Introduction
The function of a footing or a foundation is to safely and
effectively transmit the load from the columns and walls
to the underlying soil.
Reinforced concrete (RC) is admirably suitable for
footings and RC footings in turn are used in RC, structural
steel, or wooden buildings, bridges, towers, and other
structures.
In addition to providing foundations that will carry the
loads without excessive or uneven settlements and
rotations, it is also necessary to check whether they
provide sufficient resistance to sliding and overturning or
pull-out in case of tensile loads.
Introduction
Foundation structures may be categorized as follows:
1. Shallow foundations
2. Deep foundations
3. Special foundations
The choice of a suitable type of foundation depends on
the following:
1. Depth at which the bearing strata lies
2. Soil condition
3. Type of superstructure
4. Magnitude and type of reaction at the base of the
superstructure
Types of RC Foundations
RC foundations are mainly classified as shallow
foundations and deep foundations.
There are five types of shallow foundations as follows:
1. Strip or continuous wall footings
2. Isolated or spread footings (pad and sloped)
3. Combined footings
4. Raft or mat foundations
5. Floating rafts
Types of Footings
Strip or continuous wall footings behave as
cantilevers on each side of the wall and spread the wall
load over a large soil area.
Isolated or spread footings may be of uniform
thickness; stepped or sloped; or have pedestals to save
materials (see Fig. 15.1). Depending on the shape of the
column, isolated footings may be square, rectangular, or
circular in shape.
Combined footings transmit load from two or more
columns to the soil and may have rectangular,
trapezoidal, or other shapes (see Fig. 15.2). Such
combined footings are used when one column is near the
Fig. 15.1 Types of isolated footings (a) Strip or wall footing (b) Spread footing
(c) Stepped footing (d) Sloped footing
Fig. 15.2 Combined footings for two columns (a) Combined rectangular
(b) Combined trapezoidal (c) Combined T-shaped (d) Combined strap
Fig. 15.3 Mat and pile foundation (a) Mat foundation (b) Pile foundation
Pile Foundation
Piles are small diameter shafts driven or cast in bored
holes in the ground and are usually provided in groups
connected by a pile cap (see Fig. 15.3b). A pile cap
transmits the column load to a series of piles, which, in
turn, transmit the load to the soil.
Concrete piles are classified into following:
1. Driven cast in situ piles
2. Bored cast in situ piles
3. Driven precast piles
4. Precast piles in pre-bored holes
5. Under-reamed piles
Fig. 15.4 Caissons and floating raft (a) Open caisson (b) Box caisson (c) Pneumatic caisson
(d) Floating raft
Fig. 15.6 Non-uniform soil pressure under the base of footing (a) Resultant load within the kern
(b) Plan view showing kern dimensions (c) Eccentricity ex = L/6 (d) Resultant load outside the
kern (ex > L/6)
Settlement of Foundation
In the design of footings, the settlement analysis should
be given more importance than the calculation of bearing
capacity.
When foundation failure does occur, it is usually the
result of differential settlement or heaving of the soil that
supports the foundation.
Soils of high bearing capacity tend to settle less than
soils of low bearing capacity. Hence, it is advisable to
carefully check the settlement of structures founded on
weak soils.
Where settlement criteria dominate, the bearing
pressure is restricted to a suitable value below that of the
Settlement of Foundation
Type of Soil
Plastic clay
Type of
Settlement
Isolated
Footing
Raft
Foundatio
n
Maximum (mm)
50
75
Differential (mm)
0.0015L
0.0021L
Angular distortion
1/666
1/500
Maximum (mm)
75
100
Differential (mm)
0.0015L
0.002L
Angular distortion
1/666
1/500
Note: L is the length of the deflected part of raft or the centre-to-centre distance
between
columns.
Table 15.1
Allowable maximum and differential settlements of RC buildings
Fig. 15.7 Shear failure of soil due to bearing (a) General shear (large heavedense
sand) (b) Local shear (small heave) (c) Punching shear (no heave) (d) Load settlement
curves for (a), (b), and (c) (e) Allowable pressure qa taken as the lesser of qu/FS or q25
Depth of Foundation
The depth of foundation is fixed based on the following:
1. The depth is usually based on the availability of soil of
adequate bearing capacity. Strata of varying thickness,
even at appreciable depth, may increase differential
settlement.
2. Due to seasonal changes of alternate wetting and
drying, clayey soils will undergo shrinkage and
swelling, resulting in appreciable movements.
3. In regions where the temperature goes down below
freezing point, the base of the footing should be kept
at a depth that is not affected by frost action,
especially in fine sand and silt.
Depth of Foundation
Fig. 15.8 Footing depth in sloping ground or when they are at different levels (a) Footing on sloping
ground (b) Footing in granular or clayey soil (c) Footing at two levels
Depth of Foundation
4. When the ground surface slopes downwards adjacent
to a footing, the sloping surface shall not intersect a
frustum of bearing material under the footing, having
sides that make an angle of 30 with the horizontal for
soil.
