MAT FOUNDATION

A mat foundation is primarily

shallow foundation. In essence, it is
an expanded continuous footing and
is usually analyzed in the same way.
Mat foundations are sometimes
referred to as raft foundations.
Mat foundations are selected when:
1. The area covered by the individual
footings exceeds 50% of the
structural plan area This is usually
the case for buildings higher than 10stories, and/or on relatively weak
soils where q
< 3 ksf=150 kPa
2. The building requires a deep
basement,
below
the
phreatic
surface. For example, to build several
levels of parking, for mechanical
systems, access to subway stations,
etc
3. The Engineer wishes to minimize
the differential settlement in variable
(that is, heterogeneous) soils, or if
pockets of extremely weak soils are
known to be present
4. The Engineer wishes to take full
advantage of the soils increasing
bearing capacity with depth by
excavating basements, and thereby
seek
a
fully
or
a
partially
compensated foundation.
In most tall and large buildings, the
mat thickness T varies with the load.
Therefore, the Engineer may desire
to separate the various sections of
the structure. Mats have been used
for centuries:
Assyrians joined ceramic blocks
with asphalt.
Chinese joined large stones with
keys of molten lead.
Romans joined stones with
hydraulic
cements.
Today,
we
exclusively use reinforced concrete.

ADVANTAGES
FOUNDATION

OF

MAT

Raft or mat foundation is

economic due to combination
of foundation and floor slab.
It requires little excavation.
It can cope with mixed or poor
ground condition.
It
reduces
differential
settlement.

DISADVANTAGES
FOUNDATION

OF

MAT

Mat
foundation
requires
specific treatment for point
loads.
Edge erosion occurs if not
treated properly.

SOILS THAT MAY NECESSITATE

THE USE OF MAT FOUNDATION

1. Compressible soils, occur in

highly organic soils including
some glacial deposits and
certain flood plain areas.
Problems
involved
are
excessive settlements, low
bearing capacity, and low
shear strength.
2. Collapsing soils, settlement
in loose sands and silts
primarily. May occur in sandy
coastal plain area, sandy
glacial deposits.
3. Expansive soils, containing
swelling
clays,
mainly
Montmorillite, which increase
in volume when absorbing
water and shrink when loosing
it. Climate is closely related to
the severity of the problem.
Foundation supports should be
placed below the active soil
zone.

TYPES OF MAT FOUNDATION

Flat Plate Mat The mat is

of uniform thickness. A flat
plate mat is used for fairly
small and uniform column
spacing and relatively light
loads. A flat plate type of mat
is suitable when the soil is not
too compressible.
Plate
Thickened
under
Columns
For
columns
subjected to very heavy loads
usually the flat plate is
thickened under columns as
shown in Fig 2 to guard
against diagonal shear and
negative moments.
Two-way Beam and Slab - When
the column spacing is large and
carries unequal loads it would be
more economical if a two-way beam
and slab raft as shown in Fig 3 is
used. This type of mat is particularly

suitable when underlying soil is too

compressible.
Plates with Pedestals The
function of this mat is same as that
of flat plate thickened under
columns. In this mat pedestals are
provided at the base of the columns.
Rigid Frame Mat This type of mat
is
used
when
columns
carry
extremely heavy loads. When the
depth of beam exceeds 90 cm in
simple beam and slab mat, a rigid
frame mat is referred. Fig 4 shows a
typical rigid frame mat.

Piled Raft In this type of

construction
the
mat
is
supported on piles as shown in
fig 5. This type of mat is used
where the soil is highly
compressible and the water
table is high. This type
reduces
settlement
and
control buoyancy.

