Difference between Raft Foundations and Mat Foundation

Difference between Raft Foundations and Mat Foundation

Don't confuse about raft and mat foundation. Raft foundation is mat foundation. Now what is raft foundation?

Raft foundation is a thick concrete slab reinforced with steel which covers the entire contact area of the structure like a thick floor. Sometimes area covered by raft may be greater than the contact area depending on the bearing capacity of the soil underneath. The reinforcing bars runs normal to each other in both top and bottom layers of steel reinforcement. Sometimes inverted main beams and secondary beams are used to carry column loads that require thicker foundation slab considering economy of the structure. Both beams cast monolithically with raft slab.

Now I shall discuss where raft foundations are required. Raft foundation is required where soils have low bearing capacity and have to support heavy structural loads. Normally structures on marshy land, soft clay and land that are made up of sanitary land fill or other materials (like debris, unconsolidated soil and solid waste etc. where differential settlement is suspected)-require raft foundation. Raft foundations are preferred in the soil that are suspected to subsidence. Subsidence may occur from different sources like change in ground water level due to climatic change specially in case expansive soil or foundation in mining area.

In one words, where deep foundation like pile foundation are not economical and feasible and isolated column footing is impracticable due to large footing size or over-lapping of neighbor footing , raft foundation is the economical solution.

About Author:

I am Thomas Britto here to share my experiences in the civil engineering field to all my readers.Today many students are struggling to buy books at high prices. So I decided to start a blog and share my experience and knowledge with all my readers.

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