A fast guide to solving common design problems in building foundations, now in a new edition. Includes new material on settlements, soil modification, pole foundations, braced excavations, waterfront foundations, and slope stabilization. Written for those without full training as structural or design engineers, covering all the basics, including soil mechanics, design of common foundation elements, and the relations between building and foundation design, all supported by extensive illustrations. Mathematics is kept to a minimum, being generally restricted to simple algebra, plane geometry, and plane trigonometry.

JAMES AMBROSE is Editor of the Parker/Ambrose Series of Simplified Design Guides. He has practiced as an architect in California and Illinois, and as a structural engineer in Illinois. He was a professor of architecture at the University of Southern California.