UNIT I

Introduction to Soil study & Foundation

By: Ar. Bhagyashree Kadiwal
BCM 2nd yr
Objectives
✔ Settlement of soil.
✔ What is settlement of soil.
✔ Factors affecting settlement.
✔Concept of bulb of pressure and its significance for site
investigation.
✔ What is site investigation and its importance and necessity.
✔ What is bulb of pressure.
✔ Use of bulb of pressure for site investigation.
✔Introduction to methods of site and strata investigation.
✔ What is Strata. What is strata investigation.
✔ Stages in Site Investigation.
✔ Methods of Site and Soil Investigation.
OVERVIEW
Plate Load Test
Plate load test is done at site to determine the ultimate bearing
capacity of soil and settlement of foundation under the loads for
clayey and sandy soils.
Plate load test is helpful for the selection and design the
foundation.
A Pit is excavated in the ground at which foundation is to be laid.
The size of pit is generally 5 times the size of the plate.
The depth excavated should be equal to proposed foundation
depth.
The plate used is made of mild steel. It may be square (0.3m x
0.3m) or circular (0.3m diameter) with 25mm thickness.
After excavation of pit, at center of excavated pit steel plate sized
hole with “Dp” thickness is excavated and arrange the plate in it.
The Thickness of plate Dp is calculated by below formula:
After arranging the plate in central hole hydraulic jack is arranged
on top of plate to apply load.
Reaction beam or reaction trusses is provided for the hydraulic
jack to take up the reaction.
Otherwise a loaded platform is created (using sand bags etc.) on
the top of hydraulic jack and provided the reaction.
After that seating load is applied to set the plate and released after
some time. Later load is applied with an increment of 20% of safe
load.
Dial gauges are arranged at bottom to record the settlement values.
Load is applied with an increment of 2kN at every interval.
Settlement is observed at different intervals as said in above
method. For clayey soils, the observations are made until the rate
of settlement is to be 0.2mm per hour.
Limitations of plate load tests
Size of the foundation influences the load-settlement response of
shallow foundations.
This is very particular in case of cohesion less soils, wherein the
modulus of elasticity increases with depth.

Bearing capacity increases with increase in size of plate for

cohesion less soils.

In cohesive soils, particularly those that are saturated, the plate load
test will not be able to capture the ultimate settlements under any
load application, which may require more time than 24 hours, used
in the plate load test
Settlement of soil.
Settlement is the downward movement of the ground caused by
a load consolidating the soil below it or causing displacement
of the soil.
Settlement often refers to the downward movement of
the ground around an excavated space, such as that for tunnels,
shafts, or basements.
Ground movement impacts upon buildings depends on several
factors, which may include:

Existing soil conditions.

Methods of construction.
Size and depth of the construction works.
Type of structure, its condition, and its foundations.

The impact of settlement is opposite to the effect of heave which is

the upward movement of the ground, and is different
from subsidence which occurs where soil is unstable and sinks
downward without any imposed load.
•Causes of settlement
•Weak bearing soils
•Poor compaction
•Changes in moisture content

•Maturing trees and vegetation

•Soil consolidation
Site Investigation
Site investigation or Sub-Soil explorations are done for obtaining
the information about subsurface conditions at the site proposed for
construction.
Objectives of Site Investigation
To know about the order of occurrence of soil and rock strata.
To know about the location of the groundwater table level and its
variations.
To determine engineering properties of soil.
To select a suitable type of foundation.
To estimate the probable and maximum differential settlements.
To find the bearing capacity of the soil.
To select suitable soil improvement techniques & construction
equipment.
Bulb Of Pressure (Pressure Bulb)
An isobar or pressure bulb is a stress contour or a line which
connects all points below the ground surface at which the vertical
pressure is the same.

An isobar is a spatial curved surface and resembles a bulb in shape;

this is because the vertical pressure at all points in a horizontal
plane at equal radial distances from the load is the same.

Thus, the stress isobar is also called the ‘bulb of pressure’ or

simply the ‘pressure bulb’. The vertical pressure at each point on
the pressure bulb is the same.
Use of bulb of pressure for site investigation.
The bulb of pressure gives an indication of the depth of soil
affected by a footing.
From bulb pressure we will get some idea of the depth of soil
affected by a footing.
It is important to investigate the site to a greater depth for large
footings. The depth at which the soil pressure need to be
considered depends on the size of the proposed footings.
Site and strata investigation
Soil investigation and soil explorations are conducted for the
purpose of site investigation
to get clear information about the soil properties and
hydrological conditions at the site.
Site investigation is a systematic process to collect and record all
the necessary data which will be needed or will help in the design
and construction processes.
Why it is important ?

A soil investigation will show detailed of soil information and to

obtain a comprehensive picture of civil engineering site below the
ground surface.
Objective of Soil Investigation
To determine information related to soil in various and depth.
To calculate/find location, relationship, thickness & strength of
soil strata including to define the soil type and strength and
specifications.
To find type & depth bedrock in various location, layer &
thickness size.
To find ground water level including depth & pressure in various
location.
Determine chemical and physical properties.
The aim of S.I:
To evaluate suitable site for project.
To create safe and economical design.
To identify the main problems during construction :
Soil problems.
Determine precautionary action.
To study the possibility of soil movement :
Because of nature.
Effect of movement.
To exercise safety and investigate case of failure
Soil investigations involve the following steps:
Planning the details and sequence of operations.
Collection of soil samples from the field.
Conducting all field tests for determining the strength and
compressibility characteristics of the soil.
Study of ground water level conditions and collection of water
samples for chemical analysis.
Geophysical exploration if necessary.
Testing in the laboratory of all samples of soil, rock, and water.
Preparation of drawings and charts.
Analysis of the results of the tests.
Preparation of report.
Methods of Soil Investigations
Inspection
Test pits
Probing
Boring

Inspection
The first step in this connection is the inspection of the site
and its vicinity to get a preliminary idea of the site conditions.
This includes the study of the existing buildings in the
neighborhood and if possible the type of their foundations.
TEST PITS/ TRIAL PITS
Excavating a hole large enough for a person to work in and
revealing the soil strata for examining and sampling.
The depth of trial pits should be at least equal to the depth of
foundation excavation.
If the side wall of trial pits is
expected to fall, then it is necessary
to provide adequate support for side
walls or create stepped trial pits to
create working environment for the
investigators.
Such a pit can be easily excavated at the proposed construction
site, if the soil has a bit of cohesion, and the soil samples can be
lifted from such different depths, besides making the easy
visualization and examination of the different strata.
Purpose of Trial Pits in Site Investigation
Soil classification
To what extent does the side wall of excavation is stable
Specify the location of water table
Trial pits can be used to determine the location of underground
utilities and hand digging should be used in this case.
Finally, trial pits would explain whether foundation excavation
can be conducted easily or need considerable effort.