Types of Foundations We Have in Buildings

Welcome back to the Civil Engineers posts! In this lecture, I will be guiding you on the topic of Foundation Systems. As you know, the foundation is an important part of any building and is often referred to as the substructure. After completing the substructure, we move on to constructing the superstructure.

The type of foundation that we choose depends on various factors such as the structure's load and bearing capacity of the soil. Additionally, it also depends on whether it is a residential or commercial building and how many stories it will have.

Shallow Foundations

Let's dive into Shallow Foundation first. This type of foundation has less depth compared to Deep Foundations. Within Shallow Foundations, there are several types:

1. Isolated or Spread Footing: 

This type of foundation can be constructed for both normal residential buildings and commercial buildings with longer spans between columns.

2. Wall Footing: 

This kind of footing is specifically designed for walls where structural loads are relatively less compared to RCC columns or footings.

3. Combined Footing: 

When column spacing is close together, combined footing comes into play. It involves connecting two isolated/individual footings when their span is minimum.

4. Cantilever or Strip Footing: 

These footings are used when there are more than two columns or footings involved in a structure.

Deep Foundation

1.Pile Foundation: 

Pile foundations are used when maximum loads need to be supported in areas where soil bearing capacity is low and hard strata cannot be found easily.

2.Caisson/Foundation: 

Caissons are similar but differ from pile foundations because they require casings before construction begins inside soils where hard stratum isn't immediately available.

Both Pile Foundations and Caissons can also be implemented in bridge construction due to low soil bearing capacity at certain depths.

In conclusion, these were just some main types within Shallow Foundations (such as isolated/spread footing, wall footing, combined footing, cantilever/strip footing) and Deep Foundations (pile foundations and caissons/foundations). There are other variations within each type as well.

I hope this post has given you a good overview of Foundation Systems. Thanks for reading and see you next time! Goodbye!

-SAMMY.