SOIL BEARING CAPACITY
settlement within tolerable limit, (2) no shear
FOR SHALLOW FOUNDATIONS
1.1 ULTIMATE SOIL-BEARING CAPACITY
Lowest part of a structure generally is
referred to as the foundation.
Its function is to transfer the load of the
structure to the soil on which it is resting.
It transfers the load throughout the soil
without overstressing the soil.
spread footing- 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
strip footing-a long wall footing (length-to-
width ratio more than about five)
mat foundation- concrete pad
Pile and drilled shaft foundations-used for
heavier structures when great depth is
required for supporting the load
Types of pile foundations
friction piles-resisted by the shear stresses
end-bearing piles- load transmitted at its tip to
a firm stratum
drilled shafts-a shaft is drilled into the subsoil
and then is filled with concrete
FOUNDATION TYPES:
shallow foundations-foundations that have a
depth-of-embedment-to-width ratio of
approximately less than four
deep foundations-ratio greater than 4
For foundations to function properly: (1)
failure of the soil supporting the foundation
TWO MODES OF FAILURE THAT OCCUR TO A
FOUNDATION:
1. Settlement – elastic, consolidation
2. Bearing Capacity- deforming the soil
through development of a shear plane
beneath a foundation
General Shear Failure - soil passes into a state
of plastic equilibrium and failure occurs by
sliding
Local Shear Failure - slip surfaces end
somewhere inside the soil
DEFINITION OF TERMS
1. Foundation - a structure that transmits
loads to the underlying soil.
2. Footing - a foundation consisting of a small
slab for transmitting the structural load to the
underlying soil (Spread, Combined, Strip, Mat
or Raft)
3. Shallow Foundation - is one in which the
ratio of the embedment depth to the width of
foundation, Df/B <= 2.5
4. Embedment depth (Df) = is the depth
below the ground surface where the base of
the foundation rests.
5. Ultimate Bearing Capacity - the maximum
pressure/stress that the soil can support.
6. Ultimate net bearing capacity/ Safe
bearing pressure - is the maximum pressure
that the soil can support in excess of its
current overburden stress.
7. Safe bearing Capacity (qs) = is the intensitiy
of applied pressure or stress that the soil will
safely support without risk of a shear failure
qs =qult.net/FS

8. Allowable bearing capacity (qall) - is

allowable intensity of the applied pressure or
stress taking into account both bearing
capacity and settlement.
9. FS - is the ratio of the ultimate net bearing
capacity to the allowable bearing capacity. In
GE FS = 1.5 to 5.

1.2 GENERAL SHEAR FAILURE

Shallow foundation: Df ≤ B
Strip Foundation: Df /B >5 Square qu:
Deep Foundation: Df ≥ B

TERZAGHI’S ULTIMATE BEARING CAPACITY Circular qu:

B = diameter of the footing

MODIFIED BEARING CAPACITY FACTORS

CONTINUOUS:
REISSNER

PRANDTL

MEYERHOF

CORRECTIONS:
 For undrained condition, if the footing is
subjected to vertical loading (that is, a=0 ),
then

Depth factor: To account for the shearing

resistance developed along the failure surface
in soil above the base of the footing.
Shape factor: To determine the bearing
1.2.2 KRIZEK (1965) APPROXIMATION WITH
capacity of rectangular and circular footings.
SD OF 15%
Inclination factor: To determine the bearing
capacity of a footing on which the direction of
load application is inclined at a certain angle
to the vertical
MODIFIED GENERAL ULTIMATE BEARING
CAPACITY EQUATION (MEYERHOF):

VERTICAL: Ф’ - soil friction angle in degrees

valid for Ф’ = 0° to 35°
INCLINED:
1.2.3 LOCAL SHEAR FAILURE

Strip qu:

Square qu:

Circular qu:
 Net Allowable Bearing Capacity: allowable
load per unit area of the foundation in excess
of the existing vertical effective stress at the
level of the foundation

1.3 EFFECT OF GROUNDWATER

CASE 1: groundwater at D distance above

bottom of foundation

CASE 2: groundwater coincides with bottom

of foundation
q=γDf
γ, in the third term of the bearing capacity
equations should be replaced by γ’

CASE 3: groundwater at D distance below

bottom of foundation
q=γDf
γ, in the third term of the bearing capacity
equations should be replaced by γave

1.4 FACTOR OF SAFETY

Gross Allowable Bearing Capacity: allowable

load per unit area to which the soil under the
foundation should be subjected to avoid any
chance of bearing capacity failure