Experimental Study of Circular Shallow Footing on the Top of Slope

Shallow footings are extensively used when hard strata exist near ground level. Design of foundations must satisfy ultimate bearing capacity and allowable settlements (Meyerhof in The ultimate bearing capacity of foundations on slopes, pp 384–386, 1957). The bearing capacity of foundations depends on density, deformation, and shear characteristics of soil. Footing on sloping ground becomes important due to limit of land availability, right of way, cost-effectiveness, and many more. In hilly regions, construction of footings on slopes becomes essential which require appropriate designs with a suitable factor of safety. It is found that research is limited on rigid footing resting on sloping ground. Researchers majorly focused on shallow footing resting on sloping ground either of cohesive or cohesionless. In this context, it is necessary to address the behavior of shallow footing resting on steep (>30°) sloping ground consisting c-ϕ soil. Hence, the present experimental study on a lab scale model is an attempt to understand the behavior of circular shallow footing of size 0.11 m in diameter (B) resting on the top of a 45° sloping ground having c-ϕ soil, i.e., clayey sand having c = 14 kN/m² and ϕ = 28° with D_e/B ratio of 1. Load-settlement behavior of footing is observed and presented.