Foundation Wall Expansion Joints

[mmatthew]

I am currently working on a very large warehouse project with some walls exceeding 600' lengths. How often should I locate expansion joints, not control joints, in the foundation wall? (Typical foundation wall approximately 3'-6" deep with 2#5 T&B.)

 

[nw]

What's the wall made of?? Concrete??

Normally you don't put expansion joints in concrete. You put control joints in it since concrete tends to "shrink". And with concrete we want to "control" the shrinkage.

 

[jeg]

mmathew

In the UK, for concrete walls I would reason as follows:
Temperature range in air = -10C to +30C
Temp. range in ground = -5C to +15C is negligable; expansion of concrete will be compensated by shrinkage and control joints for shrinkage are all that is necessary.
However,
For walls exceeding say 100 metres I would stll provide an expansion joint at any point of fixity, for example a change of direction;
I would also consider the structure of the building above my foundation wall. It will certainly have expansion joints. I would want to mirror these joints in my foundations in order to reduce the stresses at the connection between structure and foundation wall
So, the long and the short of it is - Yes I would provide expansion joints. They dont cost very much. If the building chooses NOT to use them, no one will be any the wiser and no one will complain.
But if there are NO expansion joints and the building starts to make its own joints, then a lot of people will be asking questions.
Hope you have a good relationship with your warehouse!

 

[jeg]

mmathew

Just to clarify:
In long walls the expansion joints at points of fixity should be approx 2 to 5 metres each side of the point.

For greater temperature ranges your local codes will give guidance on the spacing of expansion joints.