How To Calculate Bearing Capacity of Soil From Plate Load Test

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CAPACITY OF SOIL FROM

PLATE LOAD TEST?
Suryakanta | November 8, 2015 | Foundation, Geotechnical, How To | 30
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Plate load test is a field test which is commonly adopted to determine
the bearing capacity and settlement of soil under a given condition of Subscribe
loading.
In this test a square or circular rigid plate of standard dimension BULKING OF SAND – A
(generally 300 mm2 for square or 300 mm dia for circular) is placed at COMPLETE GUIDE
foundation level and load is applied in increments. Then settlement of
the plate corresponding to each load increment is recorded for
BULKING OF SA…
SA…
calculating bearing capacity of soil.
To know the detail test procedure click the link given below.
How to perform Plate Load Test On site?
00:00 36:15
CALCULATION OF BEARING
CAPACITY OF SOIL JOIN US ON FACEBOOK
The whole process of calculating bearing capacity of soil using plate load
test data consists of the following 4 primary steps.
Step-1 (Plotting a Load-Settlement Curve)

Step-2 (Finding Ultimate Bearing Capacity)
https://civilblog.org/2015/11/08/how-to-calculate-bearing-capacity-of-soil-from-plate-load-test/ 1/14
2/11/2020 HOW TO CALCULATE BEARING CAPACITY OF SOIL FROM PLATE LOAD TEST? - CivilBlog.Org
Step-3 (Calculating Safe Bearing Capacity)

Civilblog.org
Step-4 (Calculating Settlement of Proposed Footing) 14K likes
1. STEP-1 (PLOTTING A LOAD-

SETTLEMENT CURVE) Like Page
After performing the plate load test, plot a load settlement curve (see Be the first of your friends to like this
fig-1) on arithmetic scale, with applied pressure in kN/m2 in x-axis and

corresponding settlement (in mm) in y-axis.
Depending on the type of soil below the test plate, the load settlement
curve can be of 4 different types as shown below.
Curve A: This type

curve is obtained in
case of loose to
medium cohesion
less soil (i.e. 15 < N
< 30). This type of
curve shows no clear
point of failure.
Curve B: This type

curve is obtained in
Fig-1 Types of load settlement curves
case of cohesive
soil. As the load
increases the curve leans toward settlement curve.
Curve C: This type curve is obtained in case of partially cohesive soil

(i.e. C-phi soil). This type of curve also does not show a clear point of
failure.
Curve D: This type curve is obtained in case of dense cohesionless soil

(i.e. N > 30). This type of curve is common in case of dense sand or
gravel deposits.
2. STEP-2 (FINDING ULTIMATE BEARING

CAPACITY)
After drawing the load settlement curve, the next step is to identify the
failure point on the load settlement curve.
In case of curve B & D, the point of failure can be easily identified by

the sudden drop down of the curve. Or draw two tangent lines from
the beginning straight portion of the curve and end straight portion of
the curve. The point where these two tangents cross each other is called
the point of failure. The pressure corresponding to this point is called
ultimate bearing capacity of the soil.
But in case of curve A & C, it is difficult to find out a clear point of

failure on the load settlement curve. To overcome this problem scientist
Abbet introduced another method of drawing load settlement curve.
According to his method, a log-log chart is plotted with settlement are
plotted as abscissa against corresponding pressure intensities as
ordinate. Such a plotting will give two straight lines, the intersection of
which will be considered as the failure point. Find the corresponding
value of pressure to the failure point. This is considered as the ultimate
bearing capacity of soil.
log-log scale
3. STEP-3 (CALCULATING SAFE BEARING

CAPACITY)
In order to calculate safe bearing capacity of the soil, divide the ultimate
bearing capacity of soil by a suitable factor of safety.
Safe bearing capacity of soil = Ultimate bearing capacity / Factor of

safety
The values of factor of safety normally used are 2, 2.5 or 3 depending

upon the site condition and importance of the structure.
4. STEP-4 (CALCULATING SETTLEMENT

