A foundation is the lowest part of the building structure.

A foundation is necessary to support the building and the loads that are within or on the building.
The combination of footing and foundation distributes the load on the bearing surface and keeps
the building level and plumb and reduces settling to a minimum. When properly designed, there
should be little or no cracking in the foundation and no water leaks. The footing and foundation
should be made of a material that will not fail in the presence of ground or surface water. Before
the footing for the foundation can be designed, it is necessary to determine the total load to be
supported.
If for some reason the load is concentrated in one or more areas that will need to be taken into
consideration. Once the load is determined, the soil bearing characteristics of the site must be
studied.
Load bearing soil (strata): The soil layer that has the sufficient load bearing capacity in
relation to the chosen foundation type
FUNCTIONS OF THE FOUNDATION
It spread the load coming over into a larger area at a uniform rate so that the load coming
over the foundation soil does not exceed the safe bearing capacity.
Foundation transfer the non-uniform load of the superstructure evenly to the sub soil
hence it minimize the differential settlement
It provides the stability against the undermining, souring flood water and the burrowing
animals.
It provides the safety against sliding.
It provides a level surface for the construction of the superstructure.
Choosing a kind of foundation depends on:
the ground conditions
the groundwater conditions
the site, the environment (the buildings nearby)
the structure of our building
Requirements:
structural requirements: safe, be able to carry the load of the building
constructional requirements: schedule, minimal resources, minimal cost
TYPES OF FOUNDATION
1. Shallow Foundations (Spread Foundations)
Shallow foundations are those founded near
to the finished ground surface; generally where
the founding depth (Df) is less than the width
of the footing and less than 3m. These are not
strict rules, but merely guidelines: basically, if
surface loading or other surface conditions will
affect the bearing capacity of a foundation it is
'shallow'. Shallow foundations (sometimes
called 'spread footings') include pads ('isolated
footings'), strip footings and rafts.

a. Pad foundations are used to support an

individual point load such as that due to a structural
column. They may be circular, square or
rectangular. They usually consist of a block or slab
of uniform thickness, but they may be stepped or
hunched if they are required to spread the load
from a heavy column. Pad foundations are usually
shallow, but deep pad foundations can also be
used.

b. Strip foundations are used to support a line of loads, either due to a load-bearing wall, or if
a line of columns need supporting where column positions are so close that individual pad
foundations would be inappropriate.

c. Raft foundations are used to spread the load from a structure over a large area, normally the
entire area of the structure. They are used when column loads or other structural loads are close
together and individual pad foundations would interact.

2. Deep Foundations
Deep foundations are those founding too deeply below the finished ground surface for
their base bearing capacity to be affected by surface conditions, this is usually at depths
>3 m below finished ground level. They include piles, piers and caissons or compensated
foundations using deep basements and also deep pad or strip foundations. Deep
foundations can be used to transfer the loading to a deeper, more competent strata at
depth if unsuitable soils are present near the surface.
a. Piles are relatively long, slender members that transmit foundation loads through soil strata
of low bearing capacity to deeper soil or rock strata having a high bearing capacity. They are
used when for economic, constructional or soil condition considerations it is desirable to transmit
loads to strata beyond the practical reach of shallow foundations. In addition to supporting
structures, piles are also used to anchor structures against uplift forces and to assist structures in
resisting lateral and overturning forces.

b. Piers are foundations for carrying a heavy structural load which is constructed in situ in a
deep excavation.

c. Caissons are a form of deep foundation which are constructed above ground level, then sunk
to the required level by excavating or dredging material from within the caisson.

d. Compensated foundations are deep foundations in which the relief of stress due to
excavation is approximately balanced by the applied stress due to the foundation. The net stress
applied is therefore very small. A compensated foundation normally comprises a deep basement.

FOOTINGS
A footing is typically concrete and typically reinforced with steel. The footing is the bottom part
of the foundation. It's the base sometimes called a "spread footing" because it's spread wide
and it spreads the vertical loads that are coming down in the building.

TYPES OF FOOTINGS
1. Wall or Strip Footing runs underneath the wall by its full length. It is usually used in the
bearing wall type structures.

2. Column Footing
Isolated Column Footing acts as a base for a column. It is usually used for reinforced
concrete skeleton type of buildings. It can take any shape such as square, rectangular or
circular.
Combined Column Footing is a combined base for an exterior and interior columns for a
building. It is also used when two adjacent columns of a building are close to each other
that their footings overlap.

LOAD COMPILATIONS
Loads affecting the usual types of buildings are:
1. Dead Load
(D.L)
2. Live Load
(L.L)
DEAD LOAD
It refers to loads that typically dont change over time, such as the weights of materials and
components of the structure itself and the weights of fixed service equipment.
LIVE LOAD
It refers to loads that do, or can, change over time, such as people walking around a building
(occupancy) or movable objects such as a flower pot on a deck. In addition to live loads, what is
known as environmental loads are loads that are created naturally by the environment and
include wind, snow, seismic, and lateral soil pressures.