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This article summarizes and analyses some of the recent developments in strategies to prevent or reduce the effects of restrained volume changes on the behaviour of concrete mat foundations. Mat foundations are usually restrained to some degree externally or internally. For the evaluation of the influence of external restraint in mat foundations, friction and interaction models are introduced. Early-age cracks due to restrained thermal contraction can be serious because, unlike flexural cracks, they can extend thr...

Concrete structures exposed to water pressure, such as underground basements, water retaining structures and tunnels, have to be designed as watertight in order to prevent damage due to moisture or water ingress. The design and execution of watertight concrete structures is regulated by guidelines, nevertheless, after execution they may suffer from various failures. The most frequent failure is leakage of ground water through cracks. Major steps in the design process of watertight concrete structures are summarize...