When visiting a site of an in-construction building, I noticed that even before construction began on the walls and other above-ground portions of the buildings, a large team was working on the foundation. They were actively making sure details of the foundation were accurate, and I wondered why the foundation needed to be so precise. It turns out, foundations play a huge role in the structure of a building.

The main purpose of the foundation of a building is to safely carry the weight of a building. Constructing a structure directly on the land would result in the building sinking into the soil due to its immense weight. Engineers found a workaround for this with the concept of a foundation. A foundation is usually made of a large slab of concrete. Because of the high surface area of the concrete, it remains stable on the ground as it compresses the soil under it. It also evenly distributes the pressure so there is less pressure on any given point of the soil. Foundations prevent structural collapse and are crucial in making sure a building doesn’t collapse or sink.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa (see video above) is a famous structure that shows the consequences of faulty foundation. The reason for its famous tilt is the fact that it was built on a shallow foundation, which was unfit for the marshy soil that the tower sits on top of. Due to the towers weight, the foundation and building began to sink on one side, resulting in the tower’s characteristic tilt. The foundation under the leaning tower of Pisa was only 3m deep, not nearly thick enough to support the large stone tower on soft soil. Historical examples like the leaning tower of Pisa are a constant reminder of the role foundations play and how ignoring the foundation could result in disaster, no matter how well designed a building may be above ground.Foundations play a major role in keeping structures stable and preventing collapse of buildings. Engineers must carefully determine the dimensions and thickness of a foundation to ensure that the building resting on top of it will be safe from falling over. While foundations are hidden and largely ignored by most people, it actually carries the whole weight of structures and ensures that buildings are safe enough to be used.