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  • Engineering Course

FOUNDATION ENGINEERING

  • 1 Colleges

Foundation Engineering is the branch of engineering concerned with constructing structures that support other systems, such as bridges, buildings, and transportation infrastructure.

About Foundation Engineering

We all know that a foundation is the lowest section of building construction. Regarding foundation engineering, it is the branch of engineering concerned with constructing structures that support other systems, such as bridges, buildings, and transportation infrastructure. It focuses on soil-structure interaction. It's on the outskirts of Structural, Civil, and Geotechnical Engineering. We can even call it the ground sill, i.e., the lowermost sill of a framed structure. It's responsible for transferring loads to the earth. It's usually divided into two categories that are the shallow foundation and the deep foundation.

Foundation engineering implements geotechnical engineering and soil mechanics in the construction of foundation elements of structures. In soil mechanics, we usually describe theories. In foundation engineering, we apply those theories to design the different geotechnical solutions.

Foundation engineering is a subfield of civil engineering that deals with the research and design of substructures or structures below the plinth level. It is used to design foundation elements of a system using soil mechanics and findings. Because well-designed and constructed foundations continue to work efficiently throughout the life of a project, foundation engineering can be viewed as an "artistic" approach rather than a conventional technique.

What is Foundation Engineering?

In this course, students will learn the criteria to design the foundations for a structure and the parameters required to create such structures. A background in soil mechanics is needed to understand this course as the knowledge of soil mechanics is also very important to design a foundation. The course will discuss soil exploration, after which students can determine the properties of foundation design. In the foundation engineering course focus will be on shallow foundations and axially loaded pile foundations. To determine the required design parameters, field and laboratory soil testing procedures will be described.

The theories of lateral earth pressures and the design of various retaining structures will be discussed. Sheet pile design and bracing systems will be explored as well. It will also cover soil arching and how it can be used to plan underground conduits. The proper foundation selection or foundation characteristics for various soils will be discussed. The course is designed for undergraduate students. This course can also be beneficial to field engineers.

Eligibility & Career in Foundation Engineering

To be a foundation engineer, an engineering degree with a minimum of 60% is required from a well-reputed institution. The course duration is four years. A position as a Foundation Engineer is under the umbrella of the Civil Engineers profession. A foundation engineer's leading role and purpose are to design a technically sound, constructible, and cost-effective foundation system to support the superstructure.

As a foundation engineer, your responsibility will be to maintain the structures and facilities such as highways, trains, airports, bridges, harbours, channels, dams, irrigation projects, pipelines, power plants, and water and sewage systems. Such engineers are responsible for planning, designing, and supervising the construction. Most of their jobs are at airports, buildings, landslide mitigation, energy and communications, seismic analysis, transportation, and other public works.

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