Section 16-2

for vertical resistance,

4>

Soil Pressure Under Footings

789

= 0.5

for sliding resistance dependenton friction, with cohesion equal to zero, 4> = 0.8
for sliding resistancedependent on cohesion, with friction equal to zero, 4> = 0.6
Serviceability limit states should also be checked [16-1], [16-2], [16-3].
At the time of writing, virtually all building footings in North America are designed
by using allowable-stress design applied to failures of the concrete foundation element or
the soil itself (16-1). The rest of this chapter will apply allowable-stress design to the soil
and then use ultimate-load

design for the reinforced

concrete foundation

structure.

Limit States for the Design of Foundations

Limit States Governed by the SoU
Three primary ultimate limit states of the soil supporting an isolated foundation are [16-1],
[16-3].
1. a bearing failure of the soil under the footing (Fig. 16-3),
2. a serviceability failure in which excessive differential settlement between adjacent footings causes architectural or structural damage to the structure, or
3. excessive total settlement.
Settlement occurs in two stages: immediate settlement as the loads are applied, and a longterm settlement known as consolidation.
Procedures for minimizing differential settlements involve a degree of geotechnical
engineering theory outside the realm of this book.
Bearing failures are controlled by limiting the service-load stress under the footing
to less than an allowable stress, qa' as in (16-1).

Limit States Governed by the Structure

Similarly,there are three primary structurallimit states for the foundations themselves
[16-1], [16-2]:
4. flexural failure of the portions of the footing that project from the column or wall,
5. shear failure of the footing, and
6. inadequateanchorageof the flexural reinforcement in the footing.
As stated earlier, bearing failures of the soil supporting the foundation are prevented by
limiting the service-load stress under the footing to less than an allowable stress
qa

= qult

FS

( 16-3 )

where qult is the stress corresponding to the failure of the soj) under the footing and FS is a
factor of safety in the range of 2.5 to 3. Values of qa are obtained from the principles of

footing.