CVG4184/6305: Rock Mechanics

Winter 2019

Chapter 7: Foundations on
rock

Course Instructor:
Rozalina Dimitrova
Office: A-333A(CBY)
E-mail: rdimitro@uottawa.ca
Tel: (613) 562-5800 Ext. 6133
Introduction
• Foundations on rock are commonly perceived to be
safe against settlement and instability as rocks can
withstand much higher loads than soils.
• In-situ rock mass has different types of discontinuities
and planes of weakness such as joints, fractures,
bedding planes and faults.
• The rock mass is often non-homogeneous and
anisotropic.
• The strength of the rock mass is considerably less than
that of the intact rock.

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Effect of geological structure
• Stability of bridge abutment founded on rock

(a) overall failure of abutment on steeply

dipping fault zone;
(b) shear failure of foundation on
daylighting joints;
(c) movement of arch foundation due to
compression of low modulus rock;
(d) tied-back wall to support weak rock in
abutment foundation.

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Types of foundations on rock
• Foundations on rock can be classified into three groups
depending on the magnitude and direction of loading,
and the geotechnical conditions in the bearing area.
 Shallow foundations (e.g., spread footings, dam
foundations):
− most common and least expensive type of rock
foundations;
− can be constructed on any rock base which has
adequate bearing capacity and settlement.
 Deep foundations (e.g., socketed piers):
− where the loads on individual footings are very
high and/or the accessible bearing surface has
inadequate bearing capacity.
 Tension foundations (e.g., tied down anchors).
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Types of foundations on rock
• Examples of foundations on rock

(a) spread footing located at crest of steep

slope;
(b) dam foundation with resultant load on
foundation acting in downstream
direction;
(c) socketed pier to transfer structural load
to elevation below base of adjacent
excavation;
(d) tied-down anchors, with staggered
lengths, to prevent foundation uplift.

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Performance of foundations on rock
• Bearing capacity and settlement failure
 Where large structures, sensitive to settlement, are
constructed on very weak rock, and where beds of
low strength rock or cavities formed by weathering,
scour or solution are present beneath the structure.
a) b) c) d)

Mechanisms of foundation failure: a) compression of weathered joints; b)

compression and punching of porous rock underlying a rigid crust; c)
collapse of a shallow cave; and d) sinkhole caused by soil erosion into
solution cavities.

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Performance of foundations on rock
• Block failure
 The most common cause of
rock foundation failure is the
movement and collapse of
blocks of rock formed by
intersecting discontinuities.
 Stability of the blocks
depends on the shear
strength of the discontinuity
surfaces, and the acting
Retaining wall foundation
external forces (e.g., water, stabilized with reinforced
structural loads, earthquake concrete buttress and rock bolts
and reinforcement loads).

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Performance of foundations on rock
• Failure of deep and tension foundations
 Unacceptable movement due to loss of friction at
the pier/rock interface or compression of weak rock
at the toe.
 In the case of tensioned anchors, loss of bond at the
rock-grout interface and/or corrosion failure of the
steel.
• Excavation
 Damage caused by excessively heavy blasting can
range from fracturing of the rock with a resultant
loss of bearing capacity, to failure of the slopes.
• Reinforcement
 To apply normal stress across the sliding surface, to
prevent loosening of rock mass, to increase bearing
capacity and elastic modulus.
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Performance of foundations on rock
• Effect of ground water
 Water flow through rock masses is concentrated in
the discontinuities.
 Flow quantities and pressure distributions are
related to the aperture, spacing and continuous
length of the discontinuities.
 Movement and instability resulting from uplift
pressures, weathering, scour of seams of weak
rock, and solution.
 Water flow into an excavation or drill hole may
cause wall collapse and caving.

CVG4184/6305 Rock Mechanics 9

Performance of foundations on rock
• Effect of ground water

(a) uplift pressures developed along

continuous fracture surface;
(b) water flow into hole drilled for
socketed pier;
(c) typical flow net depicting water flow
and uplift pressure distribution in
dam foundation.

CVG4184/6305 Rock Mechanics 10

Limit states
• Limit states: conditions under which a structure or its
component members no longer perform their
intended function.
• Limit states are classified into the two main groups
 Ultimate limit state: collapse of the structure and
foundation failure including instability due to
sliding, overturning, bearing failure, uplift and
excessive seepage.
 Serviceability limit state: the onset of excessive
deformation and of deterioration including
unacceptable total and differential movements,
cracking, tilt and vibration.

