Bearing Capacity of Shallow

Foundations
CIVL 451 – Foundation Engineering –
Classroom Notes
General Bearing Capacity Equation
• The general bearing capacity equation is suggested by
Meyerhof (1963) for modifying bearing capacity theory for the
following aspects;

– Shape of the foundation

– Load Inclination
– Depth
– Shearing resistance along the failure surface in soil above the base of
the foundation
General Bearing Capacity Equation
General Bearing Capacity Equation
General Bearing Capacity Equation
General Bearing Capacity Equation
• Solve Ex. 3.1 using general bearing capacity equation and comment on the
results.
• Ex. 3.3 A square foundation has to be constructed as shown in the figure.
Assume that the soil unit weights above and below the water table are
17kN/m3 and 19kN/m3 respectively. The internal angle of friction is 34°
and the design column load is 500kN. Determine the size of the
foundation considering general bearing capacity equation.
• D1=0.5m and Df=1.5m
 Pressure Distribution at Foundation
Base
• The foundation design in practice requires that the foundation
dimensions are calculated for a given design column load,
hence the bearing capacity calculation is used to check that
the applied pressure at the base of the foundation can be
resisted by the ground, i.e.
qapplied ≤ qallowable

• Another way of presenting the above check is to indicate the

ratio of the applied pressure to allowable pressure as the
‘utilisation’ of the allowable bearing capacity in percentage.
% utilisation = qapplied / qallowable x 100
 Pressure Distribution at Foundation
Base
• The pressure distribution at the base of an elastic foundation
is assumed to be;
– Uniform, if the applied load is vertical and applied at the
centre of the foundation.
– Irregular, if the applied load is eccentric, inclined and/or a
moment is applied.

• The magnitude of the maximum and minimum pressure

applied at the foundation base is dependent on the
eccentricity caused by inclined loads and/or moment.
 Pressure Distribution at Foundation
Base
• One-way eccentricity; For e < B/6

For e > B/6

qmin = 0
Note that B is used to compute
shape factors in general bearing
capacity equation.
 Pressure Distribution at Foundation
Base
• However, shallow foundations are traditionally designed in
accordance with the ‘Middle-third Rule’, which is based on the
restriction that the eccentricity should be within the middle
third of the foundation width or in other words;
Middle e ≤ B/6
third
B/6 B/6

Eccentricity
B/3 B/3 B/3 should be within
this zone
 Pressure Distribution at Foundation Base
• Two-way eccentricity;

In order to evaluate
effective width and
length the following
cases should be
considered.
Pressure Distribution at Foundation Base
Pressure Distribution at Foundation Base
Pressure Distribution at Foundation Base
Pressure Distribution at Foundation Base
 Pressure Distribution at Foundation
Base
• Note that B is used to compute shape factors in general
bearing capacity equation.

• Always consider the ‘Middle-third Rule’ when sizing the

foundations.

• Meyerhof’s simplified approach can be used for a quick

bearing capacity estimation considering one or two-way
eccentricity.
Exercises
 References
• B. M. Das, Principles of foundation
engineering.