Bearing Capacity of Surface Footing on Soft Clay Underlying Stiff Nonhomogeneous Desiccated Crust

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to provide a reasonable approach for the evaluation of the bearing capacity of a shallow footing on a very soft clay overlaid by a stiff nonhomogeneous crust layer, based on both numerical analyses and a reappraisal of field load tests reported in the literature. Finite element analyses were carried out for the above problems with varying shape and magnitude of a nonhomogeneous shear strength distribution in the crust and crust thickness to a footing width (or diameter) ratio H/B (or H/2R). In addition, recently reported in-situ plate load tests conducted in a reclaimed area of dredged marine clay were reappraised so as to characterize the bearing behavior of the deposit, and to assess the shear strength mobilization in the crust related to the bearing capacity estimation.