PRESENTATION ON

BRIDGE FOUNDATION

Contents
Contents of this presentation
Different Types of Bridge Foundation
Selection of Foundation Type
Open Foundation
Construction Method, Design and Detailing

Pile Foundation
Construction Method, Design and Detailing

Well Foundation
Construction Method, Design and Detailing

Different Types of Bridge Foundation

Types of Bridge Foundation

Two Major Types
Shallow Foundation
Deep Foundation

Shallow Foundation Open Foundation:

When top soil strata is strong / Rock level close to ground level
For River Bridges when flow velocity is less, i.e. less scour
Required excavation depth is less
Deep Foundation Pile / Well Foundation:
When firm strata / Rock level is much below ground level
For River Bridges when discharge is high, i.e. more scouring of bed
Load on the structure is too high to be carried by top soil layers
When foundation to resist uplift forces

Types of Bridge Foundation

Shallow Foundation:
When, D/B 1 (Where, D = Depth of foundation & B = Width of Foundation)
Deep Foundation:
When, D/B 4

Types of Bridge Foundation

Open Foundation:

Types of Bridge Foundation

Open Foundation:

Types of Bridge Foundation

Open Foundation Raft / Mat Type:

Types of Bridge Foundation

Pile Foundation:

Types of Bridge Foundation

Pile Foundation:

Types of Bridge Foundation

Pile Foundation:

Types of Bridge Foundation

Well Foundation:

Types of Bridge Foundation

Well Foundation:

Selection of Foundation Type

Selection of Foundation
Selection Criteria
Location of Structure Land (Flyover, ROB etc.), River / Sea, Hills
If on River / Sea Scour Depth
Geological Conditions
Seismic Zone
Type of structure Continuous / Simply Supported
If on River / Canal Possibility of dry river bed / canal closure
Cost of any temporary work (like cofferdam, stream diversion etc.) if required
Available equipment and technology
Most Economic Design,
when cost of Superstructure = cost of Substructure and Foundation

Open Foundation

Construction Open Foundation

Step 1: Setting out foundation plan on ground
Step 2: Excavation to required depth
Step 3: Construction of Foundation
Step 4: Back-fill Foundation Trench

B
L
Plan

Elevation

Design Open Foundation

Study of Sub-soil investigation report & calculation of Safe Bearing Capacity
Open Foundation Resting on Soil:
Bearing capacity from shear strength criteria
Bearing capacity from maximum allowable settlement criteria
Open Foundation Resting on Rock:
Bearing capacity from crushing strength of rock & fissures / bedding planes
Settlement is generally neglected as no long term settlement

Design Open Foundation

Some important points to remember
For foundations resting on Soil No Tension in Base Pressure is Allowed
For foundations resting on Rock Tension is allowed and need to be re-distributed
to check the final base pressure (Area out of contact 20%)
Allowable base pressure may be Increased in Seismic Cases
In case of excavation in rock the foundation trenches around the footing shall be
filled up with lean concrete.
The founding level shall be at least 2.0m (for soil) / 1.5m (for soft rock) below the
scour level.
If the proposed foundation is close to any existing bridge / structure, the founding
depth should be the existing foundation depth.
The theoretical settlement calculation governs over the shear strength criteria to
determine allowable bearing pressure.
The allowable total settlement is 50mm-75mm, but depends on structural
requirement also.
If the foundation is resting on soil, differential settlement of supports need to be
considered.

Design Open Foundation

Stability Check:
M
P
F

Overturning Check: SMR / SMO 2.0

Sliding Check:

mR / SF 1.5

Minimum & Maximum Base Pressure Check

P/A + ML/ZL + MT/ZT
P/A - ML/ZL - MT/ZT

Design Open Foundation

Design Base Pressure:

1. Gross Pressure (P1):

P/A - ML/ZL - MT/ZT
P/A + ML/ZL + MT/ZT

2. Pressure due to
S/W of Foundation
and Soil (P2):

3. Design Base
Pressure (P1 P2):

Pile Foundation

Construction Pile Foundation

Piles can be
Driven cast-in-situ pile
Bored cast-in-situ pile
Driven precast piles
Minimum Pile Diameter

Concrete Specification

Construction Pile Foundation

Step 1: Construction of piles (upto 1m above cut-off level / upto piling platform)
Step 2: Excavation for pile cap
Step 3: Piles to be chipped off upto cut-off level
Step 4: Placing Reinforcement cage for pile cap
Step 5: Construction of pile cap

