Strip Footing for Bearing Wall per ACI 318-25

Summary: Design a continuous strip footing under a wood-frame bearing wall per ACI 318-25 Chapter 13. Free structural design software for one-way flexure, shear,…

Overview

Building / scenario

• Site / exposure: ACI 318-25

Problem statement

A two-story wood-frame bearing wall carries 2.0 kip/ft dead load and 1.0 kip/ft live load. Soil bearing 2500 psf. Design a strip footing per ACI 318-25. Strip footings are designed per unit length (1 ft) for bearing, one-way shear, and flexure.

Workflow in StructSuite

StructSuite's free structural design software applies ACI 318-25 Chapter 13 for strip footings: bearing pressure per unit length, one-way shear (§7.4.3), flexure (§7.3), development length (§25.4). Select Strip footing (wall) in Geometry; enter wall loads in Loads. Load combinations per ASCE 7-22 §2.2. Common for residential and light commercial bearing walls.

Design considerations (excerpt)

Strip width = load per ft / q_a. 3 kip/ft / 2.5 ksf = 1.2 ft → 14–18 in. typical. Thickness for one-way shear (no punching for strip). 8–12 in. thick for 12–18 in. width. Wider footing = less bearing stress; thicker = more shear capacity.

3 kip/ft (2 D + 1 L) typical two-story wood bearing wall. Dead: studs, sheathing, floors, roof. Live: floor 40 psf × tributary. Heavier walls (masonry, CLT) 4–6 kip/ft. Bearing uses service; shear/flexure use factored.

f'c=2500 psi common for residential strip footings; 3000 psi required in SDC D/E/F per ACI §19.2.1.1. 2500 vs 3000: ~15% difference in √f'c for shear. q_allow 1500 psf without geotechnical; 2000–4000 with report. #4 or #5 bars typical;…

Related terms

• StructSuite
• structural engineering
• design example
• foundation
• ACI 318
• strip footing wall

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