BASEMENT

ARCHITECTUTAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION

AND MATERIALS

VEDITA BHAT

ROLL NO - 03

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BASEMENT
• A basement or cellar is one or more floors of a building that are either
completely or partially below the ground floor.

• Uses of basement-

• Parking

• Storage

• Locating electrical distribution system

• Cable television distribution point

• Locating boiler, water heater,

airconditioning system

• Staff areas in hotel

• Nuclear chemistry and radiation therapy and diagnostic resources in

basements to utilize the shielding from the earth in hospitals

Construction norms for basement

• Basement dimensions- Every basement shall be in every part at least 2.5

m. in height from the floor to underside of the roof slab or ceiling and
with maximum height not more than 4.5 m.

Construction of basement can be only done if the building is at the

distance of 2m from the adjacent building

• Fire fighting norms- In case of

basement for office, sufficient
number of exit ways and
access ways shall be provided
with a travel distance not
more than 15.0 m. The travel
distance in case of dead-end
shall be 7.5 m.

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 The basement shall be partitioned and in no case compartment shall be
more than 500 sq m. and less than 50 sq m. area except parking.
The first basement can be used for services/parking/other permissible
services. Lower basement, if provided, shall exclusively be used for car
parking only. .
The staircase of basement shall be of enclosed type having fire
resistance of not less than two hours and shall be situated at the
periphery of the basement to be entered at ground level only from the
open air through a lobby provided with fire resisting self closing door of
one hour rating.

• Light and ventilation-Each basement shall be

separately ventilated. Vents with cross-sectional
area (aggregate) not less than 2.5 percent of the
floor area spread evenly round the perimeter of
the basement shall be provided in the form of
grills or breakable starboard lights or pavement
lights or by way of shafts

• Ramps-
Straight Ramp Slope
• Half deck car parks where the
vertical separation between decks
is less than 1.5m, is 1:6.
• . Where vertical differences are
greater than 1.5m, is not less than
1:10.
• Where ramps are curved, 1:10 or
1:12 depending on the separation
Ramp Width
• The recommended minimum width for a one-way ramp is 3.0m with an
additional 0.3m for side clearance to the structure.
• The recommended width of the entry section for a turning approach to
a ramp is 3.5m.

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 BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION METHOD

1) TOP -DOWN CONSTRUCTION METHOD-

Top-down construction method as the name implies, is a construction method,

which builds the permanent structure members of the basement along with
the excavation from the top to the bottom. Top-down method is mainly used
for two types of urban structures, tall buildings with deep basements and
underground structures such as car parks, underpasses and subway stations. In
this case the basement floors are constructed as the excavation progresses.
The top/down method has been used for deep excavation projects where
tieback installation was not feasible and soil movements had to be minimized.
Top-down construction method which provides the significant saving of the
overall construction time has been adopted for some major projects where
time factor is of primary importance. The sequence construction begins with
retaining wall installation and then load-bearing elements that will carry the
future super-structure. The basement columns (typically steel beams) are
constructed before any excavation takes place and rest on the load bearing
elements. These load bearing elements are typically concrete barrettes
constructed under slurry (or caissons).

PROCEDURE

• Construct the retaining wall.

• Construct piles. Place the steel columns or stanchions where the piles
are constructed

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 • Proceed to the first stage of excavation.
• Cast the floor slab of first basement level
• Begin to construct the superstructure
• Proceed to the second stage of excavation; cast the floor slab of the
second basement level.
• Repeat the same procedure till the desired depth is reached
• Construct the foundation slab and ground beams, etc. Complete the
basement
• Keep constructing the superstructure till it gets finished.

BOTTOM TOP METHOD(CONVENTIONAL)-

Step 1- EXCAVATION

Excavation in most situations nowadays is done by mechanical means.

However, the exact method to be adopted still depends upon a number of
factors:

1. Nature of subsoil – affect type of machine used and the necessity of soil
protection.

2. Size of excavation – affect type of machine used and method to excavate.

3. Scale of work – large volume of excavation may involve complicated phasing

arrangement and work planning

4. Ground water condition – affect degree of protection (watertight sheet

piling or dewatering may required.)

5. Surrounding condition – impose certain restrictions and precautions (eg.

diversion of a government drain, or underpinning work to the nearby building
foundation)

Step 2- WATERPROOFING

The following provisions can contribute certain degree of water-tightness to

the basement during the construction:

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1. Sheet piling-- Sheet pile walls are constructed by driving prefabricated
sections into the ground. Soil conditions may allow for the sections to be
vibrated into ground instead of it being hammer driven. The full wall is formed
by connecting the joints of adjacent sheet pile sections in sequential
installation. Sheet pile walls provide structural resistance by utilizing the full
section

2. Diaphragm walls- A diaphragm wall is constructed using a narrow trench

excavated in ground and supported by an engineered fluid (typically a
bentonite mud) until the mud is replaced by the permanent material.
Generally diaphragm walls are made from reinforced concrete, though
unreinforced walls can also be used. Walls generally range in thickness from
500mm to 1500mm and can be excavated to depths of 50m or more.

