Print this page Residential Foundation Design Options and Concepts
George E. Thomas, PE
Course Outline
This course is
intended to improve your structural engineering knowledge related to housing
foundation design and performance by providing state of the art engineering
concepts for light frame construction. It compliments current design practices
and building code requirements with value-added technical information and guidance.
In doing so, it supplements fundamental engineering principles with various
insights that focus on improving the understanding of conventional and engineered
housing construction. Thus, it will address deficiencies and inefficiencies
in past housing construction practices and structural engineering concepts through
a comprehensive design approach that draws on existing and innovative engineering
technologies in a practical manner. It is hoped that this course will help facilitate
and advance efficient design of residential housing whether built in conformance
with prescriptive (i.e., "conventional") practices or specially engineered
in part or whole. The desired effect is to continue to improve the value of
engineers in terms of economy in construction and performance.
This course includes
a multiple choice quiz at the end,
Learning Objective
At the conclusion of the course, the student will:
- Be familiar with the different types of foundations used in residential construction;
- Have a better understanding how to apply the different design concepts to the various types of foundations;
- Be familiar with the equations used in the design of residential foundations;
- Have a better understanding on the use if reinforcement in a foundation design;
- Gain an understanding of basements, slab-on-grade with stem wall, monolithic slabs, piles, and piers design for residential construction;
- Know how to apply alternative methods to residential foundation design.
- The importance in providing a level surface for construction of the foundation wall;
- How to provide adequate transfer and distribution of residential building loads to the underlying soil;
- How to provide adequate strength to residential foundation walls to prevent differential settlement of the building in weak or uncertain soil conditions;
- How to place the building foundation at a sufficient depth to avoid frost heave or thaw weakening in frost susceptible soils and to avoid organic surface soil layers;
- How to provide adequate anchorage or mass, when needed in addition to the foundation wall, to resist potential uplift and overturning forces resulting from high winds or severe seismic events;How to transfer the load of the building to the footing or directly to the earth;
- How to provide adequate strength, in combination with the footing when required, to prevent differential settlement;
- How to provide adequate resistance to shear and bending stresses in residential buildings resulting from lateral soil pressure;
- How to provide anchorage for the above-grade structure to resist wind or seismic forces;
- How to provide a moisture-resistant barrier to below-ground habitable space in accordance with the building codes;
- How to isolate nonmoisture-resistant building materials from the ground to provide a floor surface with adequate capacity to support all applied loads;
- How to provide thickened footings for attachment of the above grade structure and for transfer of the load to the earth where required and to provide a moisture barrier between the earth and the interior of the residential building;
- What to do with weak soils or nonengineered fills that require the use of piles to transfer foundation loads by skin friction or point bearing;
- Identify inland floodplains and coastal flood hazard zones where buildings must be elevated;
- Increase an understanding of steep or unstable slopes;
- How to deal with expansive soils where buildings must be isolated from soil expansion in the "active" surface layer and anchored to stable soil below;
- How to treat piles or caissons extending below the seasonal frost line; and
- How to use mat
or reinforced structural slab foundations that resist differential heave.
Intended Audience
Architects, Engineers, Residential Designers, and Builders
Benefit to Attendees
The information gained from this course will allow for the engineer to design different types of foundations for a variety of situations and conditions relating to residential construction.
Course
Introduction
Course Content
In this lesson, you are required to download and study the following course content in PDF format:
Residential Foundation Design Options and Concepts
Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you still experience any difficulty in downloading or opening this file, you may need to close some applications or reboot your computer to free up some memory.
Course Summary
In summary this
course was developed to help facilitate and advance efficient design of residential
housing foundations whether built in conformance with prescriptive (i.e., "conventional")
practices or specially engineered in part or whole. The desired effect of the
information presented is to continue to improve the value of engineers in terms
of economy in construction and performance.
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.
