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  • Effect of Ground Water Table on Bearing Capacity

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    The document discusses the effect of groundwater table on bearing capacity of shallow foundations. It states that if the water table is located such that part of the potential failure mechanism is below it, higher pore pressures will exist in that zone, reducing the shear strength and bearing capacity. The appropriate unit weight to use in calculations depends on the depth of the water table relative to the base and depth of the foundation. The buoyant unit weight must be used if the water table is at or above the base. The material unit weight must be used if the water table is below the depth of the failure mechanism. An interpolation can be used for intermediate water table depths. It provides an example calculation of determining the equivalent unit weight to account for a

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    The document discusses the effect of groundwater table on bearing capacity of shallow foundations. It states that if the water table is located such that part of the potential failure mechanism is below it, higher pore pressures will exist in that zone, reducing the shear strength and bearing capacity. The appropriate unit weight to use in calculations depends on the depth of the water table relative to the base and depth of the foundation. The buoyant unit weight must be used if the water table is at or above the base. The material unit weight must be used if the water table is below the depth of the failure mechanism. An interpolation can be used for intermediate water table depths. It provides an example calculation of determining the equivalent unit weight to account for a

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    35 views3 pages

    Effect of Ground Water Table on Bearing Capacity

    Uploaded by

    ahmed
    The document discusses the effect of groundwater table on bearing capacity of shallow foundations. It states that if the water table is located such that part of the potential failure mechanism is below it, higher pore pressures will exist in that zone, reducing the shear strength and bearing capacity. The appropriate unit weight to use in calculations depends on the depth of the water table relative to the base and depth of the foundation. The buoyant unit weight must be used if the water table is at or above the base. The material unit weight must be used if the water table is below the depth of the failure mechanism. An interpolation can be used for intermediate water table depths. It provides an example calculation of determining the equivalent unit weight to account for a

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    Effect of Ground Water Table

    Courses > Foundation Analysis and Design > Bearing Capacity of Shallow Foundations
    > Effect of Ground Water Table

    Introduction

    If the water table is located at an elevation such that part of the slip mechanism for the
    footing would be below the water table, higher pore pressures will exist in that zoen,
    implying lower shear strength and consequently lower bearing capacity. The effect of the
    water table is best accounted for by suitably choosing the value of the weight for use in the
    bearing capacity equation as the buoyant unit weight, the wet (or material) unit weight, or
    some number in between.

    Concepts and Formulas

    The buoyant unit weight must be used if the groundwater table is at or above the base of the
    footing (that is zw < D), for in this case the whole of the potential slip mechanism below the
    footing base is under water. Since the depth of the slip mechanism is of the order of B below
    the base of the foundation (that is, a total depth of D + B), if the water table is below this
    depth, the material unit weight must be used. A simple interpolation can be used for water
    table depths between D and D + B.

    definitions:

    zw = depth to the water table from ground

    B = footing width

    D = depth of embedment

     
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    Solved sample problems

    Example 1: Determination of equivalent unit weight of soil to calculate soil bearing


    capacity with the effect of ground water table (English units)

    Given:

     Moist unit weight of soil above ground water table: 120 lb/ft3.
     Moist content = 20%
     Friction angle,  = 25 degree
     Cohesion of soil above ground water table: 1000 lb/ft2.
     Cohesion of soil below ground water table: 500 lb/ft2.
     Footing: 8 feet wide square footing, bottom of footing at 2 ft below ground surface.
     Location of ground water table: 6 ft below ground water surface.

    Requirement: Determine equivalent unit weight of soil to be used for calculating soil


    bearing capacity.

    Solution:

    Determine equivalent unit weight:

    Dry unit weight of soil, dry = m /(1+ ) = 120/(1+0.2) = 100 lb/ft3.

    Volume of solid for 1 ft3 of soil, Vs = dry / (Gsw) = 100 / (2.65*62.4) = 0.6 ft3.

    Volume of void for 1 ft3 of soil, Vv = 1-Vs=1-0.6=0.4 ft3.

    Saturate unit weight of soil, sat = dry + w Vv = 100+62.4*0.4=125 ft3.

    Buoyant unit weight of soil = sat - w = 125-62.4=62.6 ft3.

    zw= 6 

    D=2

    B=8
    D < zw < D + B

    Thus, equivalent unit weight of soil:

    https://civilengineeringbible.com/files.php?i=12

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