OF PROPOSED FOOTING)
The following formula as suggested by Terzaghi and Peck is used to
calculate the settlement of footing for granular soil.
Sf = Sp {[B*(Bp+0.3)] / [Bp*(B+0.3)]}2
For clayey soil the following equation can be used.
Sf = Sp*(B/Bp)
Where,
Sp = Settlement of plate, mm
Sf = Settlemnt of footing, mm
Bp = Width or dia of plate, m
B = Width of footing, m
For calculating settlement of a given size of foundation subjecting

to a given load, first calculate the corresponding intensity of loading by
dividing the area of footing by the load, i.e.
Intensity of Loading = Load (kN) / Area of footing (m2)
Then from the load settlement curve drawn using PLT data, find out the
plate settlement corresponding to the calculated intensity of loading
and use this value of settlement in the formula to calculate the
settlement of footing.
EXAMPLE CALCULATION
A plate load test was conducted using a plate of 0.75m*0.75m size, on a
uniform deposit of sand and the following data were obtained:
Pressure (KN/m2) Settlement (mm)
0 0
50 1.5
100 2
200 4
300 7.5
400 12.5
500 20
600 40.6
Calculate the safe bearing capacity of soil taking factor of safety as 2.5.
Calculate settlement of a square footing of size 2mx2m at safe bearing

capacity
ANSWER
Calculation of Safe Bearing Capacity
From the load settlement curve (see fig below) the ultimate bearing
capacity of soil is found to be 500 kN/m2 and corresponding settlement
is 12 mm.
Load settlement curve
So Safe bearing capacity (qsafe) = Ultimate bearing capacity (qult) /

Factor of safety = 500 / 2.5 = 200 kN/m2
Calculation of Footing Settlement
Width of footing (B) = 2m
Width of plate (Bp) = 750 mm = 0.75m
Plate settlement (Sp) = 12mm
So settlement of footing at safe load can be calculated using the

following formula
Sf = Sp {[B*(Bp+0.3)] / [Bp*(B+0.3)]}2
Sf = 12 {[2*(0.75+0.3)] / [0.75*(2+0.3)]}2
Sf = 17.78 = 18 mm
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Suryakanta
Geotechnical-Material Engineer. You can
connect me on Google +. To know more about
me just visit AboutMe
30 COMMENTS
UTTAM SINGH March 3, 2019 Reply
What is ultimate bearing capacity
Christine November 18, 2018 Reply
Hi Mr Suryanta, I would like to ask for a reference of

your Fig.1 which I can cite on the paper Im writing. Do
you have any article of that? Please send me email.
Thank you.
Woundersan June 24, 2018 Reply
Thank you for your study,may I ask you what articles are
you quoting? Such as the scientist Abbet,could you tell
me which codes support this method that calculate the
bearing capacity?
rs sundaram May 9, 2018 Reply
clear steps it is useful for civil engineers. thanks you

admin
Firdaus March 7, 2018 Reply
Hi,
I read through your step-by-step calculation.
The ultimate bearing capacity is 500kN/m2 with plate

settlement of 12mm.
but, if safe bearing capacity is 200kN/m2, hence the

plate settlement is approximately 4.5mm,
and using the calculation above and substitute 4.5mm in

settlement of plate,hence the correspondng settlement
at safe bearing capacity shall be 6.7mm.
why we shall use 12mm in the formula like u mentioned

above?
Yusuf Bhuriwala September 4, 2018 Reply
We always calculate Settlement of footing for

ultimate bearing pressure of soil. But we
desing footing using safe bearing Capacity for
safety reasons. And this settlement should be
under prescribed limits by code.
Ahmad Sanayee March 7, 2018 Reply
You have not calculated ABC of footing as you have

calculated Settlement, the ABC 200kpa is of plate not of
footing???
k,m, jain November 11, 2017 Reply
for instant decision of bearing capacity of soil can we use dynamic

falling weight deflectometer
k,m, jain November 11, 2017 Reply
can we decide ultimate bearing capacity of soil by

dynamic falling weight deflectometer instantly.
Ye Naing June 28, 2017 Reply
Our minimum requirement of Bearing Capacity is

100kN/m2, how to do PLT and how to report on this ?
please explain me .Thanks!
Wu April 24, 2017 Reply
I HAVE STRIP FOOTING WITH SHORT DIMENSION 1 M, IN

