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Raft Foundation

A raft foundation, also known as a mat foundation, spreads the load of a building over a large area by using a concrete slab that extends over the entire footprint. It can be strengthened with ribs or beams. Raft foundations are suitable for soft or loose soils as they effectively distribute loads. They are also used when standard foundations would cover over half the area or when deeper soil movement is possible, such as in post-mining subsidence areas. The foundation spreads loads evenly to avoid soil settling or damage to the building. Engineering consultation is recommended to determine if a raft foundation is suitable given site conditions and soil bearing capacity.

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264 views3 pages

Raft Foundation

A raft foundation, also known as a mat foundation, spreads the load of a building over a large area by using a concrete slab that extends over the entire footprint. It can be strengthened with ribs or beams. Raft foundations are suitable for soft or loose soils as they effectively distribute loads. They are also used when standard foundations would cover over half the area or when deeper soil movement is possible, such as in post-mining subsidence areas. The foundation spreads loads evenly to avoid soil settling or damage to the building. Engineering consultation is recommended to determine if a raft foundation is suitable given site conditions and soil bearing capacity.

Uploaded by

Soraya Hani
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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DEFINATION

A raft foundation also known as mat foundation is a type of foundation that spreads
the load from a building or structure over a large area. They are generally a slab of
concrete that extends over the entire area of the building, and the concrete can be
stiffened by ribs or beams in order to provide extra strength and to help with the
distribution of the load by Jaclyn Fitzgerald (2010).
Raft foundations are ideal for use on softer or looser soils as they spread the load so
well. They can also be used when a standard strip foundation would cover more than
half of the ground area underneath the building by J. A. Hemsley (2002), or when
there may be movement in the deeper soil levels such as areas in which there has
been previous mining where there could be subsidence.
A raft foundation may be used where the base soil has a low bearing capacity or the
column loads are so large that more than 50 percent of the area is covered by
conventional spread footings by S. K. Ukarande (2008). Because the raft foundation
distributes the load evenly over an area, it will not have areas of pressure that can
cause soil settling that will damage the building. A raft foundation is usually laid on a
hard-core or scalping bed and the foundation is thickened at the edges. The exterior
walls are generally built upon these thickened edges as are the inner walls.
Raft foundations can be a very effective form of foundation construction but you will
need to consult with an engineer to make sure that it is the right choice for your soil
conditions by Jaclyn Fitzgerald (2010).

CONCLUSION

Types of building, nature of soil and environmental conditions are the major
determinant of type of foundation you will use for your building. Our study shows that
raft foundation are convenient for residential and small commercial buildings. This is
due to the characteristic of raft foundation that can transmits heavy structural loads
to the ground level. However, choosing the right foundation for the structure also
depends on the type of soil in the area. Raft foundation are suitable for subsidence
soil where the soils have low bearing capacity. There are two types of raft foundation
commonly used are the flat raft and the wide toe raft.

REFERENCE

1. http://www.homeimprovementpages.com.au/article/raft_foundation_constr
uction ,2010

2. http://nuweb2.northumbria.ac.uk/bedemo/Domestic_Foundation/page_15.
htm, 2003
3. THEORY AND PRACTICE OF FOUNDATION DESIGN By M. N. SOM, S. C.
DASPHI., Jan 1, 2003

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