Print this page Special Foundations - Part I
Ruben A. Gomez, P.E.
Course Outline
The concept advocating for footings to be sized in areas directly proportional to the loads upon them, and further, that the centroid of the areas of their bases should coincide with the loads’ center of gravity is nothing new. That has been in the minds of foundation engineers since the beginnings of the organized profession.
Although the above is a plausible thinking, however, in order to have solutions for the entire spectrum of cases, the foundation engineer must deal with all those other cases where load eccentricity is driven by legal restrictions, geometric misalignments and/or the presence of destabilizing moments.
This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.
Learning Objective
Upon completion of the first part of this series, the reader will:
- Be able to visualize footing design from the perspective of the foundation engineer;
- Have a better comprehension of double buttressed footings;
- Develop familiarity with the wedged foundation design;
- Increase his mental resourcefulness; and
- Improve his connection with the origins and historicity of foundation engineering.
Intended Audience
This course is intended for soil engineers, foundation engineers, construction engineers, structural engineers, architectural engineers and general contractors.
Benefit for Attendee
After completion of this course as well as the other parts of the series titled Special Foundations, the attendee will become familiar with all the design resources necessary to handle foundation solutions beyond the conventional concentric footing arrangement.
Course Introduction
Any average practicing design engineer is cognizant of the fact that foundation systems mainly based on concentric spread footings, may be somewhat easier to handle than the standard design of the building superstructure. However, once such a design engineer needs to get involved in the conception of eccentric foundations, combined footings, tie-backs and piling systems, or the terrain needs to be helped by adding soil modification methods “into the mix”, the process may turn more complex very rapidly, and so demanding special knowledge and experience on his part, and may even require hiring the assistance of a skilled foundation engineer to take the design process to a happy ending.
Course Content
This course is the first part of a series geared to describe some of the many foundation design arrangements available to solve those particular conditions where the traditional concentric footing as originally described in 1873 by architect Frederick Baumann, just do not work as the conceived method to safely deliver structural loads into the supporting ground underneath.
The course content is contained in the following PDF file:
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Course Summary
This particular part of the series will take the reader from the easy to the not so easy case spectrum. First through the principles of design that constitute the basis for the conception of concentric footings, then, a review of the double buttressed footing, followed by the design procedure of the wedged foundation and it could potentially had been a possible application to the Tower of Pisa, provided that travel through time and space could have been manipulated to make those events match in their occurrence.
Related Links and References
The following reference books were used by the author in the preparation of this course:
1- The Art of Preparing Foundations, Frederick Baumann, 1873.
2- Soil Mechanics in Engineering Practice, K. Terzaghi and R. B. Peck, 1955.
Quiz
Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.
DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.