THIS CASE WHAT I WILL CONSIDER B ? IS B ALWAYS THE
SHORTEST DIRECTION OF THE FOOTING OR THIS
FORMULA FOR SQUARE FOOTINGS ONLY
ALAA March 7, 2017 Reply
HI
I HAVE STRIP FOOTING WITH SHORT DIMENSION 1 M, IN
THIS CASE WHAT I WILL CONSIDER B ? IS B ALWAYS THE
SHORTEST DIRECTION OF THE FOOTING OR THIS
FORMULA FOR SQUARE FOOTINGS ONLY
diego March 6, 2017 Reply
Hi Mr Suryakanta can you send me the references of the

figures published (Fig-1 Types of load settlement curves
and figure for log-log scale)?? I also need the
bibliographic reference, some work published by Abbet
which cites in his article. thank you very much
Diego
mohamed hatim February 17, 2017 Reply
thank you very much
Junel Haque Mazumder December 1, 2016 Reply
Why the load is in kg/cm2..?
Eng September 9, 2016 Reply
Why did you only plot it on a normal scale and not a Log-
Log Scale as per Abbott’s method?
Oyewole opeyemi August 11, 2016 Reply
Very educative and thoughtful.
Diyana July 28, 2016 Reply
Hi you mentioned in your entry above in example

calculation to calculate actual settlement at safe bearing
pressure.
“From the load settlement curve (see fig below) the

ultimate bearing capacity of soil is found to be 500
kN/m2 and corresponding settlement is 12 mm”
so when to calculate the settlement at safe bearing

pressure of 200kN/m2, do we need to recheck the
corresponding plate settlement at 200kN/m2 to use in
the settlement formula or just use the settlement of
500kN/m2 (12mm) just like what you did in your
example?
Would appreciate if you could answer me. Thank you
Suryakanta July 29, 2016 Reply
No need to check for settlement at 200kN/m2
Diyana August 2, 2016 Reply
Hi,
Mr.Suryakanta however, your

question is
“Calculate the safe bearing capacity
of soil taking factor of safety as 2.5.
Calculate settlement of a square
footing of size 2mx2m at safe
bearing capacity”
So, we already know the safe

bearing capacity is 200kN/m2 from
the ultimate bearing capacity of
500kN/m2.
And if we directly use the 12mm for

calculating the settlement, it will
represent the settlement at ultimate
bearing capacity (from graph) and
not safe bearing capacity. So if we
recheck the graph, the approximate
settlement at 200 kN/m2 is 4mm,
then we calculate the actual footing
2mx2m settlement using this plate
settlement of 4mm instead of 4mm.
Can you kindly explain to me. This

make me a bit confuse. Is this the
same approach for clay soil as
well.Thank you
Sandeep Samota October

11, 2018 Reply
Hi Diyana, We are checking

settlement coresponding to ultimate
bearing capacity because we are
considering same factor of safety in
settlement also. If we calculate the
same for safe bearing capacity then

we are not considering any factor of
safety. Allowable settlements are
without considering any FOS.
Diyana December 16, 2016 Reply
Hi Mr Suryakanta,
Hopefully you can help me here to

clear the my confusion. why we dont
need to check settlement at
200kN/m2 as you said above?
your question is
“Calculate the safe bearing capacity
of soil taking factor of safety as 2.5.
Calculate settlement of a square
footing of size 2mx2m at safe
bearing capacity”
So, we already know the safe

bearing capacity is 200kN/m2 from
the ultimate bearing capacity of
500kN/m2.
And if we directly use the 12mm for

calculating the settlement, it will
represent the settlement at ultimate
bearing capacity (from graph) and
not safe bearing capacity.
So if we recheck the graph, the

approximate settlement at 200
kN/m2 is 4mm, then we calculate
the actual footing 2mx2m
settlement using this plate
settlement of 4mm instead of
12mm.
Can you kindly explain to me. This

make me a bit confuse. Is this the
same approach for clay soil as
well.Thank you
Gainful June 14, 2016 Reply
Hi, please outside PLT what other test method can be

adopted for determining the load bearing capacity of soil
for a building.
thanks
Faisal javed April 11, 2016 Reply
Dear sir, yesterday I performed plate load test for

building I used showel of 21ton weight. Consultant did
objection and force me to minimum 50 ton load. Kindly
tell me the min load and maximum load that we can
apply during this test? Thank you very much
Peter H Nduati March 21, 2016 Reply
The plate bearing test is a simple test and quite suitable

for buildings. In case of a road, we are dealing with
dynamic loads, which are better simulated with the
Falling Weight Deflectometer. I have problem, whereby
the road is heavily trafficked, but short. The FWD needs
to be mobilised from 500 km, which is not economical
for a 1 km road. In your opinion, what is the correlation
between the Ultimate Bearing Capacity using the Plate
Bearing Test and ” Equivalent half space long term
stiffness” of composite foundation as stipulated in the
British Road Design Manual?Eng Peter Nduati
Binbarakat January 17, 2016 Reply
Thank you very much for your informaton
vikram December 16, 2015 Reply
hi..we have did plate load test using square plate…but

our consultant is asking it to be done by circular
plate..so is there any supporting document is available
to justify that both will give same results…
Suryakanta December 16, 2015 Reply
Dear Vikram, plz refer clause 4.4 of IS: 1888.