Design Pile Foundation

Study of Sub-soil investigation report & calculation of Allowable Pile Load
Pile Foundation Resting on Soil:
Ultimate Pile Load = Skin Friction + End Bearing
Uplift Capacity = Skin Friction + Self Weight of Pile
Lateral Capacity = Force required for 5mm deflection at cut-off level / scour level
Factor of Safety 2.5 for vertical load, 2.0 for uplift and 1.0 for lateral loads
Pile Foundation Resting on Rock:
Ultimate Pile Load = End Bearing + Side Socket Shear
Uplift Capacity = Side Socket Shear + Self Weight of Pile
Factor of Safety For vertical load 3.0 on End Bearing & 6.0 on Socket Side
resistance; For uplift 2.0

Design Pile Foundation

Some important points to remember
For pile groups, settlement need to be checked and to be restricted to 10-12mm.
In pile group minimum pile spacing

= 2.5 x pile dia. (End Bearing Pile)

= 3.0 x pile dia. (Friction Pile)

Negative skin friction shall be taken in account if any compressible layer is present
Theoretical pile capacity need to be verified by Initial (destructive test) load test and
Routine (non-destructive test) load test.
Allowable pile load may be increased in seismic cases
Piles need to be designed for a shift of 75mm and tilt of 1 in 150
In case piles resting on rock, differential settlement may be neglected
Minimum thickness of pile cap is greater of 0.6m or 1.5 times diameter of pile
Minimum projection of pile inside pile cap is 50mm

Design Pile Foundation

Pile and Pile cap forces can be
analyzed by mathematical modeling in
STAAD / any other recognized software.
Soil stiffness is represented by spring
supports to estimate soil structure
interaction.
No need to calculate depth of fixity, the
forces are directly available from the
analysis.

Design Pile Foundation

Analysis by rivet analogy considering pile cap as rigid

Maximum Load on corner pile =

L

P/n + ML x L / SL2 + MT x T / ST2

Minimum Load on corner pile =

P/n - ML x L / SL2 - MT x T / ST2

Design Pile Foundation

Punching Shear Check:
For Pile
For Pier / Abutment Column

d/2

d/2

Design Pile Foundation

Structural Design by Truss Model:
No need of Shear Reinforcement
80% of calculated steel to be
concentrated in strips linking the
pile heads and the remainder
uniformly distributed over pile cap.

Design Pile Foundation

Structural Design of Piles:
Piles are designed as compression member along with bending moments.
Minimum longitudinal steel in pile 0.4% of gross concrete area
Transverse steel can be Circular Tie / Spiral Reinforcement
In high seismic zone Plastic Hinge detailing is required at junction of pile cap and
piles
The test piles need to be designed separately as they do not carry the axial and
lateral load together.

Detailing Pile Foundation

Pile Cap Designed by Bending Theory:

Detailing Pile Foundation

Pile Cap Designed by Truss Model:

Detailing Pile Foundation

Pile Reinforcement:

Well Foundation / Caissons

Well Foundation Components

Intermediate Plug

Bottom Plug

Well Curb
Cutting Edge

Construction Well Foundation

Step 1: Construction of Cutting Edge & Well Curb on Ground
Step 2: Construction of 1st segment of Steining & excavation inside well
Step 3: Construction of successive Steining Segments and sinking of well upto
founding level
Step 4: Casting of bottom plug
Step 5: Sand filling and construction of intermediate plug
Step 6: Construction of well cap

Design Well Foundation

Study of Sub-soil investigation report & calculation of Safe Bearing Capacity
Well Foundation Resting on Soil:
Bearing capacity from shear strength criteria
Bearing capacity from maximum allowable settlement criteria
Well Foundation Resting on Rock:
Bearing capacity from crushing strength of rock & fissures / bedding planes
Settlement is generally neglected as no long term settlement

Design Well Foundation

Some important points to remember
Skin friction is neglected in Safe Bearing Capacity calculation.
In soil no tension in base pressure is allowed. In rocks out of contact area up to
20% of gross area is allowed.
In rocks rock anchor may be provided to overcome tension.
For Well foundation in soil a minimum grip length of 1/3rd the maximum depth of
scour below the design scour level is need to be provided.
For Well Foundation in rocks a sump (shear key) of 300mm in hard rock and
600mm in soft rock need to be provided for stability.
Minimum inside diameter of well should not be less than 2.0m for dredging of
soil inside.
If the external diameter of a single circular well exceeds 12.0m, then the
stresses in steining shall be evaluated by 3D FEM method.
The Steining Section is usually designed as Plain Cement Concrete section,
but can be done as RCC also.

Detailing Well Foundation

Detailing Well Foundation

Detailing Well Foundation

Detailing Well Foundation

Detailing Well Foundation