Due to the advantages of shallow foundations, they are the most popular and widely used type of foundation across the world. It is a type of foundation built at a shallower depth.
The depth of the foundation is more than 1 m. This value may vary depending on design requirements, construction difficulties, architectural requirements, etc.
Let's see what the main advantages of shallow foundations are.
Advantages of Shallow Foundations
- When you consider the total construction cost, shallow foundations are more economical compared to deep foundations. In deep foundations, there are pile caps and large floor beams in addition to the foundation to ensure structural integrity and safety.
- Most of the time, only tension beams are needed for shallow foundations. Individual foundations, strip foundations, combined foundations, etc. can cause setbacks. Therefore, tension beams are provided. However, the size of tension beams is not as large as that of ground beams used in pile foundations.
- Elements such as pile cap plates are not necessary for shallow foundations.
- The construction risk due to uncertainties is minimal compared to a deep foundation. For a deep foundation, additional testing is required to verify that the foundation design is acceptable. A pile integrity test (PIT), pile dynamics test (PDA), etc. they aim to ensure that the integrity of the pile is correct and can withstand the applied loads.
- To ensure that the quality control process is correct, visual inspections can be carried out.
- As construction takes place at a shallower depth, no heavy equipment is required as in pile construction.
Disadvantages of Shallow Foundations
- Shallow foundations are built into the ground. Soil properties may vary from place to place where the structure is built. Furthermore, there are fluctuations in the load on the structure and this can be distributed unevenly. This leads to different settlements in the foundation.
- A weak layer of soil or soft soil such as peat or compressible organic soils can cause foundation settlement.
- There is a possibility of failure of shallow foundations due to weak solids conditions. The article shallow foundation failure For more information, see this page.
- Designers must be aware of the nature of the soil, even if the soil test report specifies a specific value for the allowable bearing capacity.
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