Bearing capacity of soil is the maximum load per unit area that the underlying soil or material, be it rock or clay, will support without displacement. Often, a structure fails from uneven settlement or differential settlement.
Endurable bearing capacity or safe bearing capacity of soil is obtained by dividing the ultimate bearing capacity by a certain factor of safety and is used in foundation design. It is recommended to adopt a factor of safety of 2 for buildings in general construction and a factor of safety of 2.5 or 3 for heavy construction.
Leave a Reply