SAFE BEARING PRESSURE AND

SETTLEMENT CALCULATION
INTRODUCTION
Allowable and Safe Bearing Pressures
When we design a foundation, we must see that
the structure is safe on two counts. They are:
 The supporting soil should be safe from shear
failure due to the loads imposed on it by the
superstructure,
 Cont’
 The settlement of the foundation should be
within permissible limits.
Two types of bearing pressures to deal with are:
• A pressure that is safe from shear failure
criteria,
• A pressure that is safe from settlement criteria.
For the sake of convenience, let us call the first
the allowable bearing pressure and the second
the safe bearing pressure.
 Cont’
• In all our design, we use only the net bearing
pressure and as such we call qna the net
allowable bearing pressure and qs the net safe
bearing pressure. In designing a foundation,
we use the least of the two bearing pressures.
Effect of Settlement on the Structure
• If the structure as a whole settles uniformly
into the ground there will not be any
detrimental effect on the structure as such. The
only effect it can have is on the service lines,
such as water and sanitary pipe connections,
telephone and electric cables etc. which can
break if the settlement is considerable. Such
uniform settlement is possible only if the
subsoil is homogeneous and the load
distribution is uniform.
 Cont’
• According to experience, the differential
settlement between parts of a structure may
not exceed 75 percent of the normal absolute
settlement. The various ways by which
differential settlements may occur in a
structure are shown in Fig. 13.1. Table 13.1
gives the absolute and permissible differential
settlements for various types of structures.
 Cont’
• Foundation settlements must be estimated
with great care for buildings, bridges, towers,
power plants and similar high cost structures.
The settlements for structures such as fills,
earthdams, levees, etc. can be estimated with
a greater margin of error.
Approaches for Determining the Net Safe Bearing
Pressure
• Three approaches may be considered for
determining the net safe bearing pressure of
soil. They are:
 Field plate load tests,
 Charts,
 Empirical equations.
Figure 13.1 Definitions of differential settlement for framed and load-
bearing wall structures (after Burland and Wroth, 1974)
Cont’
 FIELD PLATE LOAD TESTS
• The plate load test is a semi-direct method to
estimate the allowable bearing pressure of soil
to induce a given amount of settlement. Plates,
round or square, varying in size, from 30 to 60
cm and thickness of about 2.5 cm are employed
for the test. The load on the plate is applied by
making use of a hydraulic jack. The reaction of
the jack load is taken by a cross beam or a steel
truss anchored suitably at both the ends.
 Cont’
• The settlement of the plate is measured by a set
of three dial gauges of sensitivity 0.02 mm
placed 120° apart. The dial gauges are fixed to
independent supports which remain
undisturbed during the test.
• The method of performing the test is essentially
as follows:
 Excavate a pit of size not less than 4 to 5 times
the size of the plate. The bottom of the pit
should coincide with the level of the foundation.
 Cont’
 If the water table is above the level of the
foundation, pump out the water carefully and
keep it at the level of the foundation.
 A suitable size of plate is selected for the test.
Normally a plate of size 30 cm is used in sandy
soils and a larger size in clay soils. The ground
should be levelled and the plate should be
seated over the ground.
 Cont’
 A seating load of about 70 gm/cm2 is first applied
and released after some time. A higher load is next
placed on the plate and settlements are recorded
by means of the dial gauges. Observations on every
load increment shall be taken until the rate of
settlement is less than 0.25 mm per hour. Load
increments shall be approximately one-fifth of the
estimated safe bearing capacity of the soil. The
average of the settlements recorded by 2 or 3 dial
gauges shall be taken as the settlement of the plate
for each of the load increments.
 Cont’
• The test should continue until a total
settlement of 2.5 cm or the settlement at
which the soil fails, whichever is earlier, is
obtained. After the load is released, the elastic
rebound of the soil should be recorded.
Figure 13.2a Plate load test arrangement
 Cont’
• From the test results, a load-settlement curve
should be plotted as shown in Fig. 13.2b. The
allowable pressure on a prototype foundation
for an assumed settlement may be found by
making use of the following equations
suggested by Terzaghi and Peck (1948) for
square footings in granular soils.
Figure 13.2b Load-settlement curve of a plate-load test
 Cont’
• The permissible settlement Sf, for a prototype
foundation should be known. Normally a
settlement of 2.5 cm is recommended. In
above equations, the values of Sf, and bp are
known. The unknowns are Sp and B. The value
of Sp for any assumed size B may be found from
the equation. Using the plate load settlement
curve Fig. 13.3 the value of the bearing
pressure corresponding to the computed value
of SP is found.
 Cont’
• This bearing pressure is the safe bearing
pressure for a given permissible settlement Sf.
The value of immediate settlement only. If the
underlying soil is sandy in nature immediate
settlement may be taken as the total
settlement. If the soil is a clayey type, the
immediate settlement is only a fraction of the
total settlement.
Figure 13.2c Plate load test on non-homogeneous soil
• Assume, as shown in Fig. 13.2c, two layers of soil. The
top layer is stiff clay whereas the bottom layer is soft clay.
The load test conducted near the surface of the ground
measures the characteristics of the stiff clay but does not
indicate the nature of the soft clay soil which is below.
• The actual foundation of a building however has a bulb
of pressure which extends to a great depth into the poor
soil which is highly compressible. Here the soil tested by
the plate load test gives results which are highly on the
unsafe side.
 Cont’
• Plate load tests should be used with caution
and the present practice is not to rely too
much on this test. If the soil is not
homogeneous to a great depth, plate load
tests give very misleading results.
 cont’

