200 Soils, Foundations and Concrete Civil and Structural Manual

Differential foundation settlements are usually more critical than the settlement of
individual foundations. Special consideration must be given to the settlement of crit-
ical structures or equipment which could impose excessive stresses on other struc-
tures, connections, and piping. Differential settlement should be limited to 0.5-0.75
inches whenever possible. For adjacent equipment, foundations should be combined
or tied together to avoid differential settlement.
Factors of Safety. The soil report will recommend appropriate factors of safety for
spread footing design. Following are recommended minimum factors of safety
against ultimate bearing capacity failure.
• Dead loads and operating loads:
Minimum factor of safety of 2.0 to 3.0 depending on the type of structure and
the reliability of the condition of the soil.
• Temporary, wind, or seismic loading:
Minimum factor of safety of 1.5 to 2.0
In some instances, lower factors of safety may be justified based on a thorough soil
investigation, sound engineering principles and type of soil.

Other Considerations
The depth of shallow foundations should be selected so that the bottom of the foun-
dation is placed below:
• Frost line
• Topsoil or other organic material
• Unconsolidated fill material
Layers of expansive soils (clays)
The stability ratio of the resisting moments about the edge of any foundation to the
overturning moments due to wind and earthquake loads should not be less than 1.5.

Design Procedure, Spread Footings

The design procedure that follows outlines the steps for designing a spread footing
supporting a single load applied at the center of the foundation. Spread footings for
overturning moment in one direction only may be designed by the following proce-
dure. The procedure has two parts: calculating the footing size (9 steps) and
preparing the footing’s structural design (6 steps.) An example problem follows the
design procedure.

Footing Size
1. Calculate the applied vertical load, P, shear, V, and moment, M, at the top of
footing or top of pedestal, whichever applies. The loads are due to one or a
combination of the following.
– Dead load
– Live load
– Wind load

June 1997 200-18 Chevron Corporation

Civil and Structural Manual 200 Soils, Foundations and Concrete

– Thermal forces
– Seismic forces
– Equipment loads (operating, hydrotest) and associated piping
2. Choose the minimum depth of footing, D, below grade and the height of the
pedestal, h, above grade. The bottom of footing should be below the frost line
and should bear on soil with adequate bearing capacity. The top of the pedestal
is normally six (6) to twelve (12) inches above grade to protect the anchor bolts
from moisture, dirt, or debris.
3. Translate the loads from top of footing or pedestal to bottom of footing. Vertical
load, P, and shear, V, remain the same but the moment at the footing bottom,
Mb, increases by the product of shear, V, times distance (D+h). See
Figure 200-7.

Mb = M + V ( D + h )
(Eq. 200-1)
4. Estimate the plan dimensions of footing (L,B) based on the allowable soil
bearing qa, vertical load P, and moment Mb, but first transform the load P and
moment Mb to a new location at an eccentricity, e = Mb/P, from footing center-
line. The footing plan dimensions (L,B) are estimated with the aid of the soil
pressure distribution as shown in Figure 200-8. For equilibrium, the summa-
tion of forces in the vertical direction must equal zero. Use a trial and error
process in estimating footing plan dimensions (L,B). Select the larger initial
dimensions based on a) maximum vertical load and allowable soil bearing pres-
sure, and b) maximum vertical load with overturning moment and maximum
soil bearing pressure allowed for wind and earthquake load conditions.
a. Maximum vertical load only

BL = P ⁄ q a
(Eq. 200-2)
b. Maximum vertical load with overturning
Assume e = Mb/P > L/6
3 (L/2 - e) qaB/2 = P
(L/2 - e)B = 2P/3qa
5. Select a footing thickness, t, and pedestal dimensions (a,b). If the pedestal
supports a steel column, the column base plate size and anchor bolt require-
ments will dictate minimum rectangular pedestal dimensions (a,b) or round
pedestal radius (r). The footing thickness, t, in inches can be estimated from
beam shear (V) and Figure 200-9.

V = 1.7q a  --- – ------ , lb ⁄ ft

L t
 2 12
(Eq. 200-3)

Chevron Corporation 200-19 June 1997