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We have mentioned about some problems connected with building. One of them is a foundation. Architects and engineers are aware of the problems involved in laying building's foundations. They do not always realize to what extent the earth can be pressed down by the weight of a building. Too little allowance has sometimes been made for the possibility of a heavy structure's sinking unevenly. There are a lot of examples of foundations' problems. One of them is the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Why did the Leaning Tower of Pisa lean? The answer is that its foundations were not soundly laid. Though the Leaning Tower is 14 feet out of the perpendicular, it has never toppled. But there is a way out. As the building began to lean over, the builders altered the design of the tipper stories to balance it. At the same time as one side of it sank into the ground, the earth beneath was compressed until it became dense enough to prevent further movement.

That's why a foundation engineer has a lot of work. But in a tall modern structure the load may be very heavy indeed. IN this way the foundation engineer has an extremely important job to do. To begin with, he must have thorough understanding of soil mechanics, which entails a scientific study of the ground to see what load it can be without dangerous movement. WE know that trial pits, holes can be. So the engineer must collect undisturbed samples of earth from various depths. By examining this, the engineer can forecast the probable shifts in the earth during and after building, according to the sort of the foundation he designs. Thus he comes to the most important decision of all in the building's construction. He decides whether the earth is a type that can best support each column on a separate solid block, or whether he must aim at lightness.

It is important for the foundation engineer to know about different types of the ground. If it is a firm ground at great depth, the foundation engineer may use piles. These are solid shafts made either by driving reinforced, concrete deep into the ground, or by boring holes in the earth and pouring in the concrete. Each pile supports its load in one, or two ways. It may serve as a column with its foot driven into solid earth. At the same time it may stand firm because friction along its sides "grips" the column and prevents it from sinking.

But it may be a question of building's floating. In this way the foundations take the form of a vast, hollow concrete box. This box is divided into chambers. These ones will be house heating and ventilating plants as well as provide garage and storage space for the building.

The situations may be different. There are no problems at all or few of them. It can be if the earth is stable. Buildings stand on hard rock like granite or ironstone. For them neither piles nor need flotation be used. It is the best time for those foundation engineers whose buildings stand on the foundations possessing few problems.

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