Question

In conventional design, allowable bearing capacity should be taken smaller than which of the following value?

(a) Safe bearing capacity and Allowable bearing pressure

(b) The pressure intensities beneath the footing

(c) None of the mentioned

(d) All of the mentioned

This question was posed to me during an internship interview.

I'm obligated to ask this question of Types of Foundation in portion Shallow Foundations of Geotechnical Engineering II

Answer 1

Right choice is (a) Safe bearing capacity and Allowable bearing pressure

For explanation: In conventional design, the allowable bearing capacity should be taken as the smaller of the following two values: i) the safe bearing capacity based on ultimate capacity, and ