Foundations of educational buildings in Iraq past, present and future

Sammanfattning: Foundation is considered as one of the main parts of any structure such as buildings, railways, bridges, etc. The type of foundation used is highly dependent on the type and properties of soil. The design of foundations requires many factors that should be defined such as the load that the foundation is going to hold, geological conditions of the soil under the foundation, type of soil and the local building code criteria. There are number of differences in the geological and soil conditions in Iraq. As a consequence, these differences are reflected on the type of foundation to be used. Despite these differences, same materials and style of buildings are used all over Iraq. To have good information about the materials and the required design of the foundation, a comprehensive historical review was executed to highlight the progress of the materials and types of foundation that was used since the dawn of civilization up to the present (ancient, Islamic, Ottoman and British occupation till after independent). Present day situation had been analysed through a case study which illustrated the link between soil and foundation types in three different parts of Iraq (Mosul, Baghdad and Basrah). One building was analysed using STAAD. Pro software in these regions. Furthermore, the same building was analysed using local materials, which were historically used and was compared with present day materials used. It is evident that Iraqi designers and engineers require local code to define all the loads, materials and design of the foundation to be used. The use of local materials might be very effective from both engineering and economic perspectives.