Floating Slabs (Ground Slabs).

Introduction
A floating slab or ground slab can be thought of as the  most common form of raft foundation. It is basically a
concrete slab with limited stiffness and reinforcement suitable to disperse the normal floor loads over a greater area  of sub-strata and to span over any depressions or soft spots.

1 Design decisions   The design decisions relate to (1) The loading anticipated on the slab.(2) The ground conditions below the slab.(3) The need to maintain specific levels and finishes for a normal...

2 Sizing of the slab   In general floor slabs are designed by eye from experience and are made up of a sub-base layer of hardcore blinded with either sand or concrete and sealed with a slip membrane...

3 Design Example: Floating slab  A ground floor slab is to be designed for a single-storey supermarket measuring 60 m × 36 m on plan, as shown in Fig. 11.49. The slab is required to carry an imposed load of 25...