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Factor of safety
• Introduced to account for uncertainty in input
parameters (e.g., the structural geology, rock
strength, and GW conditions) as well as for extreme
loading conditions (e.g., floods and seismic events).
• Factor of safety is the ratio of the total resistance
forces - the rock strength and any installed
reinforcement, to the total displacing forces -
downslope components of the applied loads and the
foundation weight.
• Working stress design – uses a global FS to account
for all uncertainty associated with the design process.
• Limit stress design - uses partial FS applied to both
the loads, and the resistance characteristics of the
foundation materials.

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Factor of safety
• Working stress design - global FS

CFEM (2006)

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Factor of safety
• Limit States Design – partial FS

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Design approach
• The design of footings on rock encompasses the
following three performance aspects:
 the bearing capacity of the rock to ensure that
there will be no crushing or creep of the material
within the loaded zone;
 settlement of the foundation which will result from
both elastic and inelastic strain of the rock, and
possibly compression of weak seams within the
volume of rock compressed by the applied load;
 sliding and shear failure of blocks of rock formed
by intersecting discontinuities within the
foundation.

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Shallow foundations on rock
• Definition: Df  B to 3B
• Types of shallow foundations
 Spread footings: an enlargement of a load-bearing
column that spreads the load of the engineering
system or structure over a larger area.
 Strip footings: a spread footing for supporting a
long wall (L  5B).
 Mat foundation
− a continuous slab used to support a group of
columns and walls in a row or rows;
− when the sum of areas of spread footings  ½ of
total footprint area.

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Shallow foundations on rock
• Depth, Df
 The foundation level is established at sufficient
depth to ensure that the foundation does not get
undermined by erosion or scour.
 In hard rocks, with rock mass compressive strength
of 10 MPa or above, the minimum depth of
foundation is taken as 0.6 m.
 In all other types of rock, it is 1.5 m.
 Above the water table: foundation will develop
significantly more resistance to potential bearing
capacity failures than below the water table.

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Shallow foundations on rock
• Definitions and terminology
 The load per unit area at the base level of foundation
that causes shear failure in the rock mass is called
the ultimate bearing capacity, qu.
 The safe bearing capacity, qs is the stress at the
base level of foundation that can be safely carried by
the rock mass without shear failure.
 The load per unit area at the base level of foundation
that causes permissible settlement is called the safe
bearing pressure, qp.
 The lower of the safe bearing capacity, qs and the
safe bearing pressure, qp is called the allowable
bearing pressure, qall.

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Shallow foundations on rock
• Choosing a design bearing pressure: the usual method
is to use published tables or building codes relating
allowable values to rock type.
• The design bearing pressures are generally for
serviceability limit states for settlement not exceeding
25 mm (CFEM, 2006).
• When the rock conditions do not match descriptions in
the codes, it is more appropriate to determine the
design bearing pressure using limit equilibrium or
numerical methods with appropriate rock mass
strength parameters.
• For rock foundations where the rock is stronger than
the concrete from which the footing is constructed, the
bearing capacity of the rock will be of no consequence.

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Shallow foundations on rock
CFEM (2006)

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Shallow foundations on sound rock
• Foundations on sound rock: when the spacing of
discontinuities is in excess of 0.3 m.
• In the case of a rock mass with favourable
characteristics (e.g., loads are normal to rock surface,
no lateral loads, no open discontinuities) the design
bearing pressure can be determined from the strength
of the rock cores:
qall ( r )  N d  ci ( av )

Where:
ci(av) is the average uniaxial compressive strength of intact rock;
Nd is an empirical coefficient depending on the spacing of discontinuities, which
includes a FS of 3 (WSD) and ranges from 0.1 to 0.4.

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Shallow foundations on sound rock
• The coefficient of discontinuity spacing, Nd

3 S / B
Nd 
10 1  300 / S ) 
Where:
 is the thickness (aperture) of discontinuities; S is the spacing of discontinuities;
and B is the with of footing.

