BRE291
Lecture 7 - Foundations
Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Department of Building and Real Estate
BRE291 Construction Technology I
Foundations
1.0 Introduction
As discussed in previous lectures, the ground (soil) is to take up the load transfer from the
structure. In order to transfer the loading safely and effectively to the soil so as to avoid
unfavourable soil settlements and failures, a proper design of the structural members for
taking the load is of utmost importance.
The structural member which takes up the responsibility of transferring loading to the
ground is known as foundations. The functional requirement of foundations is to transmit
the load to the ground whilst movement of soil are limited to a pre-estimated level and
will not adversely affect the overall stability of the whole structure (and, if any, adjacent
structures).
A rational design of the foundation is based upon the bearing capacity of the soil. Bearing
capacity may be defined as the largest intensity of pressure which may be applied by a
structure or a structural member to the soil which support it without causing excessive
settlement or danger of shear failure of the soil. Also, we can observe that results from
site investigation report are vital source of providing information for foundation design.
At a result of this, those favourable soil properties can be maximized while at the same
time adverse effects to the soil due to loading are acknowledged, attended and controlled.
2 Soil and Foundation
It is very obvious that the characteristics of the soil govern the options available in
designing foundations. The major properties of soil affecting foundation design are:
• Compressibility
For soils easy to be compressed, e.g., sand, the settlement of the structure is very
likely to occur throughout the course of construction and at the time when the final
structure is erected, further compression is not likely to happen, unless super-imposed
loading is excessive. Whereas for soil like clay, though it is very compressible,
because of its impermeability, compression takes place in a very slow rate, and hence
results in gradual settlement after completion of the structure.
• Cohesion of soil particles
The cohesion of soil is also called plasticity. For soil like sand which cohesion among
particles is negligible, when load is imposed onto the soil, the soil is compressed
quickly with little disturbance of surrounding soil. However, for soil like clay having
high plasticity, when load is applied onto the soil, it will sink gradually and because
of the plasticity of the soil, heave on the surrounding ground may occur.
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Lecture 7 - Foundations
• Internal friction
For coarse particles like sand, there exists stronger friction in resisting displacement
and re-arrangement of the soil particles than fine particles (e.g., clay) having less
internal friction among particles. Together with the high plasticity of clay, shear
failures is likely to occur on clay soil as the imposed load is excessive. Such kind of
soil failure is also called plastic failure.
• Permeability
For soils having higher permeability imply that the ground can be consolidated in a
quicker rate results from the expulsion of the water underground, whereas for soil of
low permeability, the dissipation of water takes longer time, and so as the
consolidation of the ground.
It is cleared that settlement of soil because of imposed load is inevitable. Therefore, a
proper design of foundation has to achieve the aim of the spreading the loading pattern to
the soil in a more even manner so as to prevent differential settlement which is most
harmful to the structure. To achieve proper design to the foundation, it is necessary to
have understandings on how soil reacts with loading. Different types of soil have their
corresponding properties. In order to balance the loading, it can be achieved by either
careful design to the substructures or by re-arrangement of the loading pattern of the
overall structure. It is observed that soil of nature resemble to clay is likely to cause more
problems to substructures of buildings and results in latent differential soil settlement,
More consideration to the design of the foundation on this kind of soil is essential.
In the case where differential settlements cannot be eliminated or minimized by the
substructure itself, then the whole structure must respond to this by either providing
flexible construction joints or by dividing long span structure into rational smaller "units",
with each unit their own individual substructure1 systems.
3 Bearing Capacity
Bearing capacity refers to the strength of the soil to withstand loading without causing
shear failure. The bearing capacity of soil is usually expressed in the following ways:
• Ultimate Bearing Capacity - Ultimate bearing capacity is the minimum gross pressure
intensity at the base of the foundation at which the soil fails in shear.
• Safe Bearing Capacity - Ultimate bearing capacity divided by a suitable factor of
safety is known as safe bearing capacity. The value of factor of safety starts from 1.5
and may be up to 5. Such factor of safety is to act as a safety measure to prevent soil
from being overload, and create a buffer at which the structure can remain safe even
the soil properties deteriorate due to various factors after the structure is erected.
1
“Substructure” means structures located below the ground level, whereas “Superstructure” refers to
structures above ground level
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Lecture 7 - Foundations
3.1 Factors affecting bearing capacity
The determination of bearing capacity depends upon the following major factors:
• Type of soil and its physical properties (density, shear strength, etc.)
