You are here:

Civil Engineering/eccentric footing

Advertisement

Expert: - 2/22/2006


Question
First I realy appreciate your help to whome realy need to go on with one's feild without any Despair.
I want to exactly know how realy an eccentric footing work and how should design it? shoud design it with symetric dimensions or unsymetric ones? how does it affect the reinforcement?thanks,

Answer
Hi Abdul,

Yes, you have to design it as required by the geometry, for example for a boundary wall this is a common problem and you need to design it as an eccentrically loaded pad footing, which will have high pressure at one and (near boundary) and low to zero pressure at the other end. In order to avoid tension, you may have to extend the footing with a ground-tie beam to either another pad further away from the boundary, or else to a counterweight pad say 1-2 meters from the column.

The rebar is designed after calculating the shear and bending moments due to gravity and earth pressure which is acting as reaction upwards.

I hope you understand what I am saying, and it will be of help!

Kind regards,

Arshad  

Civil Engineering

All Answers

Answers by Expert:

Ask Experts

Volunteer

Arshad Khan

Expertise

I can answer any questions to do with civil and structural engineering consultancy and construction industry in East Africa and the Middle East, and specifically with the analysis and design of reinforced concrete structures. My particular expertise is in the aseismic design and optimisation of tall buildings.

Experience

Employment history: 36 years in Construction and consultancy in the UK, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Africa, Somalia, Zambia, Austria, Bahrain, Kuwait, Doha and the U.A.E.

Organizations
.Fellow of Institution of Structural Engineers (UK) .Fellow of Institution of Civil Engineers(UK) .Member of the Institution of Engineers, Kenya .Registered Engineer, ERB, Kenya .Member of the Architectural Association of Kenya (Engineers Chapter) .Chartered Engineer (UK)

Publications
•1984: International Conference on the Art and Practice of Structural Design, London •1994: 3rd Int. Kerensky Conference in Structural Engineering, Singapore •2008: International Conference on High-Rise Towers, Abu Dhabi

Education/Credentials
BSc, 1st Class Hons, in Building Engineering, University of Bath, UK MSc in Concrete Structures and Technology, University of London. Diploma of Imperial College, UK.

Awards and Honors
•Science Congress Special Award (for 2-seater Hovercraft - 1968) •Institution of Civil Engineers Award for outstanding performance at Bath University (1975) •Concrete Society Postgraduate study Bursary Award (1976) •Consular Representative for British High Commission, Nairobi. (1995 to 1998) •Examiner for Institution of Civil Engineers Professional Interviews, Nairobi. (1997 to 1998) •Branch Representative in Vienna for PI assessment for Inst. of Struct. Engrs. (1999 to date)

©2012 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.