Bearing Capacity of

Shallow foundations

Technical University of Kenya

Department of civil engineering
Dr. Eng. Alphonce A. Owayo.
Bearing capacity terms
The following terms are used in bearing capacity problems.
Ultimate bearing capacity
The value of the average contact pressure between the foundation
and the soil which will produce shear failure in the soil.
Safe bearing capacity
The maximum value of contact pressure to which the soil can be
subjected without risk of shear failure. This is based solely on the
strength of the soil and is simply the ultimate bearing capacity
divided by a suitable factor of safety.
Allowable bearing pressure
The maximum allowable net loading intensity on the soil allowing
for both shear and settlement effects.
Types of foundations
Strip foundation
Often termed a continuous footing this foundation has a length
significantly greater than its width. It is generally used to support
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a series of columns or a wall.
Pad footing
Generally, an individual foundation designed to carry a single
column load although there are occasions when a pad foundation
supports two or more columns.
Raft foundation
This is a generic term for all types of foundations that cover large
areas. A raft foundation is also called a mat foundation and can
vary from a fascine mattress supporting a farm road lo a large
reinforced concrete basement
supporting a high rise block.
Pile foundation
Piles are used to transfer structural loads to either the foundation
soil or the bedrock underlying the site. They are usually designed
to work in groups with the column loads they support transferred
into them via a capping slab.

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Pier foundation
This is a large column built up from either the bedrock or from a
slab supported by piles. Its purpose is to support a large load, such
as that from a bridge. A pier operates in the same manner as a pile
but it is essentially a short squat column whereas a pile is
relatively longer and more slender.
Shallow foundation
A foundation whose depth below the surface, z, is equal to or is
less than its least dimension. Most strip and pad footings fall into
this category.
Deep foundation
A foundation whose depth below the surface is greater than its
least dimension. Piles and piers fall into this category.
Analytical methods for the determination of the ultimate
bearing pressure of a foundation
The ultimate bearing capacity of a foundation is given the symbol
qu and there are various analytical methods by which it can be
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evaluated. As will be seen, some of these approaches are not all
that suitable but they still form a very useful introduction to the
study of the bearing capacity of a foundation.
Earth pressure theory
Consider an element of soil under a foundation (Fig.1). The
vertical downward pressure of the footing. qu, is a major principal
stress causing a corresponding Rankine active pressure, p. For
particles beyond the edge of the foundation, this lateral stress can
be considered as a major principal stress (i.e. passive resistance)
with its corresponding vertical minor principal stress -𝛾z (the
weight of the soil). Now

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Fig.1 Earth pressure conditions immediately below a foundation.
also

This is the formula for the ultimate bearing capacity, qu. It will be
seen that it is not satisfactory for shallow footings because when
z= 0 then, according to the formula, qu is also =0.
Bell's development of the Rankine solution for c-𝜙 soils give the
following equation:
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For 𝜙 = 0°

Slip circle methods

With slip circle methods the foundation is assumed to fail by
rotation about some slip surface, usually taken as the arc of a circle.
Almost all foundation failures exhibit rotational effects and
Fellenius (1927) showed that the center of rotation is slightly
above the base of the foundation and to one side of it. He found that
in a cohesive soil the ultimate bearing capacity for a surface footing
is

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To illustrate the method we will consider a foundation failing by
rotation about one edge and founded at a depth z below the surface
of the soil (Fig. 2).
Disturbing moment about 0:

Fig. 2. Foundation failure

rotation about one edge.

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 Fig. 3. Foundation failure
rotation about one edge.

For a surface footing the formula for q. is:

𝑞𝑢 = 6.28𝑐
This value is high because the centre of rotation is actually above
the base, but in practice a series of rotational centres are chosen and
each circle is analyzed (as for a slope stability problem) until the
lowest q, value has been obtained. The method can be to extended
to allow· for frictional effects but is considered most satisfactory
when used for cohesive soils; it has been extended by Wilson (1941)
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prepared a chart (Fig. 4) which gives the centre of the most critical
circle for cohesive soils (his technique is not applicable to other
categories of soil or to surface footings).The slip circle method is
useful when the soil properties beneath the foundation vary, since an
approximate position of the critical circle can be obtained from
Fig.4 and then other circles near to it can be analyzed. When the soil
conditions are uniform Wilson's critical circle gives

𝑞𝑢 = 5.52𝑐

Fig. 4. Location of the centre of

critical circle for use with Fellenius’
method (ater Wilson 1941).

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Plastic failure theory
Forms of bearing capacity failure,
Terzaghi (1943), stated that the bearing capacity failure of a
foundation is caused by either a general soil shear failure or by a
local soil shear failure. Vesic (1963) listed punching shear failure
as a further form of bearing capacity failure.
(I) General shear failure
The form of this failure is illustrated in Fig. 5 which shows a strip
footing. The failure pattern is clearly defined and it can be seen
that definite failure surfaces develop within the soil. A wedge of
compressed soil (I) goes down with the footing creating slip
surfaces and areas of plastic flow (II). These areas are initially
prevented from moving outwards by the passive resistance of the
soil wedges (III). Once this passive resistance is overcome,
movement takes place and bulging of the soil surface around the
foundation occurs. With general shear failure collapse is sudden
and is accompanied by a tilting of the foundation.
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 Fig. 5. General shear failure.

