BS 1377 Part 9 : 1990 Standard

In the design of shallow foundation or traffic surface, design engineers need to know the
bearing capacity of soil underneath. Plate bearing test is carried out in the field to serve
this purpose. Results from the test can be used as design parameter or used to confirm
the design assumption.

 The test shall be carried out in general accordance with BS 1377: Part 9 1990 'in-
Situ Tests'.
 A circular plate having a maximum diameter of 300 - 600mm shall be used.
 Excavate to the test level as quickly as possible to minimise the effects of stress
relief, particularly in cohesive fills. A mechanical excavator may be used provided
that the excavator bucket does not have teeth and the last 100mm depth of
excavation is carried out carefully by hand.
 Carefully trim off and remove all loose material and any embedded fragments so
that the area for the plate is generally level and as undisturbed as possible.
 Protect the test area and the apparatus from moisture changes, sunlight and the
effects of adverse weather as soon as the test level is exposed and throughout the
test.
 The plate shall be placed on a thin layer (10 to 15mm thick) of clean dry sand to
produce a level surface on which to bed the plate.
 Set up the loading and deflection, measuring systems so that the load is applied to
the plate without eccentricity and the deflection system is outside the zone of
influence of the pattachments.ziplate. During these operations a small seating load
may be applied to the plate to enable adjustments to be made: this seating load
shall be less than 5kN/m2.
 The load shall be applied in five increments. Settlement reading will be taken at
0.50 minute intervals for the first 2 minutes, and 1 minutes intervals thereafter,
until detectable movement of the plate has stopped, i.e. until the average
settlement rate is less than 0.02mm per 5 minute interval.
 At each increment the pressure shall be maintained as near as possible constant.
 After the final test increment has been completed, the pressure in the hydraulic
pump shall then be released and the settlement of the plate allowed to recover.
When the recovery is essentially complete, the residual settlement value shall be
recorded.
 Our Range of Pressures start from 0 -1500 psi on the gauge
Test Setup

Equipment and Apparatus

 Counter weight such as box or platform with heavy material suck as concrete, steel,
etc. Total counter weight should be at least 10% greater than the anticipated
maximum test load.
 Hydraulic jack for applying the load
 Proving ring, 1 kg accuracy, for measuring the load
 Bearing Plate, 350mm 450mm and 600mm Diameter
 Four Dial gauges, reference beams.

Testing Procedure

 Select test location and depth at the point where the real foundation will be
constructed, if possible. If the test is performed in a test pit, width of the pit should
be at least 4 to 5 times of plate diameter.
 Apply the load to the plate in steps by means of hydraulic jack pushing against the
counter weight until reaching the maximum test load. Unloading should also be
done in the backward steps. Read and record the load of every step from proving
ring.
 Read settlement from the dial gauges. 3 to 4 dial gauges should be placed
separately at 120° or 90° respectively.

Interpretation of the Test Result

Results from the test shall consist of raw data, load-settlement curve, yield pressure,
recommended allowable pressure for foundation design, and modulus of subgrade
reaction (K) for road design.
Illustration of Scale Effect in Foundation Design

Load-settlement curve from Plate Bearing Test

Das, B.M. (1995) suggested following formula for calculating bearing capacity of the
actual footing to correct the scale effect.

For cohesive soil

qu (F| = qu

For cohesionless soil where

qu ~. = bearing capacity of footing

qu (p, = bearing capacity of test plate
BF. = breadth of footing
Bp. = breadth of test plate
If the above method give too high bearing capacity, Engineer should use judgment to limit
allowable pressure to be more reasonable for each type of soil condition.
The prediction of settlement can also be done from the load-settlement curve from the
test.
Determination of time over settlement

Advantages of the Test

 Gain understanding of foundation behavior which will enable the evaluation of

foundation bearing capacity and settlement under loading condition.
 Quick and easy to perform.

Limitations

 Plate bearing test can give bearing capacity of subsoil up to the depth about twice
of plate diameter only.
 There is a scale effect due to size of testing plate is smaller than the actual footing.

Sir,
 Sa QIL po ba galing ang Plate Load Test data na nakuha nyo. Kung sa QIL po galing yan, normally ang ginagamit nila ay
regular hydraulic jack na may 100mm+/- bore. Then ang plate na ginagamit nila ay 450mm diameter. Tapos ang load na
ginagamit nila ay yung Heavy Duty Truck na may 2 to 4 tonne load (normally soil or sand, but this does not matter anyway).
Ang importante ay makuha mo yung 5 load deviations using the pressure reading sa hydraulic jack (in PSI converted to kPa)
multiplied by the bore diameter makukuha mo yung load in Kilonewtons or Tonnes. Then itong load in kN or T divide mo
naman sa diameter ng plate para makula mo yung bearing capacity ng soil in Kilopascals, kPa (kN/m^2). Kunin mo yung
average nung 5 trials with corresponding settlement readings para makuha mo yung soil stiffness value, k=q x (Factor of
Safety=3) / 0.025m (or 1 inch maximum settlement as per standard practice). Unit of stiffness k is kN/m^3 or kN/m^2/m.
 In theory medyo may kailangan pang gawin na scaling or kailangan mo pa ng scale factor para maidealized yung effect and
difference nung 450mm dia. plate against the actual size/area of the foundation you are to construct. Kung medyo malabo sa
iyo yung description ko above, please bear with me for awhile hahanapin ko lang yung reference ko then send ko sayo.
Normally pag QIL ang gumawa ng Plate Load Test nag bibigay na rin sila ng Calculation for recommended Soil Bearing
Capacity.
 
Pero base sa series of test na ginawa namin dito sa Doha (Abu Hamour) pasado lahat ng test sa 3 x 350kPa or 1050kPa Soil
Bearing Pressure kaya in-adopt namin sa design yung SBC=350kPa with average settlement = 5mm to 10mm from 14.0m to
16m.0QNHD tapos 250kPa naman sa 16.0m to 18.0mQNHD. Syempre pag mas malalim pwede mong gamitin sa design na
SBC=500kPa, hanggang dun na lang wag ka nang tatas para safe. Palagay ko pareho pareho lang yan dito sa Doha or sa
buong Qatar depende na lang kung medyo iba talaga ang kundisyon ng lupa.