• Position of water table
• Amount of allowable / anticipated total and differential settlement
• Physical features of the foundation, including:
• Type of foundation
• Size of foundation
• Shape of foundation
• Depth of foundation below ground level
• Rigidity of the structure
4 Foundation Design Principles
As mentioned previously, the main objective of foundations design are to ensure that the
structural loads are transmitted to the subsoil safely, economically and without any
unacceptable movement during and after the construction of the structure. In order to
achieve these objectives, one must have a rational procedure in design foundation. The
likely stages or steps in a rational design procedure for foundations are:
1. Assessment of site conditions in the context of the site and soil investigation reports.
2. Calculation of the anticipated structural loadings.
3. Choosing the appropriate foundation type with throughout considerations to the
following points:
• Soil conditions (shear strength, compressibility, settlements, etc.)
• Types of structure (R.C., steel, cross walls, columns, beams & slabs, etc.)
• Rigidity of the structure (flexible vs. rigid)
• Structural Loadings (dead load, super-imposed load)
• Economic factors (efficiency in utilization of resources, etc.)
• Time factor with related to the contract period
• Construction problems (resources availability, safety, etc.)
4. Sizing the chosen foundation type(s) in the context of loadings, ground bearing
capacity, likely movements and physical constraints of the construction site.
5 Foundation Structures
The most common types of foundation structures can be classified into the following
categories. They are:
• Strip foundation
• Pad foundation
• Raft foundation
• Pile foundation
• Hand dug caisson
• Basement
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5.1 Strip & Pad foundations
Strip foundation is suitable for low rise loading bearing wall type of buildings. However,
in Hong Kong, though there aren't many projects which are low-rise in nature, strip
foundation has been commonly used as a base for non-structural walls at ground level of
high rise structure. The common material used in Hong Kong for strip foundations is
reinforced concrete (rather than plain concrete as stated in most U.K. textbooks).
Pad foundation is mainly for carrying point loading (column). However, as pad
foundation doesn't penetrate deep into the soil, its ability to take up loading is restricted
to low-rise structure only.
In the situation where columns are placed too close that constructing individual pads for
corresponding columns are becoming uneconomical, continuous strip or combined pad
instead of individual pads foundation may be employed. There exists different
configuration of combined pads, but they all follow the same principle of spreading the
load effectively. This is achieved by positioning the centre of gravity of the load in line
with the centre of gravity of the combined pad foundations.
5.2 Raft foundation
For soil of bearing capacity incapable of taking concentrated loading imposed by other
types of foundation structures, or in the situation where spacing of concentrated load is
too close to together in forming individual pad foundations, raft foundation may be
employed. Raft foundation is fundamentally a large combined slab foundation designed
to cover the whole or a large part of area of the site so as to spread the load more evenly
to the soil, rather than deeper foundation types (piling, caisson, etc.) so as to save the cost
in term of money, resources and time. Apart from this, as raft foundation distributes the
loading to the soil in a more or less consistent manner, the chance of having differential
settlement is hence reduced.
Raft foundation is constructed in massively reinforced concrete in considerable thickness.
It must be borne in mind that thick concrete is always a problem in the construction
process, as well as economic consideration. Therefore, in case where the required
thickness of the raft exceeds the economical and technical threshold, other form of raft
foundations may be considered. Apart from solid slab raft foundation, the other types of
rafts are:
• Beam and Slab Raft
• Cellular Raft
The need of beam and slab or cellular raft rather than slab raft occurs when the loading
and requirement on the rigidity of the structure necessities a slab raft of thickness greater
than 300mm, as it is cheaper and cause fewer problems in the course of construction. The
principle of beam and slab and cellular raft is similar. They make use of beams forming
grid structure to stiffen the slab raft. Such grid beams can be facing either to the soil or
upright. In the case of upright beams raft, it is usually incorporated with precast ground
floor design. Actually, cellular raft can be viewed as an upright beam and slab raft, as
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Lecture 7 - Foundations
their basic principle are similar. The term cellular raft is given because the void area
formed by the upright beam is deep enough to be called a cellular structure. Such cells
may help in accommodating plant and equipment of the building.
