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TOPICS
1. Types of foundations.
2. Theory and basic concepts.
EAT 314 3. Terzaghi’s Bearing Capacity equations.
GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING 4. Factor Of Safety (FOS).
5. Effect of water table on bearing capacity.
SHALLOW FOUNDATIONS 6. General Bearing Capacity equation.
7. Settlement of shallow foundation.
LECTURER : MR. ZUHAYR BIN MD. GHAZALY
H/P : 014-7170838

TYPES OF FOUNDATIONS • Soil with low-load bearing capacity, size of spread

• Lowest part of a structure referred to as foundation.
• Transfer load of the structure to the soil on which it is
resting.
• Properly designed foundation transfers the load
throughout the soil without overstressing the soil.
• Overstressing results in either excessive settlement or
shear failure of the soil, damage to structure.
• Must evaluate bearing capacity of soils.
• A spread footing is simply an enlargement of a
load-bearing wall or column that makes it possible
to spread the load of the structure over a larger
area of the soil.
footings is larger. More economical to construct
entire structure over a concrete pad (mat
foundation).
• Pile and drilled shaft foundations used for heavier
structures when great depth is required to support
the load.
• Piles are structural members made of timber,
concrete, or steel that transmit the load of
superstructure to the lower layers of the soil. Two
types ; end-bearing piles and friction piles.
• Friction piles ; load is resisted by the shear stresses
generated along the surface of the pile.
• End-bearing pile ; load carried is transmitted at its
tip to a firm stratum.

• Drilled shafts ; drilled into the subsoil and then is filled

THEORY AND BASIC CONCEPTS
with concrete. Metal casing may be used while the
shaft is being drilled. The casing may be left in place • For a shallow foundation to function properly :
o Have to be safe against overall shear failure in the soil that
or withdrawn during placing of concrete. Diameter
supports them.
of drilled shaft is much larger that pile.
o Cannot undergo excessive displacement, or settlement.
• Three types of failure :
o General Shear Failure.
o Local Shear Failure.
o Punching Shear Failure.
• Consider the case of a long rectangular footing of
width B located at the surface of a dense sand
layer (stiff soil).
• Uniformly distributed load, q per unit area is applied
to the footing, it settles.

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• If the load increased, settlement is gradually
increased.
• When the value of q = qu is reached, bearing
capacity failure occurs. The footing undergoes a
very large settlement without any further increase of
q.
• In a loose-to-medium dense sand, different
settlement. (local shear failure)
• Fairly loose soil, punching shear failure occurs.
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TERZAGHI’S ULTIMATE BEARING
CAPACITY EQUATION
• According to Terzaghi, a foundation may defined
as a shallow foundation if the depth, Df is less then
or equal to its width, B.
• Consider effects of the unit weight of soil, cohesion,
and surcharge. Assumed that the bearing capacity
failure of soil takes place by general shear failure.
• Nc, Nq, and Nγ are bearing capacity factors. Refer
to table ‘Terzaghi’s Bearing Capacity Factors’.
• Square and circular footing.
• For local shear failure, the ultimate bearing
capacity of soil is different.
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EFFECTS OF GROUNDWATER TABLE

• Previously, assumed that the groundwater table is
located at a depth much greater than the width, B
of the footing.
• If the groundwater table is close to the footing,
some changes are required.
• Three different conditions can arise regarding the
location of the groundwater table with respect to
the bottom of the foundation.

EXAMPLE 1
FACTOR OF SAFETY
• Generally, FOS about 3 or more is applied to the
ultimate soil-bearing capacity to arrive at the value
of the allowable bearing capacity.
• Two basic definitions ; Gross allowable bearing
capacity and Net allowable bearing capacity.
• Net allowable bearing capacity is the allowable
load per unit area of the foundation in excess of the
existing vertical effective stress at the level of the
foundation.

EXAMPLE 2 GENERAL BEARING CAPACITY

EQUATION
• Terzaghi’s ultimate bearing capacity equations are
for continuous, square, and circular foundations
only. They do not address the case of rectangular
foundations (0 < B/L < 1).
• The equation do not take into account the shearing
resistance along the failure surface in the soil above
the bottom of the foundation.
• Meyerhof suggested a form of general bearing
capacity equation.

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EXAMPLE 3 ULTIMATE LOAD FOR SHALLOW

FOUDATIONS UNDER ECCENTRIC LOAD

• One-Way Eccentricity
• Meyerhof introduced the concept of effective
area.
• Purkayastha and Char carried out stability analysis
of eccentrically loaded continuous foundations on
granular soil (c = 0) using the method of slices.

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EXAMPLE 4 EXAMPLE 5

SETTLEMENT OF SHALLOW ELASTIC SETTLEMENT BASED ON

FOUNDATIONS THEORY OF ELASTICITY
• 2 major types ; immediate or elastic settlement , Se • The elastic settlement can be calculated using the
and consolidation settlement, Sc. theory of elasticity.
• Elastic settlement takes place during or immediately • Settlement for flexible and rigid foundation.
after the construction of the structure.
• Consolidation settlement is time dependent and
takes place as the result of extrusion of pore water
from the void spaces of saturated clayey soils.
• Total settlement = elastic + consolidation.
• Consolidation settlement comprises 2 phases ;
primary and secondary consolidation settlement.
• Inorganic clays, primary > secondary.
• Organic soils, secondary > primary.

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EXAMPLE 6

PRIMARY CONSOLIDATION EXAMPLE 7

SETTLEMENT
• Consolidation settlement occurs over time in
saturated clayey soils subjected to an increased
load caused by construction of the foundation.