CFEM (2006)

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Shallow foundations on sound rock
• Validity of the empirical formulation in sound rock
 The rock surface is parallel to the base of the
foundation.
 The structural load is normal to the base of the
foundation.
 The spacing of discontinuities is greater than 0.3 m.
 The aperture (opening) of discontinuities is less than
10 mm (15 mm, if filled with soil and rock debris).
 The foundation width is greater than 0.3 m.
 The global factor of safety is 3 (WSD).

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Shallow foundations on sound rock
Example 1
A strip footing of 1.2 m width rests on the bedrock
exposed to the ground surface. The bedrock is
horizontally bedded with discontinuity spacing S = 0.8
m, aperture δ = 8 mm and ci(av) = 80 MPa. Estimate the
safe bearing pressure.
For the foundation concrete assume: qu(c) = 25 MPa.

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Foundations on sound but fractured rock
• Foundations on sound but fractured rock
 The effect of fracture frequency on bearing capacity
can be estimated from the RQD of drill cores (Peck
et al., 1974):
 RQD > 90% – no reduction;
 90% > RQD > 50%, reduce bearing pressure by
factor of about 0.25–0.7;
 RQD < 50% – reduce bearing pressure by a factor
of about 0.25–0.1;
 reduce bearing pressure further if extensive clay
seams present.

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Shallow foundations on weak rock
• Foundations on weak rock (heavily fractured):
 Applicable where the rock mass is very weak, has
very closely spaced discontinuities or is heavily
weathered or fragmented.
 The analysis is carried out in a way similar to soil
mechanics.
 Strength of the rock mass given by the Hoek-Brown
failure criterion.

qall ( r ) 
 
C f 1s  ci 1  mm s
1/ 2 1 / 2

1
1/ 2

FS
Where:
ci is the uniaxial compressive strength of the intact rock;
mm (rock mass) and s are material constants;
Cf1 is a factor accounting for the shape of the foundation.

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Shallow foundations on weak rock
• Strength of the rock mass given by the Mohr-Coulomb
failure criterion.
C f 1cN c  C f 2 B 2 N   D f N q
qall ( r ) 
FS
Where:
B is the footing width (square or strip) or diameter (circular);
 is the unit weight of the rock;
Df is the footing embedment depth;
c is the cohesion of rock mass;
Cf1 , Cf1 are factors accounting for the shape of the foundation;
Nc, N and Nq are bearing capacity factors.

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Shallow foundations on weak rock
• Bearing capacity factors
N c  2 N1/ 2 N  1

N   0.5 N1/ 2 N2  1 
N q  N2
N  tan 2 45   2 
• Foundation shape factors
Foundation Shape C f1 C f2     L  = length of foundation
Strip (L /B  > 6) 1.00 1.00     B  = width of foundation
Rectangular
L /B  = 2 1.12 0.90
L /B  = 5 1.05 0.95
Square 1.25 0.85
Circular 1.20 0.70

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Shallow foundations on rock
 Bearing capacity based on the compressive strength,
qu of the foundation material:
qu ( c )
qall ( c )  where qu(c) is the compressive strength of foundation concrete;
FS
 The lower of qall (r ) and qall (c ) is the design bearing
capacity of the shallow foundation.

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Shallow foundations on weak rock
Example 2
Consider a 2 m-wide strip footing bearing on the surface
of a “fair quality” limestone with ci(av)=75 MPa and  =
22 kN/m3. The strength properties of the rock mass are:
• Hoek-Brown rock mass strength parameters:
mm = 0.128 and s = 0.00009.
• Mohr-Coulomb strength parameters:
c =0.54 MPa and  = 25.
Estimate the allowable bearing pressure for a FS=3
using: a) presumed pressures table; b) the Hoek=Brown
failure criterion; c) the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion.
For the foundation concrete assume: qu(c) = 25 MPa.

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Settlement of shallow foundations on rock
• The mechanism of settlement of foundations on rock
depends on the combined properties of the intact rock
and the discontinuities.
• For many foundations on rock, the bearing material can
be considered to be elastic and isotropic.
• Settlement can be calculated using elastic theory with
appropriate values for the modulus of elasticity and
Poisson’s ratio of the rock mass:

Se 

Cd qB 1  2  (1)
Erm
Where Cd is a parameter which accounts for the shape of the of the loaded area
and the position of the point for which settlement is being calculated; q is the
applied net pressure at foundation level; B is the width (or diameter) of the
footing;  is the Poisson’s ratio; Erm is the elastic modulus of the rock mass.