5.3 Pile foundation
Pile foundations can be defined as a series of columns constructed or inserted into
grounds of considerable depth, usually up to the level where firm soil strata capable of
carrying load. The major reasons of adopting pile foundation over other foundation
designs are:
• There exist no suitable soil strata to take up load at reasonable depth
• The applied load is uneven so that it makes the use of raft foundation not feasible
• Firm strata exists at a low level beyond the economical use of raft foundation
• High water table which give rise to high operational cost on dewatering
• Presence of highly compressible or decayed subsoil which is not suitable for
foundation to sit on
• Subsoil may be subjected to moisture movement or plastic failure
There exist numerous types of pile foundations being in use. Normally they are classified
in two ways; one in term of the pattern of loading taking, and the other in term of the way
to construct the pile.
Under the first way of classification, that is, in term of the loading taking pattern, pile
foundations can be divided in two categories:
Friction Pile - which makes use of the skin friction between the soils and
the subsoil to disturb the load.
End Bearing Pile - The pile carries the load through the weak strata and transfer it
to a firm stratum on which its end rest on.
Under the second way of classification, that is, in term of the way in constructing the
piles, piles foundation can also be classified into two main categories as well:
Replacement Piles - Holes are preformed on the ground up to the level which the piles
have to rest on. In other words, soil has been taken away before the
piles are constructed. The diameter of replacement (bored) piles
ranges from 200mm (mini piles) to 3m. A wide variety of
machines are available in the market to construct displacement
piles of different sizes and depths. In order to prevent soil from
collapse during the course of excavation which may affect the
integrity and performance of the pile, precautionary measures like
steel casing and/or the use of special fluid (bentonite) are
employed. Apart from reinforced concrete bored piles, Structural
Steel “Socket” Pile is another example of replacement pile system
commonly used in Hong Kong.
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Displacement Piles - Preformed piles are driven into the ground up to the required depth.
In other words, the subsoil is penetrated by the piles and soil is
displaced at the piles drive through. Steel H-section Pile is the
most commonly used replacement piles system in HK. It is noisy
and caused a lot pollution issues on noise and are subjected
stringent regulations on operation as a result of this. However, it
offers advantages on time required to drive the pile into position
and is widely used in HK.
In Hong Kong, materials for piles are usually in the form of structural steel (H-column),
in-situ reinforced concrete and precast pre-stressed concrete (now rarely used in HK)
5.3.1 Pile cap
In order to support loading more effectively and economically, piles are usually
positioned in the form of groups or cluster and linked together with reinforced concrete
cap. Typical configurations of pile cap are shown on attached diagram. Usually, pile caps
are linked together by means of ground beams so as to provide a unified structure to take
up loadings.
5.4 Caisson (Hand-dug)
In Hong Kong building industry, caisson is usually referred to hand dug caisson (which is
considered to be the most dangerous type of construction operation for construction
workers). The principle of constructing caisson is similar to replacement piles, except it is
in a much larger diameter (up to around 2m). In extreme case, the diameter of the caisson
may be up to 3m.
The construction sequences of caisson, explained in the simplest terms, is to excavate
holes, which will be filled by reinforced concrete, with the casing to the holes to be
constructed at the time when excavation reaches a certain depth.
Caisson is usually adopted on soil condition incapable of using alternatives types of
foundation, e.g., soil strata is too weak, the loading is excessive which normal pile and
pile cap configurations cannot cope with, etc. Nowadays, the use of hand dug caisson is
banned on all private projects.
5.6 Basement
Basement can be seen as a further extension of the raft foundation concept and in certain
extent similar to cellular raft foundation. The major difference is that basement usually
refers to underground structure, usually multi-storey in existence, with objectives in
providing enclosed area underground capable of accommodating human activities to be
carried out. Whereas in cellular raft, the prime concern is to have economical design on
foundations, and any further applications of the cells are merely secondary advantage of
cellular raft foundation.
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Basement can assist in supporting load by the ways of acting as a kind of deep raft
foundation, though basement always has its own foundation structure (pile, caisson, etc.).
Apart from this, because of vast void areas created, provided that water table is high
(above the basement level) and consistent, the buoyancy of the basement can help in
taking up loadings. However, this must be subjected extreme careful examinations, and
waterproofing of the interior of the basement is always a major problem in maintaining
basement structure.
Further Readings
Barry R., The Construction of Buildings, Volume 4
Chudley R., Building Construction Handbook
Chudley R., Construction Technology, Volume 1 & 2
Foster J. S., Harington R., Structure and Fabrics, Part 2
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