Footing on the sloping ground should have
adequate edge distance from the sloping ground for
protection against erosion, as shown in Fig. 15.8(a).
Depth of Foundation
5. In the case of footings in granular soil, a line drawn
between the lower adjacent edges of adjacent footings
should not have a steeper slope than one vertical to
two horizontal (see Fig. 15.8b).
In the case of footing on clayey soils, a line
drawn between the lower adjacent edge of the upper
footing and the upper adjacent edge of lower footing
shall not have a steeper slope than one vertical to two
horizontal.
Depth of Foundation
6. The adjacent excavation or foundation that is very
close to the current foundation should be carefully
evaluated. If the new foundation is deeper and closer
to the existing one, the damage will be greater. The
minimum horizontal spacing between the existing and
new footings should be equal to the width of the wider
one (see also Fig. 15.8c).
7. Depth of ground water table plays an important role in
the depth of foundation.
8. The approximate depth of foundation Df may be
determined by using the following Rankines formula
Fig. 15.9 Gross and net bearing pressure (a) Self-weight and soil weight (b) Gross soil pressure
(c) Net soil pressure
Case Study
Design Considerations
Design of foundations consists of two phasessoil
design and structural design.
Design Considerations
The following are the ultimate limit states to be checked
for soil design:
1. Bearing resistance failure caused by shear failure of
the supporting soil
2. Serviceability failure in which excessive
differential settlement between adjacent
footings cause structural damage
3. Excessive settlement and resulting excessive
angular distortion (settlement may be of two types:
immediate settlement as in sands and long-term
settlement called consolidation as in clays)
Design Considerations
4. Stability under lateral loads due to sliding
5. Stability against overturning, in case of slender tall
structures
6. Failure due to soil liquefaction (soil liquefaction
describes a phenomenon whereby a saturated soil
substantially loses strength and stiffness during
earthquakes, causing it to behave like a liquid)
Design Considerations
Bearing failures of the soil supporting the footing can be
prevented by limiting the service load stresses under the
footing to that of the SBC.
The resistance against sliding is provided by the
friction between the base of the footing and the soil below
and by the passive resistance of the soil in contact with
the vertical faces of the footing.
The factor of safety against sliding is checked by(Clause
20 of IS 456)
Where P is the compressive load on footing, is the coefficient
of friction, Ph is the lateral force, and Ppi is the sum of passive
pressure components of the soil
Design Considerations
If the required factor of safety against sliding cannot be
achieved by the provided footing, it is usual to provide a
shear key below the base of footing, especially in the case
of retaining walls, as shown in Fig. 15.10(b).
Fig. 15.10 Stability against sliding (a) Forces resisting sliding (b) Concept of shear key (c) Shear key
at the footingcolumn or footingwall interface
Design Considerations
When lateral loads act on the structure, the stability of
the structure as a whole should be ensured at the
foundation level. Such overturning checks are also
necessary for footings supporting large cantilevered
beams or slabs (see fig. 15.11).
In general, the problems of overturning and sliding are
rare in RC buildings but common in retaining walls.
When the column it is supporting is subjected to tension
(due to wind or earthquake load, especially in the case of
tall towers), footing has to be designed for uprooting or
pull-out.
Design Considerations
The following are the ultimate limit states that apply to
the structural design:
1. Flexural failure of the footing
2. One-way or two-way (punching) shear failure of the
footing
3. Inadequate anchorage of the flexural reinforcement
in the footing
4. Bearing failure at columnfooting interface
Fig. 15.12 Critical sections for shear (a) One-way shear (b) Two-way punching shear
Bending Moment
Considerations
The bending moment at any section of a footing is
determined by considering a vertical plane at this section,
which extends completely across the footing, and then
computing the moment due to soil pressure acting over
the entire area of the footing on one side of this plane.
Bending Moment
Considerations
2. Since brick walls are generally less rigid than
concrete walls, the maximum bending moment
location is assumed at halfway between the centre
line and the edge of the wall for footings supporting
masonry walls, as shown in Fig. 15.14(c).
Fig. 15.14 Critical section for moment (a) Concrete column or wall
(b) Pedestal footing (b) Masonry wall (c) Column with steel base plate
Bending Moment
Considerations
The total tensile reinforcement, calculated to resist the
maximum bending moment, has to be distributed as
follows:
1. In one-way reinforced footing: The total
reinforcement is distributed evenly across the full
width of the footing.
2. In two-way square footing: The calculated
reinforcement is distributed evenly across the width in
both directions.
3. In two-way rectangular footing: The calculated
reinforcement in the long direction is distributed
evenly across the full width of the footing, whereas in
the short span direction, it is distributed in different
Providing Development
Length
The design bond strength and development length in
footing is the same as that in beams and slabs.
The critical section for checking the development length
in footing should be the same planes where the maximum
bending moment occurs.
In addition, it should be checked at all other vertical
planes where abrupt changes of sections occur.
In locations where the reinforcement is curtailed,
anchorage requirements must be satisfied as in the case
of beams.
Development Length
Requirement