DIVISION OF BASIC MECHANICS 12/29/2025
Chapter 5: FOOTINGS
1. INTRODUCTION
2. SOIL PRESSURE UNDER FOOTINGS
3. STRUCTURAL ACTION OF STRIP AND SPREAD
FOOTINGS
4. STRIP OR WALL FOOTINGS
5. SPREAD FOOTINGS
6. COMBINED FOOTINGS
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1. INTRODUCTION
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DIVISION OF BASIC MECHANICS 12/29/2025
1. INTRODUCTION
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1. INTRODUCTION
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2. SOIL PRESSURE UNDER FOOTINGS
Function of the type of soil and the rigidity of the soil
and the foundation pad.
Design Methods:
Allowable Stress Design
Linit-States Design
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2. SOIL PRESSURE UNDER FOOTINGS
Limit States for the Design of Foundations:
Limit States Governed by the Soil: (1) bearing failure of the
soil under the footing; (2) serviceability failure in which
excessive differential settlement; (3) excessive total
settlement.
Limit States Governed by the Structure: (1) flexural failure of
the portions of the footing; (2) shear failure of the footing; (3)
bearing failure at member interfaces; (4) inadequate
anchorage of the flexural reinforcement in the footing.
Allowable stress: (FS = factor of safety ranging
from 2.5 to 3).
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2. SOIL PRESSURE UNDER FOOTINGS
Elastic Distribution of Soil Pressure under a Footing:
Assuming linearly elastic action in compression but no
tensile strength:
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2. SOIL PRESSURE UNDER FOOTINGS
Elastic Distribution of Soil Pressure under a Footing:
Elastic and Plastic Soil-Pressure Distributions:
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2. SOIL PRESSURE UNDER FOOTINGS
Gross and Net Soil Pressures:
No moments or
shears in the footing
due to this loading.
Cause internal
forces in the
footing
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2. SOIL PRESSURE UNDER FOOTINGS
Gross and Net Soil Pressures:
For service-load combinations including wind, W:
Factored Net Soil
Pressure, qnu:
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DIVISION OF BASIC MECHANICS 12/29/2025
3. STRUCTURAL ACTION OF STRIP AND SPREAD
FOOTINGS
Flexure:
The critical sections: Face of
o The column;
o Imaginary square column with the same
area; or Halfway between:
o The middle and the edge of the wall
o The face of the column and the edge of the
base plate.
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3. STRUCTURAL ACTION OF STRIP AND SPREAD
FOOTINGS
Flexure:
= 0.9 for tension-controlled sections
For Grade-40 steel: Asmin = 0.0020bh;
For Grade-60 steel: Asmin = 0.0018bh;
The maximum spacing: 3h or 18 in.
If the reinforcement required for flexure exceeds the
minimum flexural reinforcement a maximum spacing = 2h
or 18 in.
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3. STRUCTURAL ACTION OF STRIP AND SPREAD
FOOTINGS
Development of Reinforcement: the bars must extend
from the critical section or hooked at outer ends.
Shear:
Fail in
shear
as a
wide
beam
or
punch
ing
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3. STRUCTURAL ACTION OF STRIP AND SPREAD
FOOTINGS
Shear: minimum stirrups in all flexural members with
> except for footing and solid slabs. Required for
footings with >
One-Way Shear:
Vs = 0 in most cases (easier for construction)
Columns with steel base plates critical section is d away
from a line halfway between the face of the column and the
edge of the base plate.
Two-Way Shear: critical section for punching shear is at
the face of the column.
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3. STRUCTURAL ACTION OF STRIP AND SPREAD
FOOTINGS
Shear:
Two-Way Shear: min of
= 40 for columns in the center of footing, 30 for columns at an
edge of a footing and 20 for columns at a corner of a footing.
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3. STRUCTURAL ACTION OF STRIP AND SPREAD
FOOTINGS
Transfer of Load from Column to Footing:
The area of the
dowels can be
less than that of
the bars in the
column above,
at least 0.5%
Lap-splice
length
Development
length
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3. STRUCTURAL ACTION OF STRIP AND SPREAD
FOOTINGS
Transfer of Load from Column to Footing: joint could fail
by reaching various limit states
Crushing of the concrete at the bottom of the column
Crushing in the footing below the column,
Bond failure of the dowels in the footing,
Failure in the column of the lap splice between the dowels
and the column bars.
Bearing strength:
The maximum bearing load on the concrete:
A1 = the area of the contact surface; .
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3. STRUCTURAL ACTION OF STRIP AND SPREAD
FOOTINGS
Bearing Strength:
When the supporting surface is wider
on all sides bearing load:
but not more than
No Moment Transferred to Footing:
Ag = area of the column;
Asd = area of the bars dowels.
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3. STRUCTURAL ACTION OF STRIP AND SPREAD
FOOTINGS
Bearing Strength:
Moments Are Transferred to Footing: bearing stresses will
exist over part, but not all the column cross section
number of dowels required = the column reinforcement
Practical Aspects:
o The minimum cover to the reinforcement in footings: 3in.
o Minimum depth of the footing above the bottom
reinforcement: 6 in on soil and 12 in on piles.
o Distribution of flexural reinforcement in beams and one-
way slabs does not apply to footings.
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4. STRIP OR WALL FOOTINGS
The critical sections for design
for flexure and
anchorage: A-A
One-way shear
critical at B-B
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4. STRIP OR WALL FOOTINGS
EXAMPLE 1: A 12-in. thick concrete wall carries a service
(unfactored) dead load of 10 kips per foot and a service live
load of 12.5 kips per foot. The allowable soil pressure qa =
5000 psf for shallow foundations. Design a wall footing to be
based 5-ft below the final ground surface, fc’= 3000 psi
normal-weight concrete fy = 60,000 psi. The density of the
soil is 120 1b/ft3.
