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Review Module – Terzaghi’s Bearing Capacity

II. TERZAGHI’S BEARING CAPACITY

SITUATION 1. A square footing has a dimension of 1.50 m has its bottom 1.2 m below
Ultimate Bearing Capacity – General Shear Failure
the ground surface. Determine the Ultimate Bearing Capacity of the foundation if: γ =
Square Footing:
18.11 kN/m3, c = 15.75 kPa, γSAT = 19.28 kN/m3 and the water table is: (Nc = 7.34, Nq
𝑄𝑢𝑙𝑡 = 1.3𝑐𝑁𝑐 + 𝑞𝑁𝑞 + 0.4𝛾𝐵𝑁𝛾 = 1.64, Ny = 0.14)
Circular Footing: 1. 1.5 m below the ground surface.
𝑄𝑢𝑙𝑡 = 1.3𝑐𝑁𝑐 + 𝑞𝑁𝑞 + 0.3𝛾𝐵𝑁𝛾 2. at the bottom of the footing.
3. 0.5 m below the ground surface.
Strip Footing:
𝑄𝑢𝑙𝑡 = 𝑐𝑁𝑐 + 𝑞𝑁𝑞 + 0.5𝛾𝐵𝑁𝛾 SITUATION 2. A footing 1.5m square carries a total load 1500kN. The base of the
footing is at a depth of 1.0 m below the ground surface. The soil has a unit weight of
Rectangular Footing: 17 kN/m3 and cohesion of 50 kPa. The soil investigation shows that the angle of
0.3𝐵 0.2𝐵 friction is 18 degrees.
𝑄𝑢𝑙𝑡 = 𝑐𝑁𝑐 (1 + ) + 𝑞𝑁𝑞 + 0.5𝛾𝐵𝑁𝛾 (1 − ) 4. Determine the gross foundation pressure.
𝐿 𝐿
5. Determine the net foundation pressure.
Ultimate Bearing Capacity – Local Shear Failure 6. Determine the factor of safety (both gross and net)
2
𝑐′ = 𝑐
3 SITUATION 3. A circular footing carries an allowable axial load of 1200kN with its
2
𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜙 ′ = 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜙 bottom resting on a ground water table at a depth of 2 m below the ground surface.
3 (Nc = 35, Nq = 22, Ny = 19). Take YDRY = 18.10 kN/m3 and YSAT = 19.50 kN/m3, c =
Bearing Capacity Factors (if no table or chart is given) 15.74 kPa.
𝑒 (1.5𝜋−𝜙)𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜙 7. Determine the dimension of the footing using a factor of safety of 2.5.
𝑁𝑞 = 8. Determine the ultimate bearing capacity of the soil.
𝜙
2 cos2 (45 + ) 9. Determine the net allowable capacity of the footing.
2
𝑁𝑐 = (𝑁𝑞 − 1)𝑐𝑜𝑡𝜙 SITUATION 4. For a certain soil, the cohesion is 50 kPa; the unit weight is 19.2 kN/m3.
𝑁𝛾 = 1.1(𝑁𝑞 − 1) tan(1.3𝜙) Assuming local shear failure: (Nc = 7.5, Nq = 1.80, Ny = 0.48) for local shear failure
(Nc = 9, Nq = 2.50, Ny = 1.20) for general shear failure
10. Calculate the net ultimate bearing capacity for a strip footing of width 1.25 m and
Modification of Bearing Capacity Equation due to the presence of Ground Water
depth of 4.5 m
Table
11. Calculate the safe bearing capacity on a footing 6 m long and 1.25 m wide and a
𝑞𝑢
factor of safety of 2.5. Use 𝑞𝑠 = 𝑛𝑒𝑡 + 𝛾𝐷𝑓 and consider general shear failure.
𝐹.𝑆.
12. Calculate the safe load that the rectangular footing could carry.

SITUATION 5. A square footing 4 m on a side is founded 1.2 m below the ground

surface for which the bulk unit weight of the soil is 20 kN/m3, the cohesion strength is
10 kPa, and the angle of internal friction is 20°. Under the condition of general shear
failure, evaluate the contribution of the following to the ultimate soil bearing capacity,
in kPa. The ground water table is at a level at a that does not affect the unit weight of
the soil and Ø = 35°. Using table below, determine the following:

13. Cohesion Strength.

a. 167.18 b. 326.69 c. 684.32 d. 263.51
14. Soil Overburden.
a. 245.52 b. 405.60 c. 130.80 d. 305.28
15. Footing Dimension.
a. 400.00 b. 266.88 c. 192.00 d. 82.88