• Housel's (1929) Method of Determining Safe

Bearing Pressure from Settlement Consideration
 The method suggested by Housel for determining the
safe bearing pressure on settlement consideration is
based on the following formula:
 cont’
• Objective
To determine the load Qf and the size of a foundation
for a permissible settlement Sf.
Housel suggests two plate load tests with plates of
different sizes, say B1 x B1 and B2 x B2 for this
purpose.
• Procedure
 Two plate load tests are to be conducted at the
foundation level of the prototype as per the
procedure explained earlier.
 Cont’
 Draw the load-settlement curves for each of
the plate load tests.
 Select the permissible settlement Sf. for the
foundation.
• Determine the loads Q1 and Q2 from each of
the curves for the given permissible settlement
Sf. Now we may write the following equations:
 Cont’

• The unknown values of m and n can be found

by solving the above equations. The equation
for a prototype foundation may be written as
 cont’

• Exercises:
• From Examples 13.1 up to 13.3
Notice: other remaining methods may be
documented in the book of Principles and practices
of soil mechanics given to the students.
 Components of Total Settlement

The total settlement of a foundation comprises three parts as follows

S = Se+Sc+Ss
where S = total settlement
Se = elastic or immediate settlement
Sc = consolidation settlement
Ss = secondary settlement
• Immediate settlement, Se, is that part of the total settlement, S,
which is supposed to take place during the application of loading.
• The consolidation settlement Sc is that part which is due to the
expulsion of pore water from the voids and is time-dependent
settlement.
• Secondary settlement Ss normally starts with the completion of the
consolidation. It means, during the stage of this settlement, the
pore water pressure is zero and the settlement is only due to the
distortion of the soil skeleton.
METHODS OF COMPUTING SETTLEMENTS
• Many methods are available for computing elastic
(immediate) and consolidation settlements.

• Computation of Elastic Settlements

• 1. Elastic settlement based on the theory of
elasticity
• 2. Janbu et al., (1956) method of determining
settlement under an undrained condition.
• 3. Schmertmann's method of calculating
settlement in granular soils by using CPT values.
METHODS OF COMPUTING SETTLEMENTS

• Computation of Consolidation Settlement

• 1. e-\og p method by making use of
oedometer test data.
• 2. Skempton-Bjerrum method.
 ELASTIC SETTLEMENT BENEATH THE CORNER OF A
UNIFORMLY LOADED FLEXIBLE AREA BASED ON THE THEORY OF
ELASTICITY
The net elastic settlement equation for a flexible surface
footing may be written as,