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Settlement of shallow foundations on rock
• Shape Factor, Cd for compressible layer extending to
infinite depth

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Settlement of shallow foundations on rock
• Shape Factor, C’d for compressible layer overlying a
rigid base

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Settlement of shallow foundations on rock
• Shape Factor, C’d for compressible layer overlying a
rigid base

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Settlement of shallow foundations on rock
• Elastic distortion settlement correction factor, a

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Settlement of shallow foundations on rock
• Elastic theory can be used to calculate settlement for a
range of geological conditions:
a) Homogeneous, isotropic rock where the
compressible layer extends to a great depth.
b) Compressible layer overlying a rigid base, such as a
surface layer of weathered rock overlying fresh
rock;
c) A relatively thin bed of compressible rock within a
formation of stiffer rock;
d) A bed of stiff rock beneath which there is a much
thicker bed of more compressible rock.
S e ( actual )  aS e (  ) (2)

Where Se () is calculated from Eq.1.

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Settlement of shallow foundations on rock
• Methods of settlement calculation

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Settlement of shallow foundations on rock
Example 3
Calculate the elastic settlement under the center of a rectangular
footing (2 m x 3 m) supporting a vertical load of 40 MN for the
following geologic conditions:
a. Uniform bed of compressible isotropic rock (E = 2GPa,  = 0.25)
extending to a great depth below the footing;
b. A 3m-thick compressible layer (E = 2GPa,  = 0.25) overlying a
relatively stiff rock mass that extends to a considerable depth;
c. The foundation comprises of a moderately stiff rock (E = 10GPa,
 = 0.25), but a 3m-thick bed of compressible rock (E = 2GPa, 
= 0.25) at a depth of 2m is found within the stiff rock formation.
d. The foundation comprises of a 3m-thick layer of relatively stiff
rock (E = 10GPa,  = 0.25) overlying a considerable thickness of
more compressible rock (E = 2GPa,  = 0.25).

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Deep foundations on rock
• Definition: Df  (B to 3B)
• Use
 When the soil/rock near the ground surface is highly
compressible and too weak to support the loads;
 To transmit the load from the superstructure to the
underlying stronger soil layer or the bedrock.
• Types of deep foundations
 Piles: structural members made of steel, concrete
and/or timber;
 Drilled shafts (caissons, piers): cast-in-place piles
(d>750 mm) constructed by drilling a cylindrical
hole into the ground and subsequently filling it with
concrete with or without reinforcement.
CVG4184/6305 Rock Mechanics 39
Deep foundations on rock
• Bearing capacity of piles
 End-bearing (point-bearing) piles: driven through
incompetent soil to the top of the bedrock or
socketed into the bedrock.
 Friction Piles: when bedrock is not available at a
reasonable depth, piles can be designed to transmit
the structural load through friction and/or adhesion
to the soil adjacent to the pile.
 Combined piles: in heavily jointed/fractured and
weathered rocks where intact rock does not exist at
a reasonable depth, piles can transmit the structural
loads by both end-bearing and shaft friction.

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Deep foundations on rock
• Bearing capacity of piles

Qu  Qt Qu  Qs Qu  Qt  Qs

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Deep foundations on rock
• Bearing capacity of end-bearing piles driven to rock
 Bearing capacity based on the strength of the rock:
qt   ci N  1 where: N  tan 2 45   2 
 Scale effect - for lab specimens with diameter <1m:
 ci (lab)  ci (lab)
 ci (design)  qt   ci (design) N  1  N   1
5 5
Qt  qt At
  ci (lab) 
Qu(r)  Qt  qt At   N  1At
 5 
Qu   ci (lab)   N  1At 
Qall(r)      
FS  5   FS 
Where ci is uniaxial compressive strength of intact rock; At is the area of the
pile toe;  is the drained friction angle of the rock.
CVG4184/6305 Rock Mechanics 42
Deep foundations on rock
• Bearing capacity of end-bearing piles
 Bearing capacity based on the compressive
strength, qu of the pile material:
qu ( p ) Ap
Qu(p)  qu ( p ) At Qall(p) 
FS

 The lower of Qall (r) and Qall(p) is the design bearing

capacity of the pile.

