perimeter walls are in place, excavation may start at the centre of the dumpling,
until exposing a section of the wall.
Then the wall may be side supported by struts, shoring or soil anchor etc., again section by
section in short length, until the excavation is all completed.
Once the floor slab of ground floor is constructed it acts as a lateral bracing between the
retaining wall facing each other.
BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION
This method does not require
much heavy mechanical
equipment and thus cost of work
is relatively lower. It can excavate
up to a maximum depth of about
3m. Sometimes in very poor soil
or in waterlogged ground,
interlocking steel sheet pile may
be driven to confine the area to
be excavated .After that
excavation can be done in
section and properly supported.
Excavation and Construction of
Shallow Basement using
Dumpling Method
BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION
Excavation and Construction of
Shallow Basement using
Dumpling Method
BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION
Design of Single Basement for office building for installing covered parking spaces
A plot of area of approximately 7900 sqm is
available for development of office
building.
Available FSI is 1.5 which is to be entirely
consumed
Parking requirement generated by the use
is to be housed in the basement of the
building.
Work out a appropriate building footprint
for the office building along with the
scheme of single basement to be used for
parking
Minimum Side margins required from R.B.
mills road is 6.00 Mts and from the other
road is 3.00 mts. However required side
margins will also be dictated by the height
of the super structure.
BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION
Construction of Perimeter Retaining Wall:
Type of retaining wall and the material used to construct it depends;
1. on the methodology of excavation,
2. Height of the retained material at the back of the wall,
3. Structural grid of the superstructure,
4. intended use of the basement etc.
For retaining wall of up to 1.2mts height, Mass (gravity) retaining masonry wall using
modular concrete blocks, brick, mass plain concrete or stone wall of appropriate thickness
can be used.
For slightly more height reinforcement can be introduced in the masonry to give the wall
the required tensile strength against the lateral loading of the retained soil. However
masonry retaining wall may not be a good choice from the point of view of waterproofing
the wall since the mortar joints between the masonry modules may be difficult to seal
against the ingress of water. Also the joint on the floor between the wall and the RCC raft
may pose a difficult area to seal due to non-monolithic nature of the junction.
Nevertheless, such construction can be economically constructed if proper care
is taken of employing appropriate water proofing techniques like external
tanking or drained cavities.
BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION
Masonry versus reinforced concrete retaining wall
Different options of constructing perimeter retaining wall
BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION
Different options of constructing perimeter retaining wall
BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION
RCC retaining wall is the most convenient material to construct the perimeter
wall since it can be cast monolithically along with the RCC raft and therefore
the position and number of construction joints can be controlled and
appropriately placed.
The retaining wall can be designed as;
Cantilever retaining wall having fixed end at the base
Propped retaining wall with the top being laterally propped by the slab of
ground floor.
Fixed at both ends, with raft at the bottom and with the ground floor slab at the
top.
BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION
Masonry retaining wall can be propped and the
RCC retaining wall can be having fixed top end
BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION
Retaining wall can also be designed to span horizontally as counterfort retaining
wall or between the perimeter row of columns.
In this case the main
reinforcement will be placed
horizontally and across the
column. Column at the
basement level, in such case
will have to be designed for
resisting moments due to earth
pressure in addition to resisting
load from floor above.
The slab or wall behind the
column and against the retained
earth can then be comparatively
thin than cantilever or vertically
designed wall.
BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION
Retaining wall can also be designed to span horizontally as counterfort retaining
wall or between the perimeter row of columns.
In this case the main
reinforcement will be placed
horizontally and across the
column. Column at the
basement level, in such case
will have to be designed for
resisting moments due to earth
pressure in addition to resisting
load from floor above.
The slab or wall behind the
column and against the retained
earth can then be comparatively
thin than cantilever or vertically
designed wall.
BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION
Care must be taken regarding the backfilling behind the wall keeping in mind the
type of retaining wall constructed. In case of cantilever retaining wall, backfilling
of the excavated material or percolation medium should be done after the
construction of ground floor slab since it will act as a prop or the top fixed end for
the wall and support the wall laterally.
Backfilling behind the propped/fixed retaining wall
BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION
Foundation:
Not always
Appropriate
The construction method shown above for column footing and the floor of the basement may be feasible in
some cases of shallow basement with water table lying at considerable depth. However, it do have some
inherent problems arising from the behaviour of strata below the basement floor and regarding the
monolithic sealing of the basement floor against the ingress of water. The plinth constructed above ground is
a compacted section of filled-up material while the soil below the excavation will tend to swell due to the
release of burden of soil which is now removed or due to the seasonal rise and fall of the water table level.
This behaviour of the strata at the excavated depth will necessitate reinforced RCC slab as the floor of the
basement to counter any tensile forces. The water proofing layer below the floor slab of the basement will
be intercepted at the location of the columns going through the floor slab. Hence in most cases it is
preferred to construct raft footing for the buildings with basement as the lowest floor. In case of the strata
with very poor bearing capacity at the floor level of the basement, the raft can be supported by group of
piles transferring the load to dipper layers of safe bearing capacity.
BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION
Foundation:
Raft Foundation: The raft to be designed can be simple reinforced slab of a
required thickness, beam and slab raft or even cellular raft where ever necessary.
Beam and slab raft is sometimes preferred to have up-stand beams so that a
continues plane is available on the underside of the raft to install a un-intercepted
layer of water proofing. Also the cells that are formed on the upper side can be
filled up which helps in pressing down the raft against the upthrust of the water
table before the superstructure is constructed and it load is imposed on the raft. This
becomes especially necessary, where the water table rises seasonally above the floor
level of the basement. However extra work of compacting the filled material and
laying of PCC for the floor is required. Another way of relieving the up thrust of the
rising water table is to provide small nozzles to the raft so that to allow water to
percolates to the top of the raft. Once the superstructure is constructed and its load
is imposed on the raft, the nozzles are sealed by grouting. Down stand beams for
beam and slab raft foundation for basement will have an advantage of having the
floor ready to put on finishes directly on the raft but will have difficulty in placing
the waterproofing layer to the underside of the raft. Also depth of excavation
required will be somewhat less than that required to construct raft with up-stand
BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION
Foundation:
BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION
Foundation:
The retaining wall at the basement perimeter and the raft foundation is cast
monolithically in sections so as to take care of shrinkage during curing of concrete.
Construction joints are taken care of by introducing embedded and surface water
bars.
Adjacent bays of concrete floor and wall are cast with a gap of 450mm to 600mm
between them. When the bays have cured and dried and most of the drying
shrinkage in them has taken place, concrete is then cast in the space between the
bays.
Because of its narrow width this second placing of concrete will suffer only small
shrinkage and nominal cracking because of it. This method of construction, without
any impermeable lining, will provide a reasonably water tight structure where
ground water pressure is low. Where there is an appreciable pressure it is necessary
to use PVC or rubber water bars (also called water stops) into all construction joints
in the floor and into vertical construction joints in the wall. In most cases,
Horizontal construction joints in the wall do not require a water bar generally the
weight of the concrete wall above the joint is sufficient to provide a water tight
joint by compression.
BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION
Basement Water Proofing
Since basements are subgrade structures, the perimeter is
continuously in contact with soil and subsoil water. This water would
tend to enter the basement through cracks and capillaries in the
peripheral wall unless an impervious layer is install to stop the
ingress.
The problem is also further compounded because of the hydrostatic
pressure of the whole body of water in the retained soil which
would be seasonally variable .
This hydrostatic pressure can be relieved to a certain extent by
collecting the water in the perforated pipes laid along the periphery
of the wall below raft level and draining it elsewhere by gravity or
pumping. This is referred to as French drain.
BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION
Basement Water Proofing
Perforated pipe peripheral drain (French
drain) to relieve hydrostatic pressure on
wall.
BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION
Basement Water Proofing
Depending on the amount of likely hydrostatic pressure built-up at
the back of the wall, Two approaches are taken for preventing the
water from entering the basement. If it is possible for the retaining
wall to structurally counter/ bear the maximum hydrostatic pressure
exerted by the subsoil water then water is stopped from entering the
inside of the basement by tanking methods. If the hydrostatic
pressure is a substantial burden beyond the structural strength of
the retaining wall then, methods are adopted to relieve the pressure
by allowing the passage of water through the retaining wall and then
collect this water in a sump through network of peripheral channels
on the inside of the retaining wall. This method is called drained
cavities. Thus basement water proofing can be done by one of the
following methods; External Tanking
Internal Tanking
Drained cavities
BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION
Basement Water Proofing
External Tanking: Impervious waterproofing layer is installed on the
outside face of the retaining wall and seamlessly continuous below the
raft foundation.
To protect the waterproofing layer from mechanical damage during the
backfill behind retaining wall, a protective wall is required to be
constructed to cover the waterproofing layer.
External tanking is to be done during the construction of the basement
and should be carefully done since any damage caused to it which tears
waterproofing layer will be extremely difficult to repair after the
completion of the basement construction.
BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION
Basement Water Proofing
BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION
Basement Water Proofing
BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION
Basement Water Proofing
External Tanking waterproofing to basement floor raft and retaining wall
BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION
Basement Water Proofing
Basement RCC
retaining wall
with External
tanking &
internal tanking
waterproofing
BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION
Basement Water Proofing
Internal Tanking: Internal
tanking is a process of placing
the impervious layer on the
inside of the wall. The
advantage of this system is
that it can be done after the
construction of the basement
and is accessible for any
repairs after the construction
of basement. The layer of
water proofing is necessary to
be protected by providing
backing wall against the thrust
of hydrostatic pressure. The
disadvantage of placing the
waterproofing layer is that the
retaining wall and raft is
affected by the penetration of
ground water.