Shallow Foundations - are those that

transmit structural loads to the nearsurface of soils. These include spread
footing
foundations
and
mat
foundations.
SPREAD FOOTINGS
A spread footing (also known
as a footer or simply a footing) is an
enlargement at the bottom of a column
or bearing wall that spreads the applied
structural loads over a sufficiently
large soil area.
Spread footings are by far the most
common type of foundation, primarily
because of their low cost and ease of
construction. They are most often
used in small to medium-size
structures on sites with moderate to
good soil conditions, and even on some
large structures located at sites
underlain by exceptionally-good soil or
shallow bedrock.
TYPES OF SPREAD FOOTING:

a) Square Spread Footings (or simply

Square Footing) have plan
dimensions of BxB. The depth from the
ground surface to the bottom of the
footing is D and the thickness is T.
Square footings usually support a
single, centrally-loaded column.
b) Rectangular Spread Footings have
plan dimensions BxL, where L is the
longer dimension. These are useful
when obstructions prevent construction
of a square footing with sufficiently
large base area and when large moment
loads are present.
c) Circular Spread Footings are round
in plain view. These are most
frequently used as foundation for light
standards, flagpoles, and power
transmission lines.
d) Continuous Spread Footings (also
known as Wall Footings or Strip
Footings) are used to support bearing
walls.
e) Combined Footings are those
that support more than one
column. These are useful when
columns are located too close
together for each to have its own
footing.
f) Ring Spread Footings are
continuous footings that have
been wrapped into a circle. This
type of footing is commonly used
to support the walls of aboveground circular storage tanks.
In the preceding figure, the load
carried by the column is
eccentric, and as such, the footing
may
rotate
and
produce
undesirable
moments
and
displacements.
One solution is to use a strap
footing or cantilever footing,
which consists of an eccentrically

loaded footing under the exterior

column connected to the first
interior column using a grade
beam.
MATERIALS:
Before mid-nineteenth century, almost
all spread footings were made of
masonry as shown below. Dimensionstone footings were built of stones cut
and dressed to specific sizes to fit
together with minimal gaps, while
rubble-stone footings were built from
random size materials joined with
mortar (Peck, et. al., 1974). The steelgrillage footings used in the ten-storey
Montauk Block Building in Chicago in
1882, may have been the first spread
footings designed to resist flexure, as
they included several layers of railroad
tracks, but was later modified into Ibeams. They prevailed until the advent
of reinforced concrete in the early
twentieth century.

CONSTRUCTION METHODS:
Contractors usually use a
backhoe to excavate spread footings.
Once the excavation is open, it is
important to check the exposed soils to
verify that they are comparable to
those used in the design. Inspectors
often use a 9-mm (3/8 in) diameter
steel probe. If the soil conditions are
not anticipated, especially if they are
too soft, it is necessary to revise the
design accordingly.
Pouring a neat footing involves
pouring the concrete directly against
the soil such as when the soil has
sufficient strength to stand vertically
until the pouring process.
Sometimes, shallow wooden
forms are placed above the excavation,
so the top of the footing is at the proper
elevation. A formed footing is
designed if the soil will not stand
vertically, such as with clean sands or

gravels, wherein it is necessary to

make a larger excavation and build a
full-depth wooden form.
Methods of placing concrete in
footings:
a) Neat excavation
b) Neat excavation with wooden
forms
c) Formed footing with full depth
wooden forms

a) Neat
excavation
with woode
forms
b) Formed
footing wi
full- dep
wooden
forms.

a) Neat
excavation
with woode
forms
b) Formed
footing wi
full- dep
wooden
forms.

c) Neat
excavation
with woode
forms
d) Formed
footing wi
full- dep
wooden
forms.Once
the
excavation
has
bee
made
an
cleaned, an
the forms a
in place, th
contractor

places
the
reinforcing
steel bars. If
the footing
will support
a wood or
steel
structure,
threaded
anchor bolts
or
steel
brackets are
embedded
into
the
concrete. For
concrete or

masonry
structures,
dowels a
placed suc
as that the
extend abov
the
completed
footing, thu
providing fo
a lap splic
with
th
column
o
wall steel.