Skip to main content

About Safe Bearing Capacity


About Safe bearing capacity

Excavate a pit of required depth. (preferably equal to the depth of foundation)
Take a solid ball or square cube of known weight and dimension.
Drop the ball or square cube several times, from a known height on to the bottom surface of excavated pit.
Calculate the average depth of impression made several times on the bottom surface of the excavated pit. Let “d” is the average depth of impression.

CALCULATION

Calculate the ultimate resistance of soil ( R ) using the formula given below.

R = (w * h) / d

Where,

R = Ultimate resistance of soil (in kg)

d = Average depth of impression (in cm)

w = Weight of the solid ball or square cube (in kg)

h = Height of fall of solid ball or cube (in cm)

If “A” is the cross-sectional area of the solid steel ball or cube, then resistance of soil per unit area is calculated using following formula.

Resistance of soil per unit area (in kg/cm2) = R / A

Safe bearing capacity (in kg/cm2) = R / (A * F.O.S)

Where,

F.O.S = Factor of safety

NOTES TO REMEMBER

F.O.S varies from 2 to 3 depending upon the type of structure and site condition.
In order to get reliable test result, perform this test on different types of soil and then use your judgment to reach at any conclusion.
Instead of using solid steel ball or square cube, we can also use CBR test plunger, or Cone (used for cone penetration test)
PRESUMPTIVE BEARING CAPACITY

The table given below shows the presumptive bearing capacity values for different types of soils. This table will guide you to reach at any conclusion after conducting the test.

Allowable safe bearing capacity for different types of soil :     

  • Rock 32.40
  • Soft rock 4.40
  • Coarse sand 4.40
  • Medium sand 2.45
  • Fine sand 4.40
  • Soft shell / Stiff clay 1.00
  • Soft clay 1.00
  • Very soft clay 0.50                                       
NOTES TO REMEMBER

For non-cohesive soils the values should be reduced by 50% if the water table is above or near base of footing.
These values should be used only for preliminary design. The actual bearing capacity of soil should be calculated as per the standard codes.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Hardy slab and where it use

  HARDY SLAB :- These kind of slabs are generally seen in Dubai and China. This  slab is constructed by hardy Bricks. Hardy bricks are hollow bricks and made up of concrete Hollow blocks are used to fill portions of the slab thickness it saves the  amount of concrete and hence the own weight of the slab is reduced. This kind of slab has a more thickness when compared with the conventional one. The thickness of hardy slab is 0.27m. The method of installing Hardy slab is different from normal  and it is clearly explained below: This is a one of the types of concrete slabs. The dimensions of Hardy brick is 40cm x 20cm x 20cm The process of execution is as follows: Step 1   : Formwork is arranged and then shutters are fixed on the formwork. Step 2  : Hardy blocks are placed on the shutter with one brick gap on the entire shutter. Step 3  : The gaps between the bricks are called as rib. Reinforcement is provided in a form of beam within the gap. Step 4  : After placing the

About Dome,Pitch roof,Arches slab

Dome Slab:- These kind of slab is generally constructed in temples, Mosques, palaces etc. And Dome slab is built on conventional slab. Thickness of Dome slab is 0.15m. Domes are in semi circle and shuttering is done on conventional slab in dome shape and concrete is filled in shuttering forming dome shapes. This is a one of the types of concrete slabs. PITCH ROOF SLAB: Pitch roof is an inclined slab , generally constructed on resorts for a natural look. Compared to traditional roofing materials Tile-sheets used in pitch roof slab  are extreamely lightweight. This weight saving reduces the timber or steel structural requirements resulting in significant cost savings.Tile-sheets are tailor made for each project offering labour cost savings and reduced site wastage. And the thickness of slab is depends on the tiles we using it may be 2″-8″. This is a one of the types of concrete slabs. Advantages : 1. It sheds off rain water better. 2. It gives you internal storage or ro

About slump cone test in concrete

Concrete Slump Test for Workability -Procedure and Results. Concrete slump test is to determine the workability or consistency of concrete mix prepared at the laboratory or the construction site during the progress of the work. Procedure for Concrete Slump Test: Clean the internal surface of the mould and apply oil. Place the mould on a smooth horizontal non- porous base plate. Fill the mould with the prepared concrete mix in 4 approximately equal layers. Tamp each layer with 25 strokes of the rounded end of the tamping rod in a uniform manner over the cross section of the mould. For the subsequent layers, the tamping should penetrate into the underlying layer. Remove the excess concrete and level the surface with a trowel. Clean away the mortar or water leaked out between the mould and the base plate. Raise the mould from the concrete immediately and slowly in vertical direction. Measure the slump as the difference between the height of the mould and that of height poin