Fondations superficielles. Magnan et Droniuc (ed.

) 2003, Presses de lENPC/LCPC, Paris

361
INVESTIGATING SOIL BEARING CAPACITIES

TUDE DE LA CAPACIT PORTANTE DES SOLS

Mait METS
Tallinn Technical University, Estonia


ABSTRACT This paper analyses the results of plate load tests on different soils. An overview
is given of the characteristic points determined in the course plate load tests and of their
relationships with the results of other laboratory or field tests.

RSUM La communication analyse des rsultats dessais de chargement de plaque sur
diffrents types de sols. Elle passe en revue les points caractristiques dtermins sur les
courbes de tassement des essais de plaque et discute de la possibilit de les relier aux
rsultats dautres essais de laboratoire ou en place.


1. Introduction

Plate load tests have been in use for a long time for the purpose of evaluating the load bearing
capacity of soils. Their results have been used for the evaluation of deformation parameters.
Yet, the approach to this rather expensive method has been ambivalent and often the results
have not been judged and used adequately. During the load tests, the load on the plate is
increased in stages and the main test result is the relationship between the pressure and the
plate settlement:
s = f (q)
with s settlement, q - pressure under the plate (see Figure 1).

q1 q2 q3 4 q q
1
q
2
b
S
q5
TEST
ONEYEAR
q3 2 q q1 q q 4 5

Figure 1. (1) Relationship between the pressure and the settlement.
(2). Relationship between the pressure and factor b.

Four characteristic points can be distinguished in Figure 1.1 :
1. q
1
the structural strength, below which the pressure does not cause plate settlement;
2. q
2
the pressure up to which the settling plate is accompanied by the surrounding soil mass
and a settlement funnel is formed around it. When q
2
is exceeded, the plate cuts into the soil
and a vertical wall will be surrounding the plate during the next load steps;




362
3. q
3
the creep or proportion point until which s = f (q) remains linear. When q
3
is exceeded,
soil begins to be squeezed from under the plate.
4. q
4
the ultimate load at which the plate base is demolished.
Beside the dependency expressed by the formula s = f(q), there is also a need to assess the
evolution of the plate settlement with time s =f(t) at various pressure levels. For clayey soils,
appropriate solutions are offered by the consolidation theory, but using reological dependency

b
0
t
t
a s

=

can be considered, where a characterises the plate settlement at unit time t
o
and b controls
the evolution of the settlement with time. This dependency allows us to assess the settlements
after a week, a month or a year, etc. The use of relationship b = f(q) enables to better assess
the above-mentioned characteristic points. Until q
1
b=0, but from that on it accelerates linearly
till q
2
and remains a constant at q
3
. The passing of q
3
is accompanied by a sudden rise of factor
b and the following rapid rise of q
4
. Up till q
4
all deformations are of attenuating type and b is
smaller than 1. Also in the course of laboratory testing it is possible to determine the creep point

3
and the maximum shear strength
4
; the comparison of these results allows us to determine
the soil bearing capacities of the soil with laboratory tests.
In the work presented here, the author has analysed tests with plates of 500 to 20000 cm
and the optimal plate area has been determined for various soils. In the case of smaller plates,
the settlement may even increase with the decrease of the square area. The tests performed on
sands and weak clays showed that the diameter of an optimal plate would be 300 to 500 cm.
On over-consolidated clays the optimal plate area should remain between 2000 and 3000 cm.


2. Weak clays

Weak clays are represented in Estonia liminoglacial and sea sediments. In most cases, these
are normally consolidated or slightly over-consolidated soils. Their ingredients vary largely and
the content of clay minerals may be 3 % up to 80%. Depending on the clay content and the
geological history, the water content w
n
can vary from 28 to 90 %. The properties of these
clayey soils have been investigated in the laboratory and with field tests (vane and plate tests).

%
s
p p
c
h
1
2
q q
3 4
q q
1

Figure 2. Investigation of the compressibility of weak clay
(1) plate load test; (2) laboratory consolidation test





363
Typical results of plate loading tests and laboratory compression tests are shown in Figure 2. In
these tests the values of q
3
are usually the same; the creep point determined by the plate
loading test thus equals the preconsolidation pressure
p
. The influence of time on the
settlement was estimated as suggested at the beginning of this paper and using the
consolidation theory. Average results of many tests are given in Table 1.