CVG4184/6305 Rock Mechanics 43

Deep foundations on rock
• Bearing capacity of rock socketed piles
 The exploration boreholes should extend at least
3m, or two to three times the socket diameter,
below the planned bearing level.
 Rock strength and deformation characteristics (ci(r),
Erm) should be determined.
 Designed to support the applied load in:
− side-wall shear (or shaft resistance on the wall of
the socket);
− end bearing on the rock below the toe;
− combination of both.

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Deep foundations on rock
• Bearing capacity of rock socketed piles
 Allowable side-wall shear (shaft) resistance:
Qs ,all   s ,all Dsk Lsk

 For clean sockets, with side-wall undulations 1 mm

– 10 mm deep, <10 mm wide:
0.6  ci ( r )  0.5
 s ,all 
FS
 For clean sockets, with side-wall undulations >10
mm deep, >10 mm wide:
0.75  ci ( r )  0.5
 s ,all 
FS
Where ci(r) is uniaxial compressive strength of intact rock; s,all is the
allowable socket side-wall shear stress; Dsk is the diameter of the socket, and
Lsk is the length of the socket.
CVG4184/6305 Rock Mechanics 45
Deep foundations on rock
• Bearing capacity of rock socketed piles
 Allowable end-bearing resistance:
Qt ,all  qt ,all At

qt ,all  N d  ci ( r ) d
Lsk
d  1  0.4  3.0
Dsk
Where:
ci(r) is the average uniaxial compressive strength of intact rock; At is the area of
the pile toe; Nd is an empirical coefficient depending on the spacing of
discontinuities, which includes a FS of 3 (WSD) and ranges from 0.1 to 0.4, d is a
depth factor  3.0; Dsk is the diameter of the socket, and Lsk is the length of the
socket.

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Deep foundations on rock
• Bearing capacity of rock socketed piles
 Allowable end-bearing resistance:
qt ,all  N d  ci ( r ) d

 Above equation is applicable only when:

− The base of the socket is at least one diameter
below the ground surface.
− The rock to a depth of at least one diameter
below the base of the socket is either intact or
tightly jointed (no compressible or gouge-filled
seams).
− there are no solution cavities or voids below the
base of the pile.

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Deep foundations on rock
• Bearing capacity of rock socketed piles
 Pells & Turner (1979) elastic solution procedure:
1. Choose a suitable socket diameter, Dsk.
2. Assuming that the load is carried by shaft resistance only (i.e.
ignore the toe resistance), calculate the maximum length,
Lsk,max, of the socket from:
Q   s ,all Dsk Lsk
3. Choose a socket length Lsk less than Lmax. Using the ratio
Lsk/Dsk and Ec/Er and Fig. 5, find the ratio of the load that
reaches the toe, Qt, to the total applied load, Q. (n=Qt/Q.).
4. Calculate the average side shear:

1  n Q
s 
Dsk Lsk

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Deep foundations on rock
• Bearing capacity of rock socketed piles
 Pells & Turner (1979) elastic solution procedure:
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until  s   s , all . The corresponding Lsk is
the required socket length.
6. Check that the bearing pressure at the socket base is less
than the allowable pile toe bearing pressure:
nQ
qt   qt ,all
At
7. Check that the settlement of the pile head, Se , is less than
the allowable settlement, Se,all.
8. If the load is supported by shaft resistance only, calculate the
socket length, Lsk directly from:

Q   s ,all Dsk Lsk

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Deep foundations on rock
• Bearing capacity of rock socketed piles
 Pells & Turner (1979) elastic solution procedure:
Where: Dsk is the diameter of the socket,
Lsk is the length of the socket, Q is the
total applied load on the pile head, Qt is
the load carried at the pile toe, Ec is the
modulus of elasticity of concrete, Er is the
modulus of elasticity of the rock mass
along the socket walls and at the base
(toe).

Note: valid for Erm(b)/Erm(s)=1.0

Figure 1. Load distribution in a rock socket

(modified from Pells & Turner 1979).

