FOUNDATION

ENGINEERING

Department of Civil Engineering

School of Engineering & Technology
Lecture plan
No. of Unit to be
Courses to be covered
lectures covered
Role of civil engineers in selection, design and
Introduction & Site
construction of foundation of civil engineering
2 Investigation
structures, Methods of soil exploration, Sampling-
disturbed and undisturbed sampling Unit
Various penetration tests, Correlation between 1
Introduction & Site
3 penetration resistance and soil design parameters, Investigation
Selection of foundation based on soil condition.
Active and Passive earth pressure, Earth pressure at Earth Pressure
4 rest, Rankine and Coulombs earth pressure theories Unit
Earth pressure due to surcharge 2
1 Earth Pressure
Types of shallow foundations, mechanism of load Shallow
2 transfer, Modes of failure, Terzaghis bearing capacity Foundations
theory
Computation of bearing capacity in soils, Influence of Shallow Unit
2 various factors, Use of field test data in design of Foundations 3
shallow foundations, Stresses below the foundations
Settlement of footings and rafts, Allowable and Shallow
2 maximum differential settlements of buildings, Codal Foundations
provisions, Proportioning of footings and rafts
 Types of pile and method of construction, Estimation of Pile Foundation
1 load carrying capacity of a pile
Static and dynamic formulae, Load carrying capacity and
settlement of group of piles, Piles subjected to uplift, Pile Foundation
3 Unit 4
Negative skin friction
Pile load tests and interpretation of test data,
Pile Foundation
2 Proportioning of piles, Codal provisions

Methods of construction, Tilt and shift, Remedial

Well Foundations
2 measures during sinking of well foundation
Unit 5
Bearing capacity, Settlement and lateral stability of well
2 foundation Well Foundations
 Mode of failure mechanism, Stability analysis of infinite
Stability of Slopes
1 slopes
Unit 6
Method of slices, Bishops simplified method
Stability of Slopes
2

Types of retaining walls-gravity, semi-gravity, cantilever

Retaining Walls
3 and counter fort retaining walls

Stability analysis of retaining walls, Proportioning and

Unit 7
Retaining Walls
1 design of retaining walls

Concept of soil stabilization, Materials used, Methods of

stabilization Unit 8
2 Soil Stabilization
 Books and References:

Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering Arora,

K.R. (Standard publishers and distributors, New Delhi,
1997)

Basic and applied soil mechanics Gopal Ranjan and

Rao, A.S.R. (Wiley Eastern Ltd., New Delhi (India),
1997)

Principles of Foundation Engineering Das, B.M.

(PWS Publishing, California, 1999)
Foundation Analysis and Design Bowles J.E.
(McGraw Hill, 1994)

Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering B.C.

Punmia (S CHAND publishers)
 FOUNDATION ENGG - SYLLABUS

Lecture Session Tutorial Session

Lectures per week : 3 Tutorial per week : 1

 Lecture Contents

Syllabus and Introduction (2 hrs)

Site Investigation(3 hrs)
Earth Pressure(5 hrs)
Shallow Foundations(6 hrs)
Pile Foundation(6 hrs)
Well Foundations(4 hrs)
Stability of Slopes(3 hrs)
Retaining Walls(4 hrs)
Soil Stabilization (2 hrs)
 Introduction

Earth Pressure
The force which is on the retaining wall when
the soil is retained at a slope steeper than it
can sustain by virtue of its shearing strength.

The magnitude of earth pressure is a function

of the magnitude and nature of the absolute
and relative movements of the soil and the
structure.
 LATERAL EARTH PRESSURES

Fig. Conditions in the case Fig. 13.3 Conditions in the

of active earth pressure case of passive earth
resistance
Effect of Wall Movement on Earth
Pressure
 Effect of Wall Movement on
Earth Pressure
The Earth Pressure At Rest
The earth pressure that the soil mass is
in a state of rest and there are no
deformations and displacements.
Earth Pressure At Rest
 Rankines Theory of Earth Pressure

Assumptions:
The backfill soil is isotropic, homogeneous and is
cohesionless.
The soil is in a state of plastic equilibrium during active
and passive earth pressure conditions.
The rupture surface is a planar surface which is obtained
by considering the plastic equilibrium of the soil.
The backfill surface is horizontal.
The back of the wall is vertical.
The back of the wall is smooth.
Active Earth Pressure of Cohesion
less Soil

Fig. Active earth pressure distribution

Rankines theory
 Effect of Submergence
(i) Lateral earth pressure due to submerged unit weight of the
backfill soil; and
(ii) Lateral pressure due to pore water.

Fig. Effect of submergence on lateral earth

pressure
At a depth H below the surface, the lateral pressure,
h, is given by : h = Ka. H +w. H
 Effect of partial submergence

Fig. Effect of partial submergence on lateral earth

pressure
The lateral pressure above the water table is due
to the most unit weight of soil, and that below the
water table is the sum of that due to the
submerged unit weight of the soil and the water
pressure.
 where H1 = depth of submerged fill,
Ka = active earth pressure coefficient,
H2 = depth of fill above water table (taken to be
moist),
= moist unit weight, and
= submerged or effective unit weight.

