SOIL MECHANICS - II

BEARING CAPACITY OF SOIL

Lecture No. 1

Muhammad Usman Arshid

DEparTmEnT of civil EnginEEring

UnivErsiTy of EnginEEring & TEchnology Taxila
 Foundations
 Foundations are designed to transmit
load from the structure to the soil
 Foundations are generally grouped into
two categories:

A. Shallow Foundations
B. Deep Foundations
 Key Terms
• Foundation: structure that transmits loads to
underlying soils.

Shallow Foundations
(Df/B < 4.0)

Deep Foundations
(Df/B > 4.0)

Df = Embedment Depth
B = Breadth of Foundation (Coduto)

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 Types of Foundation Loads
1) Normal Loads
2) Shear Loads
3) Moment Loads
4) Torsion Loads

Load Sources:

1) Dead Loads 8) Impact Loads

2) Snow Loads 9) Temperature Induced Loads
3) Earth Pressure 10) Stream/Ice Loads
4) Fluid Loads 11) Centrifugal/Braking
5) Earthquake Loads 12) Shear Loads
6) Wind Loads

(Coduto)
 Shallow Foundations
 the most common (and cheapest) type
of shallow foundations are
SPREAD FOOTINGS

 square spread
footings to support
individual columns
(also circular)
McCarthy, 6th Ed.

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 Shallow Foundation Types
Spread Footing (column loads)

(Alex Mead)

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 Shallow Foundation Types
Strip Footing (wall loads)

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 Shallow Foundation Types
Mat (Raft) Foundation
(floor loads)

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 Strip Footings to support wall loads

McCarthy, 6th Ed.

 Rectangular and Trapezoidal Footings for two

columns (combined footing) or machine base

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McCarthy, 6th Ed.
 RAFT or MAT Foundations

McCarthy, 6th Ed.

 To lower the bearing pressure and reduce

differential settlement on soils with low bearing
capacity or erratic or variable conditions

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 Deep Foundations
• Insufficient soil “bearing capacity” near surface

• Excessive settlements on shallow foundations

• Differential settlements on shallow foundations

• Constructability issues (e.g., shallow GWT)

• Lateral loads, uplift forces

• (wind, waves, earthquakes, earth pressure)

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 Deep Foundations
 used when soil near surface has poor
load-bearing capacity

loose soil

bedrock

 they transmit load through weak soil

strata (overburden) to stronger, load-
bearing stratum (eg., bedrock, dense
sand and gravel, etc.) 12
 Types of Deep Foundations
PIERS  where load-bearing stratum
no more than 5 m deep
 not used much any more
McCarthy, 6th Ed.

CAISSONS  where over-

burden no more
than 8 - 9 m
thick
 replacing piers
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McCarthy, 6th Ed.
PILES
 deep over-burden
more than 8 - 9 m
thick
 Various types and
placement
methods

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Craig, 6th Ed.
 Ultimate Bearing Capacity, qf
The least pressure that would cause shear
failure of supporting soil immediately below
and adjacent to a foundation

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Craig, 6th Ed.
 Allowable Bearing Capacity
 the allowable bearing capacity, qa is the value
used in the design of footing size
 A factor of safety against general shear failure,
F is applied to the ultimate bearing capacity, qf:

qf
qa 
F

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 BASIC DEFINITIONS :
1) Ultimate Bearing Capacity (qu) :
The ultimate bearing capacity is the gross
pressure at the base of the foundation at which
soil fails in shear.
2) Net ultimate Bearing Capacity (qnu) :
It is the net increase in pressure at the base of
foundation that cause shear failure of the soil.
Thus,
qnu = qu – γDf (overburden pressure))
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 BASIC DEFINITIONS :
3) Net Safe Bearing Capacity (qns) :
It is the net soil pressure which can be safely
applied to the soil considering only shear failure.
Thus,
qns=qnu/FOS
4) Gross Safe Bearing Capacity (qs) :
It is the maximum pressure which the soil can
carry safely without shear failure.

qs = qnu / FOS + γ Df 18
 BASIC DEFINITIONS :
5)Net Safe Settlement Pressure (qnp) :
It is the net pressure which the soil can carry
without exceeding allowable settlement.

6) Net Allowable Bearing Pressure (qna ):

It is the net bearing pressure which can be used
for design of foundation.
Thus,
qna = qns ; if qnp > qns
qna = qnp ; if qns > qnp

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 Structural Requirements
1. Factor of Safety against General Shear Failure
of supporting soil is normally required to be in
the range 2.5 – 3.0
2. Tolerable amount of settlement; should not
cause significant damage to structure nor
interfere with function (s<25 mm)
3. Secondary to these, during construction, there
should be no adverse affect on adjacent
structures or services
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21
 ASD vs. LRFD
qnet
Allowable Stress Design (ASD) qall 
F .S .
• Historical Approach in Geotechnical Engineering
• “Blanket” factor of safety

Less
conservative More conservative
(More Risk) (More Cost)
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 ASD vs. LRFD

Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD)

• Modern Approach in Geotechnical Engineering

• Factored Load (Q) < Factored Resistance (R)

• gi are “load factors” for different types of loads (g ≥ 1.0)

• f are “resistance factor(s)” for nominal resistance (f ≤ 1.0)

• Effectively accounts for uncertainty in a quantitative way

• Structures may be designed for a specific amount of risk

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