Foundation Engineering
Foundation engineering for civil engineers: the design process and NBC limit states design with geotechnical resistance factors, site investigation for foundations, bearing capacity theory with groundwater, eccentric and inclined loads and layered soils, settlement on sand and clay with tolerable movements, spread, combined and mat foundations with preloading, deep foundation types and selection, axial capacity of piles by the alpha, beta and lambda methods, pile groups, downdrag and the neutral plane, lateral loading and pile load testing, applied to the buildings and pump station of a municipal operations centre on Lake Superior.
CIV-341 Year 3 3 credits 12 lessons · 4 h 1 min ▶ Video lessons coming soon
Offered by HSM University · Civil Engineering
This is the Canadian version of this course. See the American version.
What you'll learn
- Describe the foundation design process and check foundations at ultimate and serviceability limit states with NBC load combinations and geotechnical resistance factors.
- Plan a site investigation for foundation design, correct and interpret SPT and CPT results, and choose characteristic design values and investigation depths.
- Explain the failure modes of shallow foundations and compute bearing capacity with the general equation, its factors, and drained and undrained parameters.
- Account for groundwater, eccentric and inclined loads and a weak layer beneath a strong one in bearing capacity checks, and check sliding.
- Estimate the settlement of footings on sand by elastic, Schmertmann and Burland and Burbidge methods, and interpret the spread of their predictions.
- Compute consolidation settlements of a grid of footings on clay and judge them against criteria for angular distortion and total settlement.
- Proportion spread, combined and mat foundations, apply frost and construction requirements, and compare remedies such as preloading for differential settlement.
- Describe the types of deep foundation, how they carry load and are installed, and select a suitable type for a site and structure.
- Calculate the axial capacity of single piles by the α, β and λ methods with toe resistance, including setup, relaxation and uplift.
- Evaluate pile groups for efficiency, block failure and settlement, and analyse negative skin friction and downdrag by the unified method.
- Analyse laterally loaded piles by Broms' method and subgrade reaction, and plan and interpret static and dynamic pile load tests.
- Prepare a foundation design package with a design basis, limit state summaries, flotation and uplift checks, specifications and a monitoring plan.
Course content
12 lessons · 4 h 1 min total · final exam
- 1 The foundation design process and limit states 22 min · quiz
- 2 Site investigation for foundation design 21 min · quiz
- 3 Bearing capacity theory 21 min · quiz
- 4 Bearing capacity: eccentric loads, layered soils and groundwater 20 min · quiz
- 5 Settlement of shallow foundations on sand 18 min · quiz
- 6 Settlement on clay and tolerable movements 18 min · quiz
- 7 Design of spread, combined and mat foundations 20 min · quiz
- 8 Deep foundations: types and selection 20 min · quiz
- 9 Axial capacity of single piles 18 min · quiz
- 10 Pile groups, settlement and downdrag 21 min · quiz
- 11 Lateral loading and pile load testing 21 min · quiz
- 12 Foundation design capstone: the fleet storage building 21 min · quiz
- E Final exam 20 questions
Requirements
Recommended background. You can start any course at any time.
Description
Foundation engineering for civil engineers: the design process and NBC limit states design with geotechnical resistance factors, site investigation for foundations, bearing capacity theory with groundwater, eccentric and inclined loads and layered soils, settlement on sand and clay with tolerable movements, spread, combined and mat foundations with preloading, deep foundation types and selection, axial capacity of piles by the alpha, beta and lambda methods, pile groups, downdrag and the neutral plane, lateral loading and pile load testing, applied to the buildings and pump station of a municipal operations centre on Lake Superior.
Part of the Engineering stream, typically taken in year 3.