Ground bearing slab

Ground slab and foundations are invariably reinforced concrete, though some ground bearing slabs are constructed with no reinforcement. Industrial buildings for containment of toxic of other processes may require construction primarily from reinforced concrete. 

High-rise housing Housing with ground bearing slabs/rafts Commercial Schools Warehousing Industrial Offices... 

Foundation design must minimise differential settlement particularly between structural elements and ground-bearing slabs. 

Silo type "a" occupies little space on plan, but is very unfavourable because it has a large lateral surface area and, on account of the high ground bearing pressure, requires an expensive foundation slab. Besides, the bucket elevators are very high. 

A void former below a cast in situ floor slab (which can be ground bearing or designed as suspended). The void former simply supports the wet concrete xmtil it is set, and leaves a void below the slab. This is a common method of construction in warehouses or industrial buildings... 

Reinforced concrete ground bearing floor slab 0.5 ... 

Reinforced concrete ground bearing foundation raft with limited service penetrations that are cast into slab 1.5 ... 

In many instances, adequate existing civil/stmctural or services installation information may not be available. Guessing the likely bearing capacity of floor slabs, foundations, structural steel or sub-slab ground, etc. can prove disastrous. Equally, assuming likely operational conditions for new installations can lead to embarrassing (and quite possibly dangerous) under-performance. The cheapest or quickest installation is not always the best or... 

If the bearing capacity of the surface soil layer is not sufficient to allow for interaction with the piles, or if the embankment to be constructed is too high, concrete deck (or also known as piled raft) may be built on the ground surface on top of the piles. Concrete deck or piled raft supported on pile is expansive but will not be as expansive as a flyover structure. Alternatively geosynthetics such as geogrids can be laid on top of the pile cap. Figure 13.6 shows typical cross sections of the pile embankment, i.e. for the case of a pile with RC (reinforced concrete) slab as concrete deck, and piles with individual caps and geosynthetic fabric. 

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