INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 
 
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING 
 
Assignment # 4 
 
CE352A‐Foundation Design 

1) (a) State the assumptions made in Rankine’s & Coulomb’s earth pressure theories and how do
they differ from each other ?
(b)What is the role of wall friction ?

2) Derive the expression for Rankine's active and passive pressures for a frictionless vertical wall
using Mohr circle method when the backfill is inclined at an angle  with horizontal.

3) A 4 m wall retains a dry sand backfill with a unit weight of 18.3 kN/m3, an angle of internal
friction of 36° and a porosity of 31%. The backfill is fully drained through weep holes.
(a) What is the magnitude of the backfill force on a 1 m wide slice of wall if it is not allowed to
deflect?
(b)What is the magnitude of the backfill force on the same 1 m wide slice, if the wall does deflect
enough to develop a Rankine active earth pressure condition?
(c) What is the new force on the wall, and its location from its heel, if the wall’s weep holes are
clogged and the water table now rises to within 1 m of the ground surface behind the wall?

4) Calculate the Factor of Safety against, (a) overturning, (b) sliding, and (c) bearing capacity
failures.
5) Estimate the allowable load carrying capacity of the pile in the following cases:

(a) For a square pile of width 300mm and length 20m in clay with c = 25 kPa. Given α = 0.3

(b) For a circular pile of diameter 450 mm and length 20m in sand with  = 35°. Given the
pile is a high displacement driven pile with N60 = 35

6) Determine the allowable point bearing capacity of a pile of diameter 800mm resting on a
rock of laboratory unconfined compressive strength 180 MN/m2 and ' = 45°.