GATE CE 2019 Set 2 — Question 65
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Geotechnical Engineering → Shallow Foundations → Terzaghi's Bearing Capacity
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Question
A square footing of sides rests on the surface of a homogeneous soil bed having the properties: cohesion , angle of internal friction , and unit weight . Terzaghi's bearing capacity factors for are , , , , , and . The ultimate bearing capacity of the foundation (in , round off to 2 decimal places) is ___________
Correct answer
920 to 925
Solution
For a square footing resting on the surface (), the ultimate bearing capacity is given by Terzaghi's formula:Since the angle of internal friction is less than , local shear failure is assumed. For local shear failure, the cohesion is modified to and the bearing capacity factors are used.Given:
Substituting these values into the formula for local shear failure:Rounding off to 2 decimal places, the ultimate bearing capacity is .
- Cohesion,
- Depth of foundation,
- Width of footing,
- Unit weight of soil,
- Bearing capacity factors for local shear: ,
Substituting these values into the formula for local shear failure:Rounding off to 2 decimal places, the ultimate bearing capacity is .
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