A Modern Approach to Estimate the Bearing Capacity of Layered Soil

Abstract

This study is concerned with the bearing capacity of circularfootings on a granular fill layer above a soft clay soil. Theresults of an extensive series of laboratory and field tests wereused to define an empirical equation. This is generally doneby estimating the dependent variable (e.g. bearing capacity)based on the independent variables (e.g. granular fill layerthickness, soil and footing parameters and settlement ratio).A logarithmic model has been developed by using regressionanalysis to estimate the bearing capacity of a circular footingresting on granular fill at any settlement ratio, using allpossible regression techniques based on 342 field test data, toselect the significant subset of the predictors. The results indicatethat the logarithmic model serves a simple and reliabletool to predict the bearing capacity of circular footings placedon a granular fill with different thicknesses above a soft claysoil. And also, the validity of the developed formulation wasverified with different plate load test results from literature.