BUILDING TECHNOLOGY REPORT

 Building Technology Report 1
BUILDING TECHNOLOGY REPORT
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Building Technology Report 2
Building Technology Report
Question 2
Budget, soil types, design loads, adjacent structures, the technology available, type of
structure, conditions adjacent to the site are among the factors that are considered when selecting
the type of foundation to use when constructing a building. The loading conditions (magnitude
and type of loads) and the foundation material are of particular importance in the design of
foundations. According to Chudley and Greeno (2013), the bearing soil at the site should be able
to withstand the pressure transmitted by the specific type of foundation adopted by the structural
engineer (p. 24). In this regard, the foundation material should be able to support the dead weight
resulting from both the super and substructure while providing a safety margin sufficient to
accommodate imposed loads from winds and building occupants.
The ground conditions at the proposed site justify the use of pile foundation in this
project. According to site investigations, the subsoil is made up of mixed boulder clays extending
to a depth of an average of 8 meters overlying a range of sandstones, coal, and shale deposits
from the carboniferous era. The use of other types of foundations particularly pad footings will
necessitate the evacuation of the entire glacial deposits which will not be economically practical.
Coduto (2015) affirms that shallow types of foundations such as strip footings are adopted when
the soil near the surface is capable of accommodating the ultimate loading of the structure (p.
106). In this perspective, glacial deposits fail to meet the requirements of a shallow foundation
since they are characterized by high degree of consolidation especially when wet. Buildings
constructed on glacial materials undergoes a significant amount of elastic and secondary
settlement resulting to wide cracks on the walls and often a total failure of the structure (Chudley
and Greeno, 2013, p. 40). The soil conditions on the site have low shear strengths and cohesion 
Building Technology Report 3
values, which ultimately results in low bearing capacity and thus, it is recommendable to adopt
pile foundation.
The presence of mining in the locality and the adoption of a framed construction
approach justifies the use of a pile foundation. Areas near deep mining sites are prone to
subsidence and differential settlement of shallow foundations. According to Coduto (2015),
machinery aided mining activities triggers vibration of the adjacent land making multistory
buildings constructed on shallow foundations unstable (p. 120). In this light, the proposed project
has three stories and is, therefore, likely to undergo wall deformation as a consequence of ground
curvature attributed to the mining activities. A study conducted by Coduto (2015) on the effects
of mining on the building foundations depicts that load bearing walls used in conjunction with
strip footings undergoes a significant amount of cracking as a result of shock waves resulting
from blasting activities and movement of heavy machinery working in mining sites (p. 132).
Pile foundations are also preferred in the construction of framed multistory buildings,
where, live and dead loads are concentered at the point of application. Piles offer support to the
loadings of the superstructure through either friction or endpoint bearing. Hu, Lian, and Chen
(2016) ascertain that in instances where a firm foundation material is overlain by strata of
compressible soils, steel, concrete or timber piles are used to transmit loadings to the bearing
firm ground (p. 255). In this project the use of pile foundation can be supported by the fact that
shallow footings resting on weak soils depict a relative inability to resist lateral, inclined,
overturning moments, and uplifting loads (Kibert, 2016, p. 178). Some of the pile foundation
approaches that can be adopted for the project include bored piles and driven piles, which are
prefabricated and brought on site for construction purposes. Hu, Lian, and Chen (2016) state that
driven piles are most effective in loose soils since they have a huge capacity to support 
Building Technology Report 4
anticipated design loads in competent subsurface material as consequence of friction force
present and end bearing support (p. 260). Driven piles are also cheaper in comparison to bored
piles, which require the use of excavating tools such as the bucket-auger-core barrel.
Raft foundations could also be adopted in place of the piles. According to Knaack, Klein,
Bilow, and Auer (2014), this type of foundation is adopted with an objective of spreading the
ultimate load from the structure over a significantly larger area, normally the entire proposed site
(p. 234). The use of raft foundation is based on the relatio