A foundation is that part of the structure which is in direct contact with the ground and transmits the load of the structure to the ground. It includes the soil or rock of the earth’s crust or any special part of the structure which serves to transmit the loads into the soil or rock. The main purpose of the transmissions of load can be satisfied by a particular type of foundation that takes into account the properties of the supporting soil.
Thus the supporting soil plays a major role in the performance of foundation. Hence it is of prime importance to know the soil which is done by a proper soil investigation. It is necessary to know about the types of soils and their distribution to decide a particular type of foundation.
The structural support is actually being provided by a soil-foundation system. This combination of soil and foundation (now referred to as soil-structure interaction) can not be separated. Although engineers are aware of this relationship, it is common practice to consider the structure to be sound and to attribute the failure of the foundations to the failure of the supporting soil.
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