Stress characteristics for shallow footings in cohesionless slopes

Abstract

Footings placed at shallow depth in bridge approach embankments can be used to reduce the cost and to improve the performance of bridge supports. The embankments frequently terminate in slopes dropping to underpass level, and the footings therefore have lower capacity than that for footings on level ground. The needed design procedures have not been well validated.The paper describes a new solution using the method of stress characteristics for footing capacity in cohesionless slopes. The soil is assumed to have c = 0, [Formula: see text] = constant, γ > 0. Particular attention is paid to modelling the asymmetric nonfailing zone immediately beneath the footing. Solutions for various slope angles and friction angles have been obtained for footings placed at the crest of the slope with D/B = H/B = 0, and for H/B = 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0; D/B = 0.5 and 1.0. The theoretical bearing capacities are compared with experimental values from two series of laboratory tests. Key words: bearing capacity, footings, failure, bridge abutments, slopes, sand, cohesionless, stress characteristics.