(2) Local shear failure

The failure pattern developed is of the same form as for
general shear failure but only the slip surfaces immediately
below the foundation are well defined. Shear failure is
local and does not create the large zones of plastic failure
which develop with general shear failure. Some heaving of
the soil around the foundation may occur but the actual
slip surfaces do not penetrate the surface of the soil and
there is no tilting of the foundation.
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(3) Punching shear failure
This is a downward movement of the foundation caused by
soil shear failure. only occurring along the boundaries of the
wedge of soil immediately below. the foundation. There is
little bulging of the surface of the soil and no slip surfaces
can be seen.
For both punching and local shear failure, settlement
considerations are invariably more critical than those of
bearing capacity so that the evaluation of the ultimate bearing
capacity of a foundation is usually obtained from an analysis
of general shear failure.
Prandtl's analysis
Prandtl (1921) was interested in the plastic failure of metals
and one of his solutions (for the penetration of a punch into
metal) can be applied to the case of a foundation penetrating
downwards into a soil with no attendant rotation.

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The analysis gives solutions for various values of 𝜙, and
for a surface footing with 𝜙 = 0, Prandtl obtained .
qu = 5.14c
Terzaghi's analysis
Working on similar lines to Prandtl's analysis, Terzaghi
(1943) produced a formula for qu which allows for the
effects of cohesion and friction between the base of the
footing and the soil and is also applicable to shallow (z/B
≤ l). and surface foundations. His solution for a strip
footing is:

The coefficients Nc ,Nq,and N𝛾 depend upon the soil's

angle of shearing resistance and can be obtained from Fig.
8.6. When 𝜙, = 0°, N, = 5.7; Nq = 1.0; N𝛾 = 0.

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Fig. 6 Terzaghis bearing
capacity coefficients.
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Fig. 7 Variation of the
coefficient Nc with depth
(after Skempton. 1951).

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Summary of the bearing capacity formula.
It can be seen that Rankine's theory does not give satisfactory
results and that, for variable subsoil conditions, the slip surface
analysis of Fellenius provides the best solution. For normal soil
conditions, Equations (6)-(9) can generally be used and may be
applied to foundations at any depth in c-𝜙, soil sand to shallow
foundations in cohesive soils. For deep footings in cohesive
soil the values of Nc suggested by Skempton may be used
in place of the Terzaghi values.

Choice of soil parameters

As with earth pressure equations, bearing capacity equations can
be used with either the undrained or the drained soil
parameters. As granular soils operate in the drained state at
all stages during and after construction, the relevant soil
strength parameter is 𝜙 ′ . Saturated cohesive soils operate in
the undrained state during and immediately
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after construction and the relevant parameters are cu and 𝜙𝑢
(with 𝜙𝑢 generally assumed equal to zero). If required, the
long-term stability can be checked with the assumption that
the soil will be drained and the relevant parameters are c'
and 𝜙 ′ (with c' generally taken as equal to zero) but this
procedure is not often carried out.
EXAMPLE 1
A rectangular foundation, 2 m x 4 m, is to be founded at a
depth of 1 m below the surface of a deep stratum of soft
saturated clay (unit weight= 20 kN/m3) Undrained and
consolidated undrained triaxial tests established the follow ing
soil parameters: 𝜙𝑢 = 0° , cu = 24 kN/m2; 𝜙 ′ = 25 ° , c’= 0.
Determine the ultimate bearing capacity of the foundation, (i)
immediately after construction and, (ii) some years after
construction.

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EXAMPLE 1
A rectangular foundation, 2 m x 4 m, is to be founded at a
depth of 1 m below the surface of a deep stratum of soft
saturated clay (unit weight= 20 kN/m3) Undrained and
consolidated undrained triaxial tests established the follow ing
soil parameters: 𝜙𝑢 = 0° , cu = 24 kN/m2; 𝜙 ′ = 25 ° , c’= 0.
Determine the ultimate bearing capacity of the foundation, (i)
immediately after construction and, (ii) some years after
construction.

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Solution.
(i) It may be assumed that immediately after construction
the clay will be in an undrained state. The relevant soil
parameters are therefore 𝜙𝑢 = 0° and 𝑐𝑢 = 25 kN/m2.

From Fig. 6: Nc = 5. 7, Nq = 1.0, N𝛾 , = 0.0. for 𝜙=0

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Determination of the safe bearing capacity
The value of the safe bearing capacity is simply the value
of the net ultimate bearing capacity divided by a suitable
factor of safety, F. The value of F is usually not less than
3.0, except for a relatively unimportant structure, and
sometimes can be as much as 5.0. At first glance these
values for F appear high but the necessity for them is
illustrated in Example 2 which demonstrates the effect on q
of a small variation in the value of 𝜙.
The net ultimate bearing capacity is the increase in vertical
pressure, above that of the original overburden pressure, that
the soil can just carry before shear failure occurs. The
original overburden pressure is 𝛾z and this term should be
subtracted from the bearing capacity equations, i.e. for a
strip footing:

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The effect of ground water on bearing capacity
Water table below the foundation level

If the water table is at a depth of not less than B below

the foundation, the expression for net ultimate bearing
capacity is the one given above, but when the water table
rises to a depth of less than B below the foundation the
expression becomes:

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Developments in bearing capacity equations

General form of the bearing capacity equation

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Fig. 8 Effective widths area

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 Fig. 9 Strip foundation with
inclined load.

The effect of the inclined loading is to

reduce the safe hearing capacity by almost
45 per cent.
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