RATIONAL FOUNDATIONS ON FROST HEAVING SOILS

In Russia, there was patented a new non-traditional way to construct foundations of cottages and multistory buildings on frost heaving soils, which has been used successfully in conditions of seasonal freezing of soils and also in regions with severe climate and permafrost.

The traditional ways of constructing foundations on frost heaving soils require placing footings below the frost line, which in spite of the high costs of zero cycle stage construction, does not guarantee the reliability and durability of foundations. Our non-traditional way of designing and constructing foundations allows the evaluation of normal frost heave forces and their non-uniformity with a new precise method, which makes it possible to calculate loads acting on foundation from expansive soil and, therefore, to create shallow foundations capable of withstanding the additional forces originated due to non-uniformity of frost heave. These are presently not listed yet in any of existing normative documents on construction. This makes it possible to practically completely eliminate zero cycle stage of construction (which can reach 40 - 50% of the total cost of construction of a cottage). In this way concrete which is usually lying in the ground can be used for construction of one more technical floor, which could be used as a garage, heater, sauna, workshop, etc. This new non-traditional way to raise foundations was introduced into practice in 1991 in the Leningrad (Saint Petersburg) region in the construction of brick cottages.

The installation of the bases was done in the wintertime on frozen heaving loamy soils. Levelings were conducted on a regular basis for two years to control a condition of the foundations. The results of levelings have shown that the offered method of designing and raising foundations is rational and reliable. Settling occurred only during the construction period starting from the beginning of thawing out (May) and continued due to growth of loads during construction of cottages, but then completely stabilized before the construction was completed (July), and did not develop further in the consequent years. The non-uniformity of settlements, considerably smaller than accepted value of i = 0.005, was observed only during the construction period due to non-uniform growth of loads and completely disappeared after the construction was completed.

There have been no deformations observed in the new non-traditionally constructed shallow foundations of the cottages for five winter seasons (1992 - 1997). We can help you evaluate the degree of heaving and frost resistance of soils and design the the most rational type and construction of the foundation for your construction.

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