Construction cost optimization of shallow foundation for sand soil in Indonesia

Abstract

In designing foundation, there are three fundamental requirements namely: ultimate limit state (ULS), serviceability limit state (SLS), and economics. Generally, the ULS and SLS are the focus of the design process, while the cost factors are not explicitly considered. This paper deals with the three requirements with the minimum construction cost as the controlling objective. A wide range of sand density conditions are considered, while the typical ULS and SLS design checks available in the literature are employed. The optimization tool used is the Solver add-in function available in MS-Excel™. The effects of different construction cost structures in four Indonesia's provinces are examined in this paper. The purpose of this research is to be able in designing the shallow foundation with 3 aspects consideration at once, namely ULS, SLS and economic. On the other hand, this research is to analyse the sensitivity's factor which influence the design, namely work unit price, soil properties and design's requirements.