Foundation, Concrete and Earthquake Engineering

Steel Building Foundations – Stronger the foundation, Stronger the Building

Steel building foundations play a crucial role in maintaining the strength of a pre-engineered steel structure. A steel building foundation  acts like an anchor that supports the weight of the entire building by providing a flat and a leveled base. Just like a strong foundation is essential for any venture to sustain, the same goes with a steel building. A strong foundation contributes to the durability of the steel structure.

Now, the first and the foremost thing for any foundation engineer would be to decide upon the kind of foundation a steel building needs. This depends upon certain factors for which a foundation engineer needs to review the site before arriving at any decision. Here's a list of considerations for a strong foundation:

1.    The topography of the land that requires a detailed survey of the land features and the terrain before
       constructing any buildings.
2.    The geographical location, if it is suitable for a steel building and the local building codes.
3.    The loads which includes a basic idea about what all loads are to be considered for laying the foundation.
4.    The architectural framework for which the foundation is to be laid.
 
It is advisable to go with blue prints of the foundation plans to avoid any future hassles or money wastage. One must be aware that an over-engineered foundation will not do any good except costing you more, so don't spend just because your engineer wants you to. Make sure that it is required rather than forced.

There is a specific terminology one must be acquainted with, if one's planning a steel building as it will help you emerge as an erudite customer and won't let anyone dupe you. The important terms related to the steel building foundation are:

Base Condition: The base condition determines how the panels connect to the foundation and is of utmost relevance for not letting the water and pest entering the base of the building.

Rebar: Better known as reinforcement bar, it is a type of steel bar usually made from carbon steel
that is used in reinforced concrete and reinforced masonry structures.

Hairpin: Used to counteract the horizontal thrust of the building, Hair-pin is a rebar bent on an angle.

Slab-on-grade: This is a foundation slab that is supported solely by the ground.

Steel building foundations usually count as not-so-obvious cost and one must be extra-cautious while spending for it; because an uninformed buyer might end up spending a lot more on the foundation alone as compared to the entire steel structure, thereby nullifying the cost-effectiveness of a prefab steel structure.

Steel building foundations are quite significant for any steel building and therefore, one must hire a professional foundation engineer for the task. 

4 comments:

  1. Looks like you guys do very good work. Nice job. Keep it up!

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  2. Those who opt to use steel for infrastructures get to benefit from the quality which this material is made out of. These people would assured of the fact that the building they construct would stand the test of time.

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  3. Its really a good blog post on Steel Buildings. Thanks for the blog discussion.

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  4. Yes, it's true. The stronger the foundation, the stronger the building will be. In old age, there was no steel foundation hence the buildings were not strong enough to stand for a longer time but now there is a big revolution in the construction industry. Modern techniques with highly advanced software been invented for the construction purpose. Nice post here it is on the steel building foundation. Thanks.

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