ShallowFoundations,Retaining

Walls,&Pile/PierFoundation
Flowcharts
Updated3/10/2017
 Abbreviations

Shallow Foundations B = footing width/diameter

= Depth to bottom of footing
c = cohesion
General Considerations: = angle of internal friction
Spread footings rectangular, square, or other shape supporting one column = Surface surcharge
Continuous footings AKA wall footing or strip footing. = Base modifier
Combined footings Footing carrying more than one column. = cohesion modifier
Cantilever footings combined footing supporting a column and exterior wall/column = surcharge & depth modifier
Mat/Raft foundations footing slab that covers the entire area under a building

Bearing Capacity:
Allowable bearing capacity net pressure in excess of overburden stress that will not cause failure or excessive settlement
AKA net allowable bearing pressure or safe bearing pressure
Allowable indicates that a safety factor has already been applied
General Bearing Capacity Equation:
Ultimate bearing capacity Terzaghi-Meyerhof Equation for clay and sandy soils
CERM 36-3
Capacity Factors & are from CERM Table 36.2 and dependent on angle of internal friction
CERM Tables 36.4 (B/L factors for ) and 36.5 (Shape Factors for ) should be taken into account for
is then modified by the overburden, which is the net pressure the soil can support beyond the overburden pressure.

The safety factors are typically between 2 and 3 (based on ) for average conditions

 Abbreviations

Shallow Foundations B = footing width/diameter

= Depth to bottom of footing
c = cohesion
= angle of internal friction
Bearing Capacity on Sand for a Spread Footing = Surface surcharge
= Base modifier
Given: Total Load, , , c=0
= cohesion modifier
= surcharge & depth modifier
1
2
Where: , ,& are from CERM Table 36.2 and
is modified by CERM Table 36.5 Another case includes SPT results and N values. So
0.11 in tons/ft^2 (See CERM 36-7)
Assuming SF=2, =100 lbf/ft^3, & with B over 2-4 ft, N<50.

SF typically can be taken as 2 for sand.

Many Times
which can be used to size the footing
 Mat/Raft Foundations CERM 36-9
General Considerations:
A mat/raft foundation should be used when individual footings would occupy over half of an area beneath a building
Also used to combine foundations with basement floor slabs, to minimize differential settlement on compressible soils.
Mat/Raft on CLAY:
Only method available to increase allowable loading is to increase
Factor of safety available which should be at least 3 (or 2 under temporary loading)

See CERM 36-10 for example

Mat/Raft on SAND:
Well protected against bearing capacity failure Depth of potential failure zone is very large
Differential settling is not a factor
And allowable soil pressure may be DOUBLED
For common applications, with the prerequisites described on CERM 36-7, and when SPT values are known,
2 0.11
must be modified by CERM Table 36.6 (using value @ ) unless N is denoted as true or compensated
Use B as the shorter of the mat dimensions
N should be at least 5, after correction, otherwise sand should be compacted or pile/pier foundation should be used
To calculate Safety Factors, the net bearing capacity , should be compared to the actual bearing pressures
,

,
2 The factor of 2 comes from the doubling in the allowable soil pressure mentioned for SAND
,
 At Rest Earth Pressure
Lateral Pressure and Retaining Structures Z

General Considerations: CERM 37 & Essentials-McCarthy (719)

Earth Pressure Types
AT REST: When homogenous isotropic soil, vertical principal stress is = to the overburden
or Rigid
The horizontal pressure is related to vertical pressure by 1 sin Wall
Where: is the effective stress angle of internal friction.
This is valid for OCR = 1. For greater OCR use 1 sin Active & Passive
Pressure per unit length of wall = Earth Pressure
When submerged, intergranular (effective) stress

ACTIVE: Wall and soil movement pushing the wall out (away from the soil mass)
General Active horizontal earth pressure w/ level backfill: 2
This potentially allows the cohesion to cause tension cracking at the top.
General equation for see figure for symbols

This equation is modified by geometry, soil type, and friction theory (CERM 37-3)

Common ( 0 & 90 for dry cohesionless Rankine (no friction ) soil 45
Total Active Resultant per unit of wall length(acting at H/3 from bottom):
DRY COHESIONLESS SOIL:
INTERNAL FRICTION & COHESION: 2 (essentials pg 726)
 At Rest Earth Pressure
Lateral Pressure and Retaining Structures Z

General Considerations: CERM 37 & Essentials-McCarthy (719)

