Expert: Arshad Khan - 4/23/2009

Question
Hello Sir/Ma'am,

I am looking for tutorial lessons regarding foundation design. I was not able to practice for a long time and lost my grasp on design. But now I am eager to work again in the design field and I need some form of tutorial or remedial course in some areas of the design, foundation design is one of them.

The following list are what I needed to re-learn:
Soil
- how to read soil reports and calculate allowable soil stress based on borehole logs, soil conditions etc.
Piles
- how to read soil reports and calculate Pile capacity / allowable working load based on borehole logs, soil conditions etc.
Footing
- design of shallow foundations
Misc
- design of basement walls/deep trenches

Summary: Basically, at the end of the lesson/tutorial, I should be able to produce designs of basic foundations like footing, raft foundation and piled foundation, based on a standard soil report.

I am aware that there are so many softwares to tackle the above designs, but I want to relearn the fundamentals of design and not blindly rely on softwares without understanding the basis for their results.

I am willing to pay a fair price for the tutorials/lessons. You may also organize a group to maximize your time.

Please email me at

Sincerely,

angelo


Answer
Hi Kulpix,

It is admirable that you wish to learn the basics rather than blindly use software. I regret to say, however, that I cannot offer tutorials over this forum and do not wish to charge anything for advice on particular questions.

Please see this site- it has a very comprehensive list of topics you should learn, either by purchasing books, or on-line research or attending lectures at your local University.

http://www.gic-edu.com/coursedetail.aspx?id=234

And these sites have some useful info too:

http://www.vulcanhammer.info/soils/

http://books.google.com/books?id=TastxSGEEGIC&pg=PA9&lpg=PA9&dq=interpretation+o...

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/engineering/geotech/pubs/reviewguide/check03.cfm