1.0 FOUNDATION AND STEEL BUILDING ANCHORAGE
1.1 GENERAL STEEL FOUNDATION INFORMATION

Steel Building Manufacturer recommends that all building foundations, including pier sizes, grade beams and floor slabs, be designed by an experienced local foundation engineer. This engineer can also recommend excavation procedures, drainage practices, form work, reinforcing steel requirements and concrete proportioning. This will assure proper designs, expedite the work and reduce costs.

Proven construction for steel building techniques should be adhered to in the foundation work. The bottoms of all excavations should be level and smooth, and care should be taken to prevent cave-ins when utilizing the walls of the excavations for concrete forms. Strict adherence to OSHA and other local codes or laws governing shoring of excavation to prevent accidental cave-ins” is critical. Where the ground surface is not level, the bottoms of the foundations should be in steps coinciding with the piers (as shown). Fill areas should be properly compacted to prevent settling cracks. Footing should extend below any fill material.

Care should be taken to obtain a good finish on the floor slab and to maintain the correct elevation throughout the slab. Shrinkage cracks can be minimized by pouring the slab in alternate sections, “checker board fashion”. The outer corners of the foundation walls and piers should be sharply formed with straight sides and level tops. This will allow neat seating and good alignment of the base angle

Foundation Checking Procedures >>