1. Estimate the size of the footing and the factored net
pressure:
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4. STRIP OR WALL FOOTINGS
EXAMPLE 1:
2. Check the shear: governs the thickness of footings
the footing depth is too small
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4. STRIP OR WALL FOOTINGS
EXAMPLE 1:
2. Check the shear: governs the thickness of footings
Try a 13-in.-thick footing
13 in. –thick footing 5ft 2 in. wide is adequate for shear.
3. Design the flexural reinforcement:
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4. STRIP OR WALL FOOTINGS
EXAMPLE 1:
Maximum
spacing of bars:
2ft. or 18 in.
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4. STRIP OR WALL FOOTINGS
EXAMPLE 1:
Far exceeds limit = 0.005
4. Check the development:
Clear spacing > 2db and clear cover > db; No. 4 bottom bar in
3000-psi concrete ld = 21.9 in < 25 in. - 3 in. cover
5. Select the minimum (temperature) reinforcement:
Maximum spacing: 5 X 13 - 65 in. or 18 in.
three No.7 bars (1.80 in.2)
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5. SPREAD FOOTINGS
EXAMPLE 2: A square spread footing supports an 18-in.-
square column supporting a service dead load of 400 kips
and a service live load of 270 kips. The column is built with
5000-psi concrete and has eight No. 9 longitudinal bars with
fy = 60,000 psi. Design a spread footing to be constructed by
using 3000-psi normal-weight concrete and Grade-60 bars.
Dowels may be required to carry some of the column load
across the column-footing interface. The top of the footing
will be covered with 6 in. of fill with a density of 120 lb/ft3
and a 6-in. basement floor. The basement floor loading is
100 psf. For shallow foundations, the allowable bearing
pressure on the soil is 6000 psf.
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5. SPREAD FOOTINGS
1. Compute the factored loads and the resistance factors:
For shear = 0.75, for flexural = 0.90
2. Estimate the footing size and the factored net soil
pressure: thickness of the footing = (12)c1
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5. SPREAD FOOTINGS
3. Check the thickness for two-way shear: governed by
two-way shear
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5. SPREAD FOOTINGS
3. Check the thickness for two-way shear:
(interior column)
< The
footing is not thick enough Try h = 32 in., d = 28 in.,
and b0 = 184 in.
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5. SPREAD FOOTINGS
3. Check the thickness for two-way shear:
Try an 11-ft-2-in.-square footing, 32 in. thick:
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5. SPREAD FOOTINGS
4. Check the one-way shear:
5. Design the flexural
Reinforcement:
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5. SPREAD FOOTINGS
5. Design the flexural Reinforcement:
Try eleven No. 8 bars each way, As = 8.69 in.2
> 954
6. Check the development: clear spacing >2d and the clear
cover > db ld = 54.8 db =
> 58 in. – 3in. = 55 in. ok
7. Design the column-footing joint:
The factored load at the base:
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5. SPREAD FOOTINGS
7. Design the column-footing joint:
The maximum bearing load on the bottom of the column:
The maximum load that can be transferred by bearing is
895 kips
Try four No.6 dowels (As = 1.76in.2).
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5. SPREAD FOOTINGS
7. Design the column-footing joint:
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DIVISION OF BASIC MECHANICS 12/29/2025
5. SPREAD FOOTINGS
EXAMPLE 3: Design of a Rectangular Spread Footing (P.
836)
EXAMPLE 4: Design a Rectangular Footing for a Column
Subjected to Axial Load and Bending
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6. COMBINED FOOTINGS
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6. COMBINED FOOTINGS
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6. COMBINED FOOTINGS
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6. COMBINED FOOTINGS
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6. COMBINED FOOTINGS
EXAMPLE 5: A combined footing supports a 21 in. x 16 in.
exterior column carrying a service dead load of 200 kips and
a service live load of 150 kips, plus a 24-in.-square interior
column carrying service loads of 300 kips dead load and 225
kips Jive load. The distance between the columns is 20 ft,
center to center. For shallow foundations, the allowable soil
bearing pressure is 5000 psf. The basement floor is 5 in.
thick and supports a live load of 100 psf. The density of the
fill above the footing is 120 1b/ft3. Design the footing,
assuming that f‘c = 30000 psi and fy = 60000 psi.
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DIVISION OF BASIC MECHANICS 12/29/2025
6. COMBINED FOOTINGS
EXAMPLE 5:
1. Estimate the size and the factored net pressure:
The resultant of the column loads is located at:
The footing is 304 in. long = 25ft. and 8ft width The
factored net pressure:
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6. COMBINED FOOTINGS
EXAMPLE 5:
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DIVISION OF BASIC MECHANICS 12/29/2025
6. COMBINED FOOTINGS
EXAMPLE 5:
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6. COMBINED FOOTINGS
EXAMPLE 5:
2. Calculate the bending-moment and shear-force diagrams
3. Calculate the thickness required for maximum positive
moment:
The minimum flexural reinforcement ratio:
For b = 96 in. try overall thickness of 36 in. with d = 32.5
in.
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6. COMBINED FOOTINGS
EXAMPLE 5:
4. Check the two-way shear at the interior column
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6. COMBINED FOOTINGS
EXAMPLE 5:
5. Check the two-way shear at the exterior column
Distance from line A-b to the
centroid of the shear perimeter:
Force due to soil pressure on
the area within the critical perimeter
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