ABSTRACT
The design of the foundations for a structure comprises three stages. The first is to determine from an inspection of the site, together with field data on soil profiles and laboratory testing of soil samples, the nature of the ground. The second stage is to select the stratum on which to impose the load, the bearing capacity and the type of foundation. These decisions depend not only on the nature of the ground, but also on the type of structure, and different solutions may need to be considered. Reference should be made to BS 8004: Code of Practice for foundations. The third stage is to design the foundation to transfer and distribute load from the structure to the ground.
