Foundation slab on varying soil depth

[Aleksandre]

Hello,

Happy to join the community.

I came across a structural design of 6 storey building, where foundation slab is based on different soil levels and they are connected by a 'retaining' wall. For better visualisation I am attaching a cross-section of foundation.

What I am worried about is a wall, which will be acted by a huge mass which will increase a soil pressure (due to active pressure). Is it a common practice to design a foundation like this? Can you share your view about this.

Also, I am worried about what kind of failure modes should be consider with the wall? Isn't it better to make a seismic gap between foundations and a little space between them? Any thought will be appreciated.

 

[driftLimiter]

The wall should be treated like a retaining wall with additional surcharge load from the upper slab. If it does not have its own footing you must design it to span between the slabs and you must design the slab load path to resolve the horizontal forces.