Building Construction

Raft foundation is also known as Mat foundation.

Raft foundation is actually a thick concrete slab

resting on a large area of soil reinforced with steel,
supporting columns or walls and transfer loads from
the structure to the soil.

Usually, mat foundation is spread over the entire

area of the structure it is supporting.
Raft foundation is generally used to
support structures like residential or
commercial buildings where soil
condition is poor, storage tanks, silos,
Poor soil condition Heavy Industries
foundations for heavy industrial
equipment etc.

Storage tank or Silos

 Working Principle of Raft Foundation

Raft foundation transmits the total load from the

building to the entire ground floor area.
Stress distribution mechanism of raft foundation is
very simple. Total weight of the structure and self-
weight of the mat is calculated and is divided by the
total area of the foundation it is covering to
calculate the stress on the soil.
As in case of raft foundation the contact area of the
foundation with soil is much more than any other
type of foundation, so the load is distributed over a
larger area and thus the stress on soil is lesser and the
possibility of shear failure of soil is also reduced.
Raft foundation is preferred when:-

• The soil has a low bearing capacity.

• Load of the structure has to be distributed over a large area.
• Individual or any other foundation area would approximately
cover 50% of the total ground area beneath the structure.
• The columns or walls are placed so closely that the individual
footings would overlap.
• Stress on soil needs to be reduced.
• There is a possibility of differential settlement in case individual
footing is used.
• When soil strata are unpredictable and contain pockets of
compressible soil.
• Basement is to be constructed.
Followings are the different types of raft foundation
used in construction:

1. Flat plate mat

2. Plate thickened under column
3. Two-way beam and slab Raft
4. Plate raft with pedestals
5. Plied raft
6. Rigid Frame Mat or Cellular Raft Foundation
 Flat Plate Mat

This is the simplest form of raft foundation. This type of

mat is used when the columns and walls are
uniformly spaced at small intervals and the subjected
loads are relatively small.
Reinforcement is placed in both directions and more
reinforcement is required at the column locations
and load-bearing walls.
The thickness of this types of raft foundation is
generally restricted within 300mm for economic
reason. A thicker slab would not be economical.
Flat Plate Mat
 Plate Thickened under Columns

When the columns and

load bearing walls are
subjected to heavier loads,
the slab is thickened under
the columns and walls and
extra reinforcement is
provided to resist against
diagonal shear and
negative reinforcement.
 Two-way Beam and Slab

In this type of raft, beams are cast

monolithically with the raft slab
connecting the columns and walls.
This type of raft is suitable when the
columns are placed at a larger
distance and the loads on the
columns are variable.
 Plates with Pedestals

The function of this mat is

same as that of flat plate
thickened under columns. In
this mat pedestals are
provided at the base of the
columns.
 Piled Raft

This type of raft foundation is

supported on piles.
A piled raft is used when the
soil at a shallow depth is highly
compressible and the water
table is high.
Piles under raft help in
reducing settlement and
provides resistance against
buoyancy.
 Rigid Frame Mat

In this type of raft, the foundation walls

act as a deep beam. Rigid frame mat is
referred when columns carry extremely
heavy loads and the connecting beams
exceeds 90cm depth.
Here two concrete slabs are placed, one
on top of another and connected with
foundation walls in both directions and
thus forms a cellular raft foundation.
This type of raft is very rigid and is
economical when the required slab
thickness is very high.