CONVENTIONAL SPREAD FOOTINGS

This type of foundations are commonly used for walls and masonry columns. These foundations are built after opening the trenches to required depth. Such footings are economical up to a maximum depth of 3 m. As these foundations are suitable depth, they are grouped under shallow foundations.

Figure 1 shows a conventional spread footing for a wall and Fig. 2 shows it for a masonry column.

Before building these footing trenches are opened to required depth and the soil is rammed well. Then a plain concrete of mix 1 : 4 : 8 is provided. Its thickness varies from 150 to 200 mm. Over this bed, stone masonry footing is built. It is built in courses each course projecting 50 to 75 mm from the top course and height of each course being 150 to 200 mm. In case of wall footing the projections are only one direction while in case of columns, they are in both directions. The projection of bed concrete from the lowest course of foundation masonry is usually 150 mm.