Lateral pressure at the base

of wall,
= KaH2 + KaH1 + wH1
Effect of Uniform Surcharge

Fig. Effect of uniform surcharge on lateral

pressure
 The extra loading carried by a retaining structure
is known as surcharge. It may be a uniform load
(from roadway, from stacked goods, etc.), a line
load (trains running parallel to the structure), or
an isolated load (say, a column footing).

In the case of a wall retaining a backfill with

horizontal surface level with the top of the wall
and carrying a uniform surcharge of intensity q
per unit area, the vertical stress at every
elevation in the backfill is considered to increase
by q. As such, the lateral pressure has to increase
by Ka.q.

Thus, at any depth z, h = Ka.z + Kaq

 Effect of Inclined Surcharge
Sloping Backfill

The total active thrust Pa per unit length of the

wall acts at (1/3)H above the base of the wall and
is equal to 1/2 Ka.H2; it acts parallel to the surface
Active Earth Pressure of Cohesive
Soil

Fig. Active pressure distribution for a cohesive soil

For c- For pure clay, = 0

soil
 Passive Earth Pressure of
Cohesive Soil

Fig. Passive pressure distribution for the cohesive soil

 Coulombs Theory of Earth
Pressure
Assumptions;
The backfill is a dry, cohesionless, homogeneous,
isotropic soil.
The backfill surface is planar and can be inclined.
The back of the wall can be inclined to the vertical.
The failure surface is a plane surface which passes
through the heel of the wall.
The position and the line of action of the earth pressure
are known.
The sliding wedge is considered to be a rigid body and
the earth pressure is obtained by considering the
limiting equilibrium of the sliding wedge as a whole.
Coulombs Theory of Earth
Pressure
Coulombs Theory of Earth
Pressure
Coulomb Equations for c=0
Backfills
PROBLEMS
 What are the limiting values of the lateral
earth pressure at a depth of 3 meters in a
uniform sand fill with a unit weight of 20
KN/m3 and a friction angle of 35? The
ground surface is level. If a retaining wall
with a vertical back face is interposed,
determine the total active thrust and the
total passive resistance which will act on
the wall.
 A gravity retaining wall retains 12 m of a
backfill, = 17.7 KN/m3 = 25 with a
uniform horizontal surface. Assume the
wall interface to be vertical, determine the
magnitude and point of application of the
total active pressure. If the water table is a
height of 6 m, how far do the magnitude
and the point of application of active
pressure changed?
 A smooth backed vertical wall is 6.3 m
high and retains a soil with a bulk unit
weight of 18 KN/m3 and = 18. The top
of the soil is level with the top of the wall
and is horizontal. If the soil surface carries
a uniformly distributed load of 4.5 KN/m2,
determine the total active thrust on the
wall per lineal meter of the wall and its
point of application.
 A wall, 5.4 m high, retains sand. In the
loose state the sand has void ratio of 0.63
and = 27, while in the dense state, the
corresponding values of void ratio and
are 0.36 and 45 respectively. Compare
the ratio of active and passive earth
pressure in the two cases, assuming G =
2.64.
 A vertical wall with a smooth face is 7.2 m
high and retains soil with a uniform
surcharge angle of 9. If the angle of
internal friction of soil is 27, compute the
active earth pressure and passive earth
resistance assuming = 20 kN/m3
 A retaining wall 9 m high retains a
cohesionless soil, with an angle of internal
friction 33. The surface is level with the
top of the wall. The unit weight of the top
3 m of the fill is 21 kN/m3 and that of the
rest is 27 kN/m3. Find the magnitude and
point of application of the resultant active
thrust. It is assumed that = 33 for both
the strata of the backfill.
 A retaining wall, 7.5 m high, retains a
cohsionless backfill. The top 3 m of the fill
has a unit weight of 18 kN/m3 and = 30
and the rest has unit weight of 24 kN/m3
and = 20. Determine the pressure
distribution on the wall.
 A sandy loam backfill has a cohesion of 12
kN/m2 and = 20. The unit weight is
17.0 kN/m3. What is the depth of the
tension cracks ?
 A retaining wall with a smooth vertical
back retains a purely cohesive fill. Height
of wall is 12 m. Unit weight of fill is 20
kN/m3. Cohesion is 1 N/cm2. What is the
total active Rankine thrust on the wall? At
what depth is the intensity of pressure
zero and where does the resultant thrust
act?
 A retaining wall with a smooth back is 12 m
high and retains a two layer sand backfill
with following properties:
0 6 m depth: = 280, = 16 KN/m3
below 6 m: = 320, = 21 KN/m3
Show the active earth pressure distribution,
assuming that the water table is well below
the base of the wall.
 For the retaining wall as shown below,
assume that wall can yield sufficiently to
develop active state. Determine the
Rankine active force per unit length of wall
and the location of resultant line of action.

=16
3
KN/m3
m
1=30
z
C1=0
sat =19
3
KN/m3
m
2=36
C2=0
Thank you.
Appendix
EARTH PRESSURE
COEFFICIENTS