GATE CE 2020 Set 1 — Question 20
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Geotechnical Engineering → Shallow Foundations → Atterberg Limits
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Question
Which one of the following statements is NOT correct?
Correct answer
(A) A clay deposit with a liquidity index greater than unity is in a state of plastic consistency.
Solution
The liquidity index () is defined as , where is the natural water content, is the liquid limit, and is the plastic limit.
- If , then , which means the soil is in a liquid state.
- If , the soil is in a plastic state.
- (B) For normally consolidated (NC) clay, the cohesion intercept () is zero in a consolidated undrained (CU) test.
- (C) For a strip footing on the surface of sand (), the ultimate bearing capacity is , which is directly proportional to the width .
- (D) Directly beneath a point load (), Boussinesq's vertical stress is and Westergaard's stress is . Boussinesq's value is higher.
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