REPORT ON FACULTY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

ON FOUNDATION ENGINEERING

Report on the faculty development program in Velalar College of Engineering and Technology(VCET), Erode on the topic, “CE6502 – Foundation Engineering” organized by Department of Civil Engineering from 18th to 20th June 2015.

On the first day(18th June) there was an inaugural function for the FDP. Dr.P.D.Arumairaj, Associate Professor, Department of Geotechnical Engineering, Government College of Technology, and the Principal of VCET, Dr.M.Jayaraman were the chief guests. The FDP was a continuation of the FDP in the previous semester on the topic, “Soil Mechanics”. From the feedbacks of the last FDP, there were requests to conduct FDP on foundation engineering. So, the initiatives were taken to conduct the FDP on foundation engineering.

After the inaugural ceremony, the FDP session was handled by Dr.P.D.Arumairaj. He has given a vast explanation on the geotechnical exploration and site investigation. First of all, he explained the needs of soil investigation in a building site. It is needed to determine the strength of soil(SBC), deformation characteristics, hydraulic characteristics. Soil investigation also helps in economic design of foundations.

To plan a site exploration program, we need to have a knowledge on the type of building which is to be planned on the site and the loads predicted to be transferred to the soil and the strength of soil at the site. For this three types of surveys are possible:Reconnaissance: It is the field visit to plan an exploration program.Preliminary soil investigation: One or two boreholes to decide the loose or stiff strata of soil and to determine whether, the building project is feasible or not at that site.Detailed soil investigation: After deciding the feasibility, the borehole investigations are carried out at the required places, upto the required depth of exploration.

The depth of exploration is approximately 1.5 times the width of the foundation whereas for multistory buildings the depth of exploration is decided based upon the loads transferred to the soil or rock strata.

And he explained the soil sampling and soil test procedures with his photographs.He has also discussed some of the case studies of failures of structures due to lack of thorough geotechnical investigation.

A site visit to a soil bore hole investigation site was also organized. The proposed building was a shopping complex and there practical exposure of SPT, soil sampling, rock core drilling were explained by Dr.E.Ravi, HOD, Civil Engineering,VCET.

On the second day, the FDP session was handled by Dr.G.Ramasamy, HOD, Civil Engineering, EBET, Erode. He has discussed about pile foundation and raft foundation design with a case study of foundation design for a 15 storey apartment near Delhi. He has explained the soil tests carried out for the site and he started designing the foundation. Since the area required by foundation exceeds the plinth area, the type of foundation need to be adopted is either pile foundation or raft

foundation.In case of pile foundation, he explained the calculation of pile capacity, design of

group of piles. He has also explained the settlement considerations as per IS 1904-1986. He has also explained the raft foundation design for the same building. Since water table is at shallow depth, we need to dewater it before laying raft foundation and the walls of the basement need to be waterproofed to avoid seepage or intrusion of moisture from the ground.

Design of shallow foundations, the contact pressure of different type of soils and the previous year Anna university solved question paper problems were discussed.

On the third day, the session was handled by Dr.E.Ravi. He has discussed about the slope stability analysis and earth pressure theories. He discussed the active pressure, passive pressure, Rebhmann’s method and Culmann’s method of slope analysis.

He has also shared his practical experiences of pile load testing, plate load test in Reliance mall construction in Erode, and compaction tests of soil.

After the session, there was a valedictory function presided by the Principal, VCET, Erode.