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Deep foundations on rock
• Settlement of rock socketed piles
 Entire load carried by side-wall shear resistance:
QI
Se 
Dsk Erm ( s )

 Above equation is valid for Poisson’s ratio in the

range 0.1–0.3 for rock and 0.15–0.3 for the
concrete.
 The modulus of elasticity of the rock mass can be
estimated from:
Erm  110  ci (r )

Where ci(r) is uniaxial compressive strength of intact rock; Q is the applied

load; Dsk is the diameter of the socket, Erm(s) modulus of elasticity of the rock
mass along the socket wall, I is a settlement influence factor.
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Deep foundations on rock
• Settlement of rock socketed piles
 Entire load carried by side-wall shear resistance:

Figure 2. Elastic settlement influence factors for side-wall resistance socketed

pier (Pells and Turner, 1979)
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Deep foundations on rock
• Settlement of rock socketed piles
 Entire load carried by side-wall shear resistance but
in a recessed socket.
 Recessed sockets are formed where the socket
passes through a layer of weathered rock where
there is little or no side-wall shear resistance
developed.
 For a recessed socket, the settlement is given by:
QI
S e  RF
Dsk Erm (s )
Where c(r) is uniaxial compressive strength of rock mass; Q is the applied
load; Dsk is the diameter of the socket, Erm(s) modulus of elasticity of the rock
mass along the socket wall, RF is a reduction factor.

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Deep foundations on rock
• Settlement of rock socketed piles
 Entire load carried by side-wall shear resistance but
in a recessed socket.

Figure 3. Reduction factors for calculation

of settlement of recessed sockets (Pells
and Turner, 1979)
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Deep foundations on rock
• Settlement of rock socketed piles
 Entire load carried by end bearing:

Se 
Q  D RF ' Cd Dsk 1  2
 
 
At  E p Erm ( b ) 

Where Q is the applied load; At is the area of the pile toe, D is the depth of the
the socket, Dsk is the diameter of the socket, Erm(b) is the modulus of elasticity
of the rock mass at the pile toe, Ep is the modulus of elasticity of pile material,
RF’ is a reduction factor for an end-bearing pile, Cd is a shape and rigidity
factor (Cd = 0.85 for flexible circular pile, Cd = 0.79 for rigid circular pile),  is
the Poisson’s ratio of the rock mass at the pile toe.
 Above equation includes the elastic compression of
the pile shaft.

CVG4184/6305 Rock Mechanics 55

Deep foundations on rock
• Settlement of rock socketed piles
 Entire load carried by end bearing:

Figure 4. Reduction factors for calculation of average settlement of end-bearing

sockets (Pells and Turner, 1979)

CVG4184/6305 Rock Mechanics 56

Deep foundations on rock
• Settlement of rock socketed piles
 Load carried by end bearing and side-wall shear
resistance:

QI
Se 
Dsk Erm (s )

Where Q is the applied load; Dsk is the diameter of the socket, Erm(s) modulus
of elasticity of the rock mass along the socket wall, I is a settlement influence
factor (Figure 5).

CVG4184/6305 Rock Mechanics 57

Deep foundations on rock
• Settlement of rock socketed piles

Figure 5. Elastic settlement influence factors and end-bearing ratios for complete
socketed piles (after Rowe and Armitage, 1987)
CVG4184/6305 Rock Mechanics 58
Deep foundations on rock
Example 4
Consider a rock-socketed concrete pile with a diameter of 0.5 m subjected
to a vertical compressive load Q of 2 MN. Assume that for the concrete
Ec=20 GPa and qu(c)=30 MPa, and that the compressive strengths of the
rock in the socket and base of the pile are as follows:
• socket compressive strength = 2 MPa
• base compressive strength = 20 MPa
• base Poisson’s ratio = 0.25.
Assume FS = 3 (WSD) and calculate the settlement of the pile for the
following cases:
a) Assume that the socket is drilled with an auger and the base of the
socket cannot be cleaned so that no end bearing will be developed.
Consider the case where the bedrock is competent and where the
bedrock is fractured to a depth of 2m.
b) Assume the 4m-long socket would be cased through the rock and the
entire load would be carried in end bearing.
c) Assume that the pile is fully socketed into the rock, the end of which is
bearing on a clean, sound rock surface, and the load will be supported in
both side-wall shear and end bearing.
CVG4184/6305 Rock Mechanics 59