Table 1. Deformation properties of weak clays
q E
test
, MPa E
1
, MPa E
2
, MPa k, cm/year
< q
3
6 3,5 3,0 70...300
= q
3
4,5 2,0 1,5 20...50
> q
3
2,5 0,5 0,2 1...3
= q
4
1,5 0,2 0,1 1...3
Definitions
E
test
deformation modulus estimated from the test results,
E
1
modulus derived from the final settlement, in accordance with the
consolidation theory,
E
2
modulus derived from the final settlement, in accordance with the
relationship s = a(t/t
o

b


These results show that the moduli determined in the course of the experiment are twice
larger than the moduli derived from the final settlement; at pressures larger than q
3
, the
difference is 5 to 10 times. The difference between E
1
and E
2
also begins for pressures higher
than q
3
, since the first one considers consolidation deformation only, while the second takes
also into account the secondary consolidation and the squeezing deformation.
Up to q
4
, the deformation rate is increasing. At q
4
the value of b is exceeded for a few hours,
but in the course of settlement balance is achieved and the value of b decreases till 0,60,8.
The differences between the deformation moduli determined by field tests and by laboratory
compression tests are most important for pressures smaller than q
3
=
p
; at larger pressures
the differences are minor if the time effects have been considered in the plate loading tests.
Both methods are suitable for assessing settlements and they coincide with settlement
observation results.
The characteristic pressures determined in the course of field tests may be compared to the
ones estimated from shear parameters. Shear parameters are derived from UU tests and vane
tests. The parallel tests performed on various kinds of weak clays gave the following results:


uv u 3
c 2 c 5 3 q = = .


uv u 4
c 5 c 5 6 q = = .

in which c
u
is the maximal shear strength determined by the UU test and c
uv
is the maximal
shear strength determined by the vane test. These relations are similar to those suggested by
prof. L.Jrgenson and they indicate the need to consider the testing methodology used for the
assessment of load bearing capacity. The values of q
4
and q
3
associated with consolidated
drained strength parameters are regarded as larger than the real ones.


3. Till

Till is the most common soil type in Estonia. As a construction base, till has mostly been used in
South Estonia. The properties of till depend on its thickness and layering conditions and they
correlate well with its water content w
n
. South-Estonian till is characterised by a 5 to 15% gravel
content and a low content of clay particles (3 to10%). Most of this till is made up of clayey silt.




364
80 plate loading tests were performed with plate sizes from 500 to 24000 cm. The tests
showed that the optimal diameter on soft silt is 2000 cm (w
n
>14%), and 500 cm on stronger
silt. The average properties of this moraine are given in Table 2.

Table 2. The geotechnical properties of South - Estonian till
w
n
% 10 12 14 16
w
L
- 14,7 15,1 15,6 16,0
w
P
- 10,1 10,6 11,2 11,7
I
P
- 4,6 4,5 4,4 4,3
`
f
degree 38 37 36 35
c
f
kPa 12 7 4 1
E
test
MPa 25 15 10 5
q
3
MPa 0,45 0,25 0,15 0,09
q
4
MPa 1,0 0,55 0,35 0,20
c
u
MPa 0,15 0,08 0,05 0,03
q
c
MPa 6,3 3,5 2,0 1,25
q
c
/ c
u
- 43 44 40 42
Definitions
`
f
angle of internal friction, drained test
c`
f
soil cohesion, drained test
q
c
resistance of the cone CPT

As shown in Table 2, the bearing capacity of the till depends on its water content. As the
water content increases from 10 to 16%, q
3
and q
4
decrease almost 5 times and the values of
undrained-unconsolidated shear tests are highly suitable for their assessment. If drained test
results were used instead, the bearing capacity of silt could be overestimated. CPT tests suit
well for determining the bearing capacity of piles. Cone resistance q
c
correlates well with q
3
.
q
3
=q
c
/14 and with the deformation moduli E:

E = 4 q
c
(correlation factors 0,9 for 94 tests).

CPT tests allow an approximate assessment of c
u
values (based on 36 parallel tests):

c
u
= q
c
/ 40.

