Foundation engineering
is a branch or basic area of civil engineering which deals with the design, construction,
maintenance, renovation of footings, foundation walls, pile foundation and other
structural members which acts as foundation of various structures. Foundation engineering
is related with the knowledge and study of geotechnical engineering.
Foundation engineering
involves the study and design of different types of foundations such as wall foundation,
shallow foundation, deep foundation of various structures like dam, retaining wall,
buildings, bridges, docks and harbors, electric towers and machines, etc.
Applications
of Foundation Engineering
- Foundation engineering makes use of the knowledge of behavior of the soil obtained from geo-technical engineering and determines the following:
- Type of soil, Properties of soil, Bearing capacity of soil.
- Proper type of foundation (may be shallow foundation or deep foundation).
- Design of foundation.
- Design of foundation for bridges under seawater and design of the machine foundation.
Tests are carried
out to determine the BC of the soil i.e. how much load a soil strata can carry before
it fails in shear.
For design purpose
, factor of safety is used and safe bearing capacity is used for further design.
3.Design
of proper foundation:
(Deep/Shallow) depending upon BC of soil, the foundation is
designed. If strata have sufficient BC at shallow depth, shallow foundation is
designed, otherwise deep foundation is designed.