According to this clause; except in case of
road problems and circular footings, square
plates may be adopted.
Odukoya Kehinde November 9, 2015 Reply
I think this is a rational method of determining the

bearing capacity of the ground. I also believe that
making alot of plate bearing tests on the soil type and
making correlations of the values ( the applied pressure
and settlements values) using log-log graph could give a
more approximate values of ultimate and safe bearing
capacities formulae respectively.Thanks.
Anil Moraskar November 8, 2015 Reply
Can I ask questions about any subject on civil engg?
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2/11/2020 HOW TO CALCULATE BEARING CAPACITY OF SOIL FROM PLATE LOAD TEST? - CivilBlog.

NOW TRENDING: 7 FACTORS INFLUENCING RE... BULKING OF FINE AGGREGAT...

HOW TO MINIMISE THE DEFE... SPLITTING TENSILE STRENG...

CONSTRUCTION ▼ VIDEO LECTURES

HOW TO CALCULATE BEARING Search the site 

CAPACITY OF SOIL FROM

PLT (PLATE LOAD TEST) posts.

How to perform Plate Load Test On site?

Step-1 (Plotting a Load-Settlement Curve)

Step-3 (Calculating Safe Bearing Capacity)

1. STEP-1 (PLOTTING A LOAD-

fig-1) on arithmetic scale, with applied pressure in kN/m2 in x-axis and

Curve A: This type

Curve B: This type

Curve C: This type curve is obtained in case of partially cohesive soil

Curve D: This type curve is obtained in case of dense cohesionless soil

2. STEP-2 (FINDING ULTIMATE BEARING

In case of curve B & D, the point of failure can be easily identified by

But in case of curve A & C, it is difficult to find out a clear point of

3. STEP-3 (CALCULATING SAFE BEARING

Safe bearing capacity of soil = Ultimate bearing capacity / Factor of

The values of factor of safety normally used are 2, 2.5 or 3 depending

4. STEP-4 (CALCULATING SETTLEMENT

For clayey soil the following equation can be used.

Bp = Width or dia of plate, m

For calculating settlement of a given size of foundation subjecting

Intensity of Loading = Load (kN) / Area of footing (m2)

Pressure (KN/m2) Settlement (mm)

Calculate settlement of a square footing of size 2mx2m at safe bearing

Load settlement curve

So Safe bearing capacity (qsafe) = Ultimate bearing capacity (qult) /

Calculation of Footing Settlement

Width of footing (B) = 2m

Width of plate (Bp) = 750 mm = 0.75m

Plate settlement (Sp) = 12mm

So settlement of footing at safe load can be calculated using the

Share 5  Email  Print  More

Tags: Bearing Capacity, Plate Load Test

HOW TO DETERMINE WHAT IS VOLUME

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

UTTAM SINGH March 3, 2019 Reply

What is ultimate bearing capacity

Christine November 18, 2018 Reply

Hi Mr Suryanta, I would like to ask for a reference of

Woundersan June 24, 2018 Reply

rs sundaram May 9, 2018 Reply

clear steps it is useful for civil engineers. thanks you

Firdaus March 7, 2018 Reply

I read through your step-by-step calculation.

The ultimate bearing capacity is 500kN/m2 with plate

but, if safe bearing capacity is 200kN/m2, hence the

and using the calculation above and substitute 4.5mm in

why we shall use 12mm in the formula like u mentioned

Yusuf Bhuriwala September 4, 2018 Reply

We always calculate Settlement of footing for

Ahmad Sanayee March 7, 2018 Reply

You have not calculated ABC of footing as you have

k,m, jain November 11, 2017 Reply

for instant decision of bearing capacity of soil can we use dynamic

k,m, jain November 11, 2017 Reply

can we decide ultimate bearing capacity of soil by

Ye Naing June 28, 2017 Reply

Our minimum requirement of Bearing Capacity is