Gross and Net Soil Pressures

In RISAFoundation, the Allowable Soil Bearing value is controlled by

the Soil Region. This value is always taken as a Gross allowable soil
pressure by default.

Allowable Soil Bearing values are typically supplied by the

Geotechnical Engineer as either Gross or Net allowable values. The
Gross or Net Soil Pressure can be specified in the Footing Definitions
spreadsheet under the Soil tab. In RISAFoundation, the option to
choose between gross and net soil pressures is only available for
footings.

The soil bearing check in RISAFoundation uses the same load to

check soil bearing (Footing Self-Weight + Overburden + Applied
Load) regardless of whether a Gross or Net Soil Pressure is specified.

The Gross Soil Pressure combines the upward pressure and the
added pressure due to the applied load, equal to the applied load
divided by the footing area.
When a Gross Soil Pressure is specified, the load is compared
directly against the Bearing Allowable (user-entered) value in the
Model Settings under the Solution tab:
For the Net Soil Pressure, the overburden and self-weight is cancelled
out by an equal and opposite upward pressure, leaving a Net Soil
Pressure equal to the applied load divided by the footing area.

When a Net soil pressure is specified the load is compared against a

modified soil capacity as shown below:

 Soil Capacity = Bearing Allowable (user-entered) + Footing Self

Weight + Overburden (user-entered)

If the sum of Footing Self Weight and Overburden do not equal the
soil weight which was present above the footing/soil interface strata
prior to excavation then the modified soil capacity provided by the
program is incorrect. In this circumstance the Net Allowable Soil
Bearing value should be specified as a Gross value in the program,
and the magnitude of Bearing Allowable should be increased by that
pre-excavation soil weight.