The Chartership Forum

Foundation Engineering

Examine bearing resistance, settlement and the behaviour of shallow and deep foundations.

Available course · 18 modules
  1. 1What a foundation has to do
  2. 2Choosing a foundation
  3. 3How a footing fails
  4. 4The bearing capacity equation
  5. 5Shape, depth and inclination
  6. 6Eccentric and inclined loading
  7. 7Groundwater and layered ground
  8. 8Bearing capacity from field tests
  9. 9Immediate settlement of shallow foundations
  10. 10Consolidation settlement and differential movement
  11. 11Rafts and mat foundations
  12. 12Why piles, and what kinds
  13. 13Load transfer: shaft and base
  14. 14Pile capacity in clay — the α-method
  15. 15Pile capacity in sand — the β-method
  16. 16Pile capacity from SPT and CPT; drilled shafts
  17. 17Pile groups, settlement and negative skin friction
  18. 18Laterally loaded piles

Course references
  • Muni Budhu, Soil Mechanics and Foundations — curriculum reference; no affiliation or endorsement implied
  • BS EN 1997-1 (Eurocode 7) and its UK National Annex — the governing design standard; consult the current editions
  • BS EN 1997-2 and the BS EN ISO 22476 series for the field tests used here
  • ICE Specification for Piling and Embedded Retaining Walls — for the workmanship requirements Module 16 depends on