And when did this very technology of reliable construction appear? Let's dive into the history of building a foundation. The construction of foundations dates back to ancient times. A kind of progenitors of today's foundation were the piles on which the huts of the inhabitants of Africa and Oceania were built. The huts were built on these very stilts in order to protect themselves from predators and enemies scurrying along the ground. Ancient settlements in the Oceania region consisted largely of huts, located on huge boulders, powerful stone slabs, and also on wooden piles that rose 2-3 meters above ground level.
In Europe, the pile foundation technology was mastered at the beginning of the 17th century. The city in which pile foundations were in particular demand during construction is Venice. There are palaces standing on wooden piles to this day. Some of these buildings are over five hundred years old.
Around the same time, in 1665, the city hall was erected in Amsterdam, the foundations of which were made by about 13.659 thousand piles. At the moment, this palace is one of the three residences of the King of the Netherlands.
The technology of foundation construction was not welcomed by all civilizations. The famous and very massive Egyptian temples, as well as the well-known pyramid of Cheops, were built without a foundation. The pyramid weighs about 4 million tons - the foundation for it would be required incredibly strong. However, already in the 4th century. BC. In ancient Egypt, they begin to build on dense massive foundations. When erecting this pyramid, a 53,000 m2 rock slab was used as a base, which was leveled over the entire area.
It is safe to say that the foundation is one of the most useful discoveries of mankind. Today, neither the construction of private houses, nor the construction of high-rise buildings can be imagined without the construction of the foundation. For hundreds of years of application, the technology of foundation construction has proven itself from the good side. Nowadays, engineers continue to develop this technology, coming up with something new that can make construction even more reliable.
First, let's take a look at the structural diagram of this foundation, and then take a closer look at each layer.
At the first stage, a plot of land is appropriately prepared on which the foundation will be laid. It is this layer that will be the basis for all other layers of the foundation. This layer is leveled and compacted with a special technique.
At the second stage, work will be carried out to install reinforced concrete piles, which will provide additional stability and strength to both the foundation and the entire building. At this stage, several types of piles could be used:
- Finished reinforced concrete piles;
- Bored (flooded) reinforced concrete piles.
For the installation of the first two types of piles, special, heavy equipment is used. The installation process is very noisy, and is also accompanied by strong ground vibration, which causes disturbance to the residents of houses located near the construction site. Considering that there are many residential buildings and objects located near the
“Panorama Bayil” construction site, it was decided to use 3 types of piles. For this purpose, 39 wells were drilled for pouring piles. The drilled wells passing through a thick layer of soil and deepened into the rock for another 2 meters. After that, specially prepared steel frames made of durable reinforcement were placed in the wells. Further, the wells were filled with a special concrete solution to the full depth.
Continuing the theme, we would like to acquaint you with modern foundations using the example of 'Baku Nar Residence' and 'Panorama Bayil' residential complexes. Laying a modern foundation is a very complex process, consisting of many stages of construction. The foundations of the aforementioned residential complexes consist of various materials and many layers. And work on laying the foundation covers many stages.Let's take a closer look at the foundation of the 'Panorama Bayil' residential complex, which has a more complex structure. The foundation laying of this building consists of 10 stages. One layer is formed at each stage.After all the piles were installed and passed the hardening stage, the soil in the area was additionally compacted and leveled. After that, the third stage of work began. At this stage, the entire area was covered with a layer of sand and gravel and also carefully compacted. At the fourth stage, the ground was covered with a layer of polyethylene. This coating has a dual purpose. The first is to prevent the penetration of moisture from the soil onto the structure being erected (in the future there will be several more insulating layers), and the second is to prevent the leakage of liquid from the concrete mixture into the soil, which reduces its hardness and bearing capacity.
At the fifth stage of the work, the first preparatory concrete layer was laid. No reinforcement cages are used in these layers. The preparatory concrete layers serve as the basis for the main reinforced concrete foundation structure. So, for laying the main layer of the foundation, before pouring concrete, a special base is prepared, an iron frame made of special reinforcement. This frame has a complex structure and great thickness, and when pouring a concrete mixture, it must be entirely inside the concrete. For this, the frame structure must be at least 35 mm from the bottom edge of the concrete layer. The flat surface of the concrete preparation layer allows for this. On its surface, at regular intervals, support 'islands' are installed on which the frame structure is then assembled. The next function of the preparatory concrete layer is to isolate the base layer of the foundation from the lower layers and prevent the leakage of liquid from the mixture of poured concrete into the lower layers and into the ground. Such a leak drastically reduces the hardness of the concrete and the load-bearing capacity of the entire foundation structure. Further, at stages 6, 7 and 8, three more layers of special insulation are installed. Two layers out of three, this is a special geotextile coating. A third layer is located between the two layers of this insulating material. This is a special PVC membrane. All three layers have high waterproofing properties and mechanical strength. At the ninth stage, the second preparatory concrete layer is laid. And finally, the tenth stage, laying the main foundation layer. This is a reinforced concrete, monolithic structure, 1700mm thick!
The foundation of the '
Baku Nar Residence' residential complex is arranged in a similar way, except for the piles, they are not used here. 'Mahal Construction' implements projects in accordance with modern requirements and using modern construction technologies. In the next article we will tell you about the technologies and materials used in the implementation of our projects.
