Republic of the Philippines

CAMARINES NORTE STATE COLLEGE

F. Pimentel Avenue, Brgy. 2, Daet, Camarines Norte – 4600, Philippines

College of Engineering
CE TRK 1 – 104 – Summ
Structural Engineering 4
Second Semester, AY 2022-2023

PROBLEM SET NO. 2: Bearing Capacity of Soil

1. A clayey soil has an unconfined compressive strength of 48kPa and an angle of internal friction of 25°.
Compute:
a. Nq b. Nc c. Nγ
2. A square footing 2m x 2m is installed 1m below the surface of a uniform sandy gravel having a unit weight of
19.20kN/m3 above the water table and a saturated unit weight of 19.91kN/m3. The strength parameter with
respect to effective stresses are c=0, φ=30°. Find the gross ultimate bearing capacity on the following
conditions:
a. GWT is far below the base of foundation
b. GWT rises to the level of the base of the foundation
c. GWT rises to ground level
3. A footing is to be constructed in a uniform deposit of stiff clay and must support a wall that imposes a loading
of 152kN/m of wall length. The angle of friction of clay is 0°, unconfined compressive strength is 145.8kPa,
unit weight of soil is 18.82kN/m3 and the embedment depth is 1.20m. Compute the:
a. Cohesion of soil
b. Allowable bearing capacity using a factor of safety of 3
c. Width of the footing
4. A square footing ha a dimension of 1m x 1m. It has its bottom 2.5m below the ground surface. Angle of
internal friction is 30° with Nc = 35, Nq=22 and Ny=19. Unit weight of soil is 18.10kN/m3. Use factor of safety of
3. Calculate the allowable load that the footing could carry if:
a. There is no GWT below the foundation
b. GWT is located 0.20m below the foundation
c. GWT is located at the bottom of the foundation
d. GWT is located at 1.20m below the ground surface
5. A square foundation will carry a gross load of 60kips. Use Nc=57.75, Nq=41.44, Ny=45.41 and FS=3. Unit
weight of soil is 110pcf, c=0, φ=35°. Compute the:
a. Size of the square footing
b. Net allowable soil bearing capacity
c. Gross allowable soil bearing capacity
6. A 6’ x 6’ square footing is located 5ft below the ground level. GWT is located 7’ below the ground level. The
subsoil consists of a uniform deposit of medium dense sand. Unit weight of soil is 102pcf and φ=32°. Use
Nc=35.49, Nq=23.18, Ny=22.02, c=0. Compute the:
a. Ultimate bearing capacity of soil
b. Gross allowable bearing capacity of the soil using a FS=3
c. Allowable load that can be imposed on the footing
7. A 7’ x 7’ square footing is located 6’ below the ground surface. The subsoil consists of a uniform soil deposit
of 50’ having a unit weight of 105pcf, φ=20°, and a cohesion of 300psf. Assume local shear failure. Compute
the:
a. Ultimate bearing capacity
b. Gross allowable bearing capacity using FS=3
c. Allowable load that the footing could support
8. A column footing 6’ x 6’ is buried 5’ below the ground surface in a dense cohesionless soil. The soil has a unit
weight of 128pcf. GWT was not encountered during subsurface exploration. The footing is to carry a total load
of 300,000 lb., including column load, weight of footing, and weight of soil surcharge. Assume Nq=37.75 and
Ny=44.43 and compute the:
a. Ultimate bearing capacity of soil
b. Actual bearing pressure of soil
c. Factor of safety
9. A circular footing with a diameter of 1.52m is to be constructed 1.22m below the ground surface. The subsoil
consists of a uniform deposit of dense soil having the following strength parameters: φ=25°, Unit
weight=20.12kN/m3, c=48kPa, Nc=21, Nq=10, and Ny=6. Compute the:
a. Ultimate bearing capacity of soil
b. Gross allowable bearing capacity using FS=3
 Republic of the Philippines
CAMARINES NORTE STATE COLLEGE
F. Pimentel Avenue, Brgy. 2, Daet, Camarines Norte – 4600, Philippines

College of Engineering
CE TRK 1 – 104 – Summ
Structural Engineering 4
Second Semester, AY 2022-2023

c. Allowable load that the footing can carry

10. A strip of wall footing 3.5’ wide is supported in a uniform deposit of stiff clay. Bottom of the footing is 2’ below
the ground surface. Unconfined compressive strength of soil is 2800psf. Unit weight is 130pcf. Use Nc=5.14,
Nq=1, and Ny=0. Calculate the:
a. Ultimate bearing capacity
b. Gross allowable bearing capacity if FS=3
c. Allowable wall load

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Answers:

1. 10.66, 20.72, 10.87

2. 798.72kPa, 660.40kPa, 420.16kPa
3. 72.9kPa, 146.04kPa, 1.04m
4. 615.80kN, 598.35kN, 593.99kN, 511.93kN
5. 3.25’, 6612.9psf, 6502.9psf
6. 15014psf, 5005, 180200lb
7. 3286psf, 1095psf, 53700lb
8. 37800psf, 8330psf, 4.5
9. 1510kPa, 503kPa, 913kN
10. 7460psf, 2490psf, 8720lb/ft