Another problem for the till soils is the seasonal variations of their properties. This
characteristic was discovered during investigations made on the same field site at different
seasons; the tests results varied widely. Depending on the season, the water content of the soil
w
n
and the cone resistance q
c
varied. Investigations proved that minimum w
n
and maximum q
c

were characteristics of the silt prior to the thawing of ground and in the middle of summer, while
the opposite indicators were common before the onset of cold in the fall. To weigh up this
phenomena two polygons were chosen in which every month investigations were carried out
during a 3 years period. The survey showed that seasonal changes affected the soil down to a
depth of 5 m. The variability of w
n
as a function of w
L
and of depth in presented in Figure 3. The
graph shows the variability of w
n
is larger at smaller depth and liquid limit w
L
. Figure 4 presents
the interdependency of q
c
and W
n
. The results shown on the graph coincide with one line,
though they were obtained at different depths.
The described phenomenon needs deeper analysis in the future and it should be considered
in the normative documents.






365
15 16 17 18 19 20
1
2
3
4
5
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
W = f( W )
L
n
W , %
n
W , %
L
W

=

1
6
,
8
-
0
,
8
4
W


(
r

=

0
,
9
4
)

(
r

=

0
,
9
4
)

W

=

1
1
,
6
-
0
,
6
W

W= W - W
MIN
MAX
x
- depth 0...3 m
- depth 3.1...5 m

Figure 3. Relationship w
n =
f

(w
L
)

15 16 17 18 19 20
0,2
0,4
0,6
0,8
1,0
1,2
1,4
x
x
x
x
x
x
q , MPa
c
L
W , %
- depth 0...3 m
- depth 3.1...5 m
x

q



=

5
,
8
-
0
,
2
8
W


(
n

=

1
4
;

r

=

0
,
8
0
)

c
L
q = q - q
c c c
MAX MIN

Figure 4. Relationship q
c =
f

(w
L
)



4. Overconsolidated clays

The overconsolidated clays have turned out to be more complicated than the soft clays. Their
apparent strength is at times unreliable and may lead to a considerable overestimation of these
properties. The over-consolidated clays in Estonia occur in the Cambrian, Ordovician and
Devonian deposits and they are usually both hard and cracked.
The geotechnical properties of the Cambrian clays (Table 3) are given here as an example.
Here we have two different geomorphologic situations. The varieties with the smallest water
content w
n
are deeper below the ground surface and they have not been influenced by the
erosion processes. The larger water contents w
n
are typical of maritime clays in which the
erosion processes have been very intensive. As can be seen in Table 3, there is a correlation
between q
3
and q
4
derived from the plate loading tests and the bearing capacity, derived from
the undrained shear strength.





366
Table 3. Geotechnical properties of Cambrian clay.
w`
n
% 8-10 14-18 23-28 30-32
w`
L
- 38 38 40 43
w
p
- 24 26 28 28
I
p
- 14 12 12 13
`
f
degree 26 30 28 28
c
f
kPa 250 100 50 40
`
r
degree 16 15 14 12
c
uy
kPa 140 60 30 20
c
uf
kPa 180 100 55 40
q
3
MPa 1,0 0,4 0,15 0,1
q
4
MPa 1,4 0,8 0,6 0,3
E
test
MPa 75,0 30,0 10,0 5,0
c
uy
creep point of undrained shear strength


The strength indices obtained from the drained methods give higher shear strengths than
actual values, as can be seen in the Table. The use of the drained shear strength has caused
the overestimation of ground strength and the rupture of foundations in the distribution area of
Cambrian clays outside Estonia.
The slope processes in over-consolidated clay soils are complicated. Two landslides that
took place in the area showed that c
uv
should be used to back-calculate the failure condition
(safety factor of 1). Using , the safety factor was smaller than 1. The prolonged creep
processes can be watched in the over-consolidated clayey soils.
The castle of Toolse was founded in the 15
th
century and immediately after the completion of
the construction works the cracking and horizontal displacement of the walls started. These
problems have continued for hundreds of years, the reason being the following: the Toolse
castle was built on coastal Cambrian clays (inclination towards the sea 1:5) covered with gravel
(thickness 5 to 10 cm); the clays lie in the direction of the waters running into the Baltic Sea on
the North-Eastern coast. The upper layer of Cambrian clay is decomposed there and its
properties are the following (Table 4):

w
L
= 47 to 45 ; w
P
= 30 to 32; I
P
= 14 to 16

Table 4. Properties of Cambrian clay in Toolse
Depths of
layers
W
n
;% C
uy

kPa
C
uf
kPa `
f
C
f
kPa
0-1,0 30 20 40 28 40
1-3,0 25 30 50 - -
Over 3,0 22 40 70 28 50

The shear stress in the clayey soil is = 23 to 25 kPa, that is bigger than c
uy
and smaller than
c
uf
and namely this has caused the creep process during the centuries; it may also have been
influenced by the higher value of the residual shear strength
R
=14 degrees. The same
prolonged creep occurred on the retaining wall of the castle of Toompea in Tallinn. The wall was
built on a 1m limestone layer (uniaxial strength 40 to 80 MPa) in 1928, under which the 1m
thick Ordovician clay layer is located. The geotechnical properties of this clayey layers are the
following:
w
n
= 14 %; w
P
= 20; w
L
= 29; I
P
= 9
c
uy
= 45 k Pa; c
uf
= 60 kPa

f
= 40 degrees; c
f
= 40 kPa





367
Shear stresses in the clay layer were 45 to 55 kPa and they caused the development of
creep processes in the clay. The clay was progressively squeezed from under the retaining wall,
causing the cracking of the limestone layer. Subsequently, the retaining wall cracked in 1960
and by 1984 the walls condition was so dangerous that it had to be turned down.
Consequently, shear stresses greater than c
uy
should not be allowed in over-consolidated
soils. These pressures give rise to creep processes and may cause the cracking of the
foundations.


5. Sands

Field plate tests on sandy soils have shown that sands are not essentially simple soils. The
bearing capacity of sands with different genesis does not depend solely on the density of sand,
but is rather influenced by the sands genesis and diagenesis and the supplementary
ingredients of the sand.
As an example, I shall present three different medium sands that are characterised by similar
physical properties:
void ratio e = 0,60 to 0,64,
density index I
D
= 0,60 to 0,65
dry mass density
d
= 1,61 to 1,63.
These medium sands were of eolian, maritime and fluvioglacial origin and their granular curves
were similar. The results of the field tests performed on them were the following.
As shown in Table 5, the load bearing capacity of sands with similar physical properties can
be very diverse. At the same time, the shear parameters of these sands determined in the
laboratory have varied little and calculations do not allow to determine the differences in bearing
capacities. The good bearing capacity of the fluvioglacial sands stems from the cement that has
developed among the sand particles; this rises the sands strength to a remarkable degree. At
the formation of maritime and eolian sands, shear deformation of different dimensions occurred
among the particles, which causes their different bearing capacity. The values of q
3
correlate
well with the values of q
c
and the following relationships in load steps 0q
3
have been obtained
from 600 tests performed on sands:

q
3
= q
c
/(16 to 20) and E = 3q
c
.

Table 5. Results of the plate load tests.
q
1
MPa
q
3
MPa
q
4
MPa
`
f
degree
c
f

kPa
q
c
MPa
Eolian sand 0 0,4 0,95 33 10 6,5
Maritime sand 0,05 0,8 1,6 35 10 13,5
Fluvio-glacial sand 0,1 1,8 2,1 35 5 28

The bearing capacity of sand is highly dependent on its content of the organic matter. It has
been more deeply investigated on silty sand. If in the case of a pure dense silty sand with
q
3
= 0,7 to 0,9 MPa and q
4
= 1,3 to 1,8 MPa, the presence of 2 to 3% of organic matter causes a
reduction of q
3
to 0,2-0,3 MPa and of q
4
to 0,07-1,2 MPa.
Colloidal organic matter influences the bearing capacity of sand even more; at a content of
0,5 to 1%, the reduced parameters are q
3
=0,07-0,15 MPa and q
4
=0,3-0,6 MPa. Also the
bacterial activity influences the bearing capacity of sand. The bacterial influence caused by the
flow of faecal waters caused the reduction of results to q
3
= 0,1 MPa and q
4
= 0,5 MPa.
Incidentally, in the laboratory tests, the shear parameters of sands containing biological
pollution and organic matter are even higher than those of pure sands, which complicates the
determination of the bearing capacity of these sands with the aid of the shear parameters.




368
The analysis of a big amount of test results on sands showed that the ratio between q
4
/q
3
is not
a constant and can be expressed with the following dependency:

3 4
q 6 0 q . = (q
3
and q
4
in bar)

This relationship is shown in Figure 5, together with the difference q = q
4
-q
3
and the ratio
n=q
4
/q
3
. These experimental data prove that n decreases as the soil strength increases.






















Figure 5. Relationships
q
3
= f(q
4
):
q = q
4
-q
3
;
n
=
q
4
/ q
3





6. References

Mets M. (1991). Iseloomulike punktide meetod. V Eesti Ehitusgeoloogia kogumik. Tallinn, 42-63.