Building Foundation

The foundations of the building transfer the weight of the building to the ground. While 'foundation' is a general word, normally, every building has a number of individual foundations, commonly called footings. Usually each column of the building will have its own footing.

This capacity also modifies at different places of earth. generally, the deeper one digs, the most the safe bearing capacity, unless there are having weak soil in the place. To properly support a building, the soil must be very strong. It is common for the soil near the surface of the earth to be loose and weak. If a building is rested on this soil, it will sink into the earth like a ship in water. Building contractors will usually dig until they reach very firm, strong, soil that cannot be dug up easily before constructing a foundation.

The soil investigation team will then prepare a soil investigation report that lists the engineering properties of the soil at regular intervals, say every 2 meters. Based on this deport, engineers designing the structure can decide at what depth of soil to provide the foundations, the type of foundations they should provide, and the size of the foundations.

Every once in a while, engineers will find fill at a site. This occurs when humans have previously dug up the earth there, and then filled it back in. This happens if a quarry was dug or a building built there previously. Since fill is loose and soft and cannot support weight, engineers will dig to a depth below that of the fill, where strong soil is found, and construct foundations there.