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Chapter 1 — Introduction and Sources

1.1 What foundation engineering is

Foundation engineering is the branch of geotechnical engineering concerned with the interface between a structure and the ground. It answers two questions together:

  1. Can the ground carry the load? — the bearing capacity problem.
  2. Will it move too much? — the settlement and deformation problem.

It also designs the structures that hold earth back — retaining walls, sheet pile walls, and braced excavations — and the analyses that keep slopes stable. Every foundation design must satisfy strength (no bearing failure, no sliding, no overturning) and serviceability (movement within tolerable limits) at the same time.

1.2 Why this reference is built on public-domain sources

Most foundation engineering textbooks — including the well-known academic texts — are copyrighted. Reproducing or closely paraphrasing them raises legal risk, especially for a site that translates its content into another language and publishes it openly.

The USACE Engineering Manuals and the FHWA NHI geotechnical manuals solve this problem elegantly:

  • They are works of the U.S. federal government and are therefore not subject to copyright in the United States — they may be reused, adapted, and translated freely.
  • They are written for practising engineers, not students — they are directly design-oriented.
  • They are authoritative and current: USACE and FHWA guidance is the basis for real infrastructure design across the United States and is widely referenced internationally.

1.3 The design process

Foundation design follows a consistent arc, whichever manual you follow:

  1. Investigate the site — establish the soil and rock profile, groundwater regime, and engineering properties (Chapter 2).
  2. Choose the foundation type — shallow (spread footings, mats) or deep (piles, drilled shafts), based on loads, ground conditions, and tolerable movement.
  3. Check bearing capacity (Chapter 3) and settlement (Chapter 4).
  4. Design the structural elements — footings, walls, sheet piles — and check their stability.
  5. Plan construction and monitoring — installation, quality control, and instrumentation (Chapter 14).

1.4 Limit states and factors of safety

Design must satisfy both ultimate limit states (collapse: bearing failure, sliding, structural failure) and serviceability limit states (excessive settlement or deflection). Two philosophies appear across the manuals:

  • Allowable-stress design (ASD) — compute an ultimate capacity and divide by a factor of safety.
  • Load and resistance factor design (LRFD) — apply load factors to demands and resistance factors to capacities.

This reference presents the underlying mechanics in allowable-stress terms, since that is the common language of the source manuals, and notes where LRFD changes the framing.

1.5 Key takeaways

  • Foundation engineering = bearing capacity + settlement + earth retention + slope stability.
  • This book is built entirely from public-domain USACE and FHWA manuals — free to reuse, adapt, and translate.
  • Design must satisfy strength and serviceability.
  • The process is always: investigate → select type → check capacity and settlement → design details → construct and monitor.