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    Concept of Floating Foundation: Milind Rao (184104213) Mtech - Geotechnical Engineering Iit - Guwahati

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    Radhika Khandelwal
    1) A floating foundation is constructed by excavating soil such that the weight of the structure equals the weight of excavated soil and water, causing zero settlement. 2) The key principle is balancing the weight of removed soil with a structure of equal weight. A rigid raft or box is used at a depth where soil weight before equals weight after excavation. 3) Problems in design include carefully excavating and supporting sides, dewatering below the water table, ensuring the depth does not exceed the critical depth which could cause bottom heaving and further settlement.

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    Concept of Floating Foundation: Milind Rao (184104213) Mtech - Geotechnical Engineering Iit - Guwahati

    Uploaded by

    Radhika Khandelwal
    206 views15 pages
    1) A floating foundation is constructed by excavating soil such that the weight of the structure equals the weight of excavated soil and water, causing zero settlement. 2) The key principle is balancing the weight of removed soil with a structure of equal weight. A rigid raft or box is used at a depth where soil weight before equals weight after excavation. 3) Problems in design include carefully excavating and supporting sides, dewatering below the water table, ensuring the depth does not exceed the critical depth which could cause bottom heaving and further settlement.

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    conceptoffloatingfoundation-190425124840

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    1) A floating foundation is constructed by excavating soil such that the weight of the structure equals the weight of excavated soil and water, causing zero settlement. 2) The key principle is balancing the weight of removed soil with a structure of equal weight. A rigid raft or box is used at a depth where soil weight before equals weight after excavation. 3) Problems in design include carefully excavating and supporting sides, dewatering below the water table, ensuring the depth does not exceed the critical depth which could cause bottom heaving and further settlement.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    206 views15 pages

    Concept of Floating Foundation: Milind Rao (184104213) Mtech - Geotechnical Engineering Iit - Guwahati

    Uploaded by

    Radhika Khandelwal
    1) A floating foundation is constructed by excavating soil such that the weight of the structure equals the weight of excavated soil and water, causing zero settlement. 2) The key principle is balancing the weight of removed soil with a structure of equal weight. A rigid raft or box is used at a depth where soil weight before equals weight after excavation. 3) Problems in design include carefully excavating and supporting sides, dewatering below the water table, ensuring the depth does not exceed the critical depth which could cause bottom heaving and further settlement.

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    CONCEPT OF FLOATING

    FOUNDATION
    MILIND RAO
    (184104213)
    MTech - GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
    IIT - GUWAHATI
    INTRODUCTION
    When the soil is so soft that even friction piles will not support the
    building , the final option is the use of the Floating Foundation.

    A floating foundation is a type of foundation constructed by


    excavating the soil in such a way that the weight of structure built on
    the soil is nearly equal to the total weight of the soil excavated from
    the ground including the weight of the water in the soil before the
    construction of structure.

    Floating foundation is also called balancing raft and causes zero


    settlement to the structure.
    INTRODUCTION

    A floating foundation
    (Donald P. Cudoto- Foundation Design)
    PRINCIPLES OF FLOATING FOUNDATION
    The main principle of floating foundation is to balance the weight of
    removed soil by a structure of same weight which causes zero
    settlement to the structure.

    A floating foundation consists of box like rigid structures set at such a


    depth below ground level that the weight of the soil removed to place
    it equals the weight of the structure.

    Thus, once the structure is completed, the soil under it will bear the
    same weight it bore before the excavation was begun.
    PRINCIPLES OF FLOATING FOUNDATION

    Balance of stresses in foundation excavation


    (NPTEL: Advance soil mechanics- Prof. T.G. Sitharam)
    PRINCIPLES OF FLOATING FOUNDATION
    While dealing with floating foundation, it is important that we
    consider following two types of soils,

    • Type 1: The foundation soils are of such strength that shear failure of
    soil will not occur under the building load. But the settlements,
    differential settlements in particular are so large that they constitute
    the failure of the structure. In such cases a floating foundation is used
    to reduce settlements to an acceptable value.
    PRINCIPLES OF FLOATING FOUNDATION
    • Type 2: The shear strength of the foundation soil is so low that
    rupture of the soil would occur if the building were to be founded at
    ground level. At a reasonable depth, in the absence of a strong layer
    the building can only be built on a floating foundation. This reduces
    the shear stresses to an acceptable value.

    In the above mentioned cases, a rigid raft or box type of foundation
    is required for the floating foundation.
    PROBLEMS TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE
    DESIGN OF A FLOATING FOUNDATION
    During the construction of floating foundation some problems may
    arise which can be prevented by taking proper care. The problems will
    arise during,

    • Excavation
    • Dewatering
    • Critical depth
    • Bottom heave
    PROBLEMS TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE
    DESIGN OF A FLOATING FOUNDATION
    Excavation:
    • The excavation for floating
    foundation should be done
    carefully.
    • The sides of the excavation
    should suitably be supported by
    sheet piling, soldier piles and
    timber lagging or some other
    standard method. (https://theconstructor.org/geotechnical/floating-foundation-
    construction/21301/)
    PROBLEMS TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE
    DESIGN OF A FLOATING FOUNDATION
    Dewatering:
    • If the depth of the excavation is
    below the water table then
    dewatering is essential.
    • It is better to examine the water
    table level prior to the
    excavation.
    • Dewatering should be done
    cautiously otherwise it may
    cause lowering of water table
    which disturbs the adjoining (https://theconstructor.org/geotechnical/floating-foundation-
    structures. construction/21301/)
    PROBLEMS TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE
    DESIGN OF A FLOATING FOUNDATION
    Critical Depth:
    If the soil is of low shear strength as specified above, there is a limit to
    the depth of excavation which is known as critical depth.

    5.7 s
    DC 
    s (Terzaghi, 1943) where; γ= unit weight of soil
       2
    B s = shear strength of soil
    s B = width of foundation
    DC  N C (Skempton, 1951) Nc = bearing capacity factor given by Skempton

    PROBLEMS TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE
    DESIGN OF A FLOATING FOUNDATION
    Bottom Heave:
    • When the soil is excavated up to
    some depth, the pressure of the
    soil below this depth is lowered
    which results the formation of
    heave.
    • The formed heave causes
    settlement to the structure or
    foundation.
    (https://www.osha.gov/dts/osta/otm/otm_v/otm_v_
    2.html)
    ADVANTAGES OF FLOATING FOUNDATION
    • Used for low bearing capacity soils.
    • Minimizes the foundation settlement.
    • Floating foundations can be used in on high moisture soils.
    • Requires very less digging because deep footer trenches are needed.
    • Most suitable for heavily used highways.
    CONCLUSION
    • Foundation settlement is the major problem faced by geotechnical
    engineers. If the settlement is severe, it may lead to the complete
    collapse of the structure even though the factor of safety against
    shear failure is high.
    • The floating foundation is the best choice for geotechnical engineers
    to minimize the foundation settlement problems.
    REFERENCES
    • David J. D'Appolonia, (A.M.ASCE), T. William Lambe, (F.ASCE), Edmund
    K. Turner (1971). Floating Foundations for Control of Settlement.
    Journal of the Soil Mechanics and Foundations Division, 1971, Vol. 97,
    Issue 6, Pg. 899-915.
    • Donald P. Coduto, (2001). Foundation Design- Principles and
    Practices. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Inc.

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