5.1 INTRODUCTION

Part II of the book will deal with geotechnical engineering aspects of foundation design. Specific items covered in Part II include the following:

1. Bearing capacity of the foundation (Chap. 6)

2. Settlement of the foundation (Chap. 7)

3. Consolidation (Chap. 8)

4. Foundations on expansive soil (Chap. 9)

5. Slope stability (Chap. 10)

6. Retaining walls (Chap. 11)

7. Deterioration and moisture intrusion of foundations (Chap. 12)

8. Geotechnical earthquake engineering for soils and foundations (Chaps. 13 and 14)

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an introduction to the selection of a foundation type and a discussion of the characteristics and uses of shallow and deep foundations. It is important to recognize that without adequate and meaningful data from the subsurface exploration (Chap. 2) and laboratory testing (Chap. 3), the analyses presented in the next nine chapters will be of doubtful value and may even lead to erroneous conclusions.

5.2 SELECTION OF FOUNDATION TYPE

Table 1.1 has presented a brief introduction of shallow and deep foundations. This section deals with the selection of the type of foundation. The selection of a particular type of foundation is often based on a number of factors, such as:

1. Adequate depth. The foundation must have an adequate depth to prevent frost damage. For such foundations as bridge piers, the depth of the foundation must be sufficient to prevent undermining by scour.

2. Bearing capacity failure. The foundation must be safe against a bearing capacity failure.

3. Settlement. The foundation must not settle to such an extent...