Basement Foundation Wall Design - Residential
Basement Foundation Wall Design - Residential
(OP)
Looking for a good reference with a reasonable procedure for basement foundation wall design. Also found the following "Structural foundation Designers Manual" by Curtin et al Does anyone have a review to offer on the text??





RE: Basement Foundation Wall Design - Residential
RE: Basement Foundation Wall Design - Residential
The empirical designs are based on what has worked for many years of that type of construction and is not based on the distorted design assumptions made that do not always give realistic results for that type of construction - wall aspect ratios/parameters (height/width, length/height, and fixity) have a very large effect on smaller structures.
It all depends on the available information. If you have a very thorough geo/soils report and a 50' long wall and control over the backfill, that is totally different than a typical residential basement with shorter walls, more stiffening corners and bay extensions.
Dick
RE: Basement Foundation Wall Design - Residential
You can go through some design procedure it you wish, but house basements are usually built to meet a local code. That is usually sufficient.
However, with any design, or code requirement, along come the builders and some scary things can happen. Many times they luck out, but now and then a failure occurs, usually during construction.
I'd concentrate on some details, such as adding steel in the obvious places as well as when th backfill goes in. Of course curing (seldom done properly) and backfilling early on need to be watched.
So, much more than a design is needed.