where Se = elastic settlement

B = width of foundation,
Es = modulus of elasticity of soil,
µ = Poisson's ratio,
qn = net foundation pressure,
If= influence factor.
For saturated clays, µ=0.5, and Es is to be obtained under
undrained.
conditions as discussed earlier. For soils other than clays,
the value of µ has to be chosen suitably and the
corresponding value of Es has to be determined. Table 13.3
gives typical values for µ as suggested by Bowles (1996).
• If, is a function of the LIB ratio of the foundation, and the
thickness H of the compressible layer. Terzaghi has a
given a method of calculating If, from curves derived by
Steinbrenner (1934),
for Poisson's ratio of 0.5, If= F1?
for Poisson's ratio of zero, If= F7 + F2.
• where F1 and F2 are factors which depend upon the ratios of H/B and
LIB.
• For intermediate values of If, the value of If can be computed by means
of interpolation or by the equation
The values of F1 and F2 are given in Fig. 13.7a. The elastic settlement at any point
N
(Fig. 13.7b) is given by
• To obtain the settlement at the center of the
loaded area, the principle of superposition is
followed.
• In such a case N in Fig. 13.7b will be at the center
of the area when B1 = B4 = L2 = B3 and B2 = L1
Then the settlement at the center is equal to four
times the settlement at any one corner.
• The curves in Fig. 13.7a are based on the
assumption that the modulus of deformation is
constant with depth.
• In the case of a rigid foundation, the immediate settlement at
the center is approximately 0.8 times that obtained for a flexible
foundation at the center. A correction factor is applied to the
immediate settlement to allow for the depth of foundation by
means of the depth factor df Fig. 13.8 gives Fox's (1948)
correction curve for depth factor. The final elastic settlement is

where,
Sef =final elastic settlement
Cr=rigidity factor taken as equal to 0.8 for a highly rigid foundation
df=depth factor from Fig. 13.8
Se=settlement for a surface flexible footing

Bowles (1996) has given the influence factor for various shapes of
rigid and flexible footings as shown in Table 13.4.
 JANBU, BJERRUM AND KJAERNSLI'S METHOD OF
DETERMINING ELASTIC SETTLEMENT UNDER UNDRAINED
CONDITIONS

• Probably the most useful chart is that given by Janbu

et al., (1956) as modified by Christian and Carrier
(1978) for the case of a constant Es with respect to
depth.
• The chart (Fig. 13.9) provides estimates of the
average immediate settlement of uniformly loaded,
flexible strip, rectangular, square or circular footings
on homogeneous isotropic saturated clay.
• Poisson's ratio is assumed equal to 0.5. The factors µo and
µ1 are related to the Df/B and HIB ratios of the foundation
as shown in Fig. 13.9. Values of µ1 are given for various LIB
ratios.
• Rigidity and depth factors are required to be applied to Eq.
(13.22) as per Eq. (13.21). In Fig. 13.9 the thickness of
compressible strata is taken as equal to H below the base of
the foundation where a hard stratum is met with.
• Generally, real soil profiles which are deposited naturally
consist of layers of soils of different properties underlain
ultimately by a hard stratum. Within these layers, strength
and moduli generally increase with depth. The chart given in
Fig. 13.9 may be used for the case of Es increasing with
depth by replacing the multilayered system with one
hypothetical layer on a rigid base.
 SCHMERTMANN'S METHOD OF CALCULATING
SETTLEMENT IN GRANULAR SOILS BY USING CPT
VALUES
• The strain is assumed to increase from a minimum at
the base to a maximum at B/2, then decrease and
reaches zero at a depth equal to 2B. For strip footings
of L/B > 10, the maximum strain is found to occur at a
depth equal to the width and reaches zero at a depth
equal to 4B. The modified triangular vertical strain
influence factor distribution diagram as proposed by
Schmertmann (1978) is shown in Fig. 13.10. The area
of this diagram is related to the settlement. The
equation (for square as well as circular footings) is
 ESTIMATION OF CONSOLIDATION SETTLEMENT BY
USING OEDOMETER TEST DATA

Settlement calculation from e-logp curves

• A general equation for computing oedometer
consolidation settlement may be written as follows.
• Normally consolidated clays

• Over consolidated clays

for Po+Δp < pc
If the thickness of the clay stratum is more than 3 m the stratum has to be divided into layers
of thickness less than 3 m. Further, e0 is the initial void ratio and pQ, the effective overburden
pressure corresponding to the particular layer; Δp is the increase in the effective stress at the
middle of the layer due to foundation loading which is calculated by elastic theory. The
compression index, and the swell index may be the same for the entire depth or may vary
from layer to layer.
Settlement calculation from e-p curve
Eq. (13.35) can be expressed in a different form as follows:

where mv = coefficient of volume compressibility

 SKEMPTON-BJERRUM METHOD OF CALCULATING
CONSOLIDATION SETTLEMENT (1957)
• In a oedometer test the lateral yield remains constant.
• In view of the lateral yield, the ratios of the minor and major
principal stresses due to a given loading condition at a given point
in a clay layer do not maintain a constant Ko.
• By the one-dimensional method, consolidation settlement Soc is
expressed as

• By the Skempton-Bejerrum method, consolidation settlement is

expressed as