The foundations of the building transfer the weight of the building to the ground. While 'foundation' is a general word, normally, every building has a number of individual foundations, commonly called footings. Usually each column of the building will have its own footing. Since the weight of the building rests on the soil (or rock), engineers have to study the properties of the soil very carefully to ensure that it can carry the loads imposed by the building. It is common for engineers to determine the safe bearing capacity of the soil after such study. As the name suggests, this is the amount of weight per unit area the soil can bear. For example, the safe bearing capacity(SBC) at a location could be 20 T/m2, or tones per square metre. This capacity also changes at different depths of soil. In general, the deeper one digs, the greater the SBC, unless there are pockets of weak soil in the earth. To properly support a building, the soil must be very firm and strong. It is co...