The primary function of the foundation is to receive different types of load that occur on the structure and eventually distribute to the ground without any displacement.
Different types of foundations are used based on the location, structure weight, and soil bearing capacity. The floating foundation is one among them.
A foundation where the weight of the structure built will be nearly equal to the soil excavated, including water from the structure location is known as the floating foundation.
Floating foundations would be suitable if
A vertical displacement happening in the structure’s foundation is called foundation settlement. There are chances for a structure to displace in three ways, as mentioned below.
The displacement of the foundation causes severe building damages and leads to the collapse of the entire structure. So to reduce or eliminate the movement that happens, the floating foundation is preferable.
The other name of the floating foundation is balancing the raft foundation for the reason of zero settlement to the structure.
The principle of the floating foundation is to equilibrate the excavated soil weight by the structure weight, which is to be constructed on the excavated soil location.
The structure can not be constructed immediately after excavating the soil. There are slight settlement changes that will happen in the foundation.
Soil Sliding – The sheet piles should be used to support the side of the excavation to avoid the soil sliding. The excavation work should be done more carefully and must ensure all safety measures.
Dewatering – The process of dewatering work should be done continuously when the depth is going below to the water level else; it impacts the adjacent structure and leads to its sliding.
Critical Depth – The following formula is used to determine depth for low bearing capacity of the soil. The limitation of the greatest extent of the floating foundation is called critical depth.
Dc = critical depth s = shear strength of soil
B = width of foundation (if the width is less than the length of foundation “L”) = unit weight of soil
Where Nc = Skempton’s bearing capacity factor.
The above two formulas are surging to find critical depth.
Bottom heave
The soil pressure will reduce after reaching a certain depth, and it results in heave formation at the bottom. So after the construction of the structure, displacement would happen at the beginning up to the formation heave.
It may be prevented if the foundation work started soon after excavating the soil. Providing lateral support helps to avoid the formation of heave.
Happy Learning 🙂
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This was soo good! So much info!