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3. GROUTING- Grouting is often use to stop the penetration of water in sub-soil
with high permeability, such as in fissured and jointed rock strata. Row/s of
holes are bored on the soil and, usually cement grout, are injected under high
pressure. The cement grout will penetrate into the voids of the sub-soil and
form somewhat an impermeable curtain vertically separating the ground
water.

Thought the diaghpram wall provides water resistance, additional

waterproofing system has to be used. the most common among all being the
box type water proofing.

BOX TYPE WATER PROOFING

There are three types of basement construction that are the most common.
These are:

•Poured concrete

•Block, masonry walls

•Precast panels

Poured concrete basement are the most common and the choice that most
people prefer. This type of basement construction starts by pouring footing for
the basement foundation. After these are set, forms are used to hold the

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poured concrete wall in place as they dry. Poured concrete walls tend to be
stronger than other types of basement walls.

A block or masonry wall is the least expensive for basement walls. This type of
basement wall construction are made from cinder blocks. This method
requires less time than other methods of basement construction. To increase
the durability of this type of basement construction, steel rebar is sometimes
used to reinforce the masonry wall.

Precast panel basement wall construction is the method where the walls are
moulded at another location. Then the walls are transported to the building
and place on footers. This type of basement construction is quite strong but is
not as commonly done as poured or block basements

TYPES OF FOUNDATION FOR HIGH RISE

The factors that may influence the type of foundation selected to support a tall
building include the following location and type of structure.

 Magnitude and distribution of loadings.

 Ground conditions.
 Access for construction equipment.
 Durability requirements.
 Effects of installation on adjacent foundations, structures, people.
 Relative costs.
 Local construction practices.

Three common types of foundation system that are adopted for high-
rise buildings are :
• Raft Foundation
• Pile Foundation
• Combined Pile-Raft-Foundation (CPRF)

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RAFT FOUNDATION-

• Raft foundations (sometimes known as Mat Foundations) are a large

concrete slab which can support a number of columns and walls
• The slab is spread out under the entire building or at least a large part of
it which lowers the contact pressure compared to the traditionally used
strip or trench footings.
• Because of the speed and volume of houses required after the second
world war, the raft foundation was widely used.
• The raft foundation Is cheaper, easier to install and most importantly,
does not require as much excavation as the usual strip foundations.

When Raft Foundations Are Used?

•It is used for large loads, which is why they are so common in
commercial building which tend to be much larger, and therefore
heavier, than domestic homes
•The soil has a low bearing capacity so the weight of the building
needs to be spread out over a large area to create a stable
foundation
•The ratio of individual footings to total floor space is high.
Typically if the footings would cover over half of the construction
area then raft foundation would be used
•If the walls of the building are so close that it would cause the
individual footings to overlap, then raft foundations should be
used

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 PILE FOUNDATION-
• Often the ground conditions at a site are not suitable for a shallow
raft/mat foundation system, especially for high-rise buildings where the
vertical and lateral loadings imposed on the foundation are significant.
• In these circumstances, it is necessary to support the building loads on
piles, either single piles or pile groups, generally located beneath
columns and load bearing walls.
• A piled foundation for high-rise structures often comprises a large
numbers of piles and, therefore, the challenge in the design is capturing
the effects of the group interaction.
• It is well recognized that the settlement of a pile group can differ
significantly from that of a single pile at the same average load level due
to group effects.
• Also, the ultimate load that can be supported by a group of piles may
not be equal to the sum of the ultimate load which can be carried by
each pile within the group, and so consideration must be given to the
pile group efficiency.
•

PILE RAFT FOUNDATION

 Many high-rise buildings are constructed with thick basement

slabs. When piles are used in the foundation it is generally
assumed that the basement slab does not carry any of the
foundation loads.

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 In some cases, it is possible to utilize the basement slab, in
conjunction with the piles, to obtain a foundation that satisfies
both bearing capacity and settlement criteria.
 A piled raft foundation is a composite system in which both the
piles and the raft share the applied structural loadings.
 Within a conventional piled foundation, it may be possible for the
number of piles to be reduced significantly by considering the
contribution of the raft to the overall foundation capacity.
 In such cases, the piles provide the majority of the foundation
stiffness while the raft provides a reserve of load capacity.
 In situations where a raft foundation alone might be used, but
does not satisfy the design requirements (in particular the total
and differential settlement requirements), it may be possible to
enhance the performance of the raft by the addition of piles. In
such cases, the use of a limited number of piles, strategically
located, may improve both the ultimate load capacity and the
settlement and differential settlement performance of the raft
and allows the design requirements to be met.

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