Earth Pressure Types
Passive: Wall and soil movement pushing against the soil mass
General PASSIVE horizontal pressure w/ level backfill: 2 Rigid
General equation for see figure for symbols Wall

This equation is modified by geometry, soil type, and friction theory (CERM 37-4)
Active & Passive
Common ( 0 & 90 for dry cohesionless Rankine (no friction soil 45
Earth Pressure
Total Active Resultant per unit of wall length(acting at H/3 from bottom):
DRY COHESIONLESS SOIL:
INTERNAL FRICTION & COHESION: 2 (essentials pg 726)
Keywords:
Level backfill 0
Vertical Wall 90
Rankine Theory No wall friction ( 0
Granular Soil/Sand 0
Saturated Clay 0 & 1
Good Visuals on pg 725 & 725 of Essentials McCarthy.
More movement/strain is required to achieve the PASSIVE state than the ACTIVE STATE
Active & Passive similar when top of wall is fixed. When the wall is going away from soil Active state
Components of & (See CERM 37-7)
 Lateral Pressure and Retaining Structures
Lateral Pressure w/ water table behind wall
Effects of Groundwater & Freezing Rigid
Groundwater affects the way the soil particles react to the wall Wall
The general equation for pressure is a combination of loads above and below water line #1
Resulting Pressure per unit length #1 #2 #3 #4
1

Acting at a height of

#2 #3 #4
Surcharge loading Cerm 37-8 & 752 essentials.
Depends on load type. 1
For distributed load, apply an additional pressure

Above Water Table

Ground Water
Pressure from Soil

Saturated Soil
Pressure from

Pressure from
Point loads require some equations.
See CERM 37-8 & Essentials pg 752.

Design Considerations
Overturning (CERM example pg 37-9)
Sliding (CERM Example 37-9 & 37-11)
Bearing Capacity check (CERM Example 37-9)
General Sizing of Cantilever Retaining Walls (CERM 37-12)
CONCRETE DESIGN (CERM 54)
 Piles and Deep Foundations
Piles General Information CERM 38 & Essentials McCarthy (538) SEE THE DESIGN EXAMPLES. METHODS CHANGE W/ SOIL
Allowable/Design Static Bearing Capacity

Ultimate Static Bearing Capacity Where:
= effective surface area of pile in contact w/ soil along the embedded shaft length
f = unit shearing strength of interface soil zone adjacent to pile shaft. Typically varies along length of the pile.
= bearing pressure of soil at pile tip
= pile tip bearing area
has more complex methods and will be harder to calculate.
Between CERM 38-3 and Essentials McCarthy (545), the method you use will depend on information given.

For piles through multiple soil layers: , ,
function of shaft material & soil type/condition
For cohesive soils: can have a cohesion/adhesion component (CERM 38-3)
External friction values can be found in CERM Table 37.1.

This is affected by soil type/condition (See CERM 38-2 & Essentials McCarthy 547)

Drilled/Bored Piles Can Be Different! (Essentials McCarthy 558 & 562)

Tensile Uplift Capacity? (CERM 38-5 & Essentials McCarthy 556)

 Do Example 38-2 Here
Piles and Deep Foundations In Reference problem book

Pile Groups (CERM 38-5 & Essentials McCarthy 565 & 566 Design Example)
Common minimum spacing between piles is 3 to 3.5 pile diameters
This ensures the highest design capacity for a particular grouping
Design capacity is usually taken as the smaller of the following Capacities:
Piles Activing Individually
Sum of individual pile strengths
Group Action
Considers the effect of soil btw piles & the group perimeter is important
See example pg 566 Essentials McCarthy
In cohesionless soils, the group action will be greater than the sum of the individuals.
So the sum of the individual capacities will govern the design
In clays, it can go either way. See example pg 566 Essentials McCarthy

Settlement of piles & pile groups (CERM 38-6 & Essentials McCarthy 568)
Function of compressive pile shortening & settlement in soil support the piles
Sand (little settlement) is better than clay (large settlements from excess pore water
pressure dissipation neede).
The estimation of settlement depends on bearing governance
When soil friction governs a larger area underneath is considered, up to 2/3 L
When pile tip bearing governs there isnt going to be much settlement
 Excavations & Alternate Retaining Structures 758
Excavations (CERM 39-1 & Essentials McCarthy 768 & 773)
Earth
Do Example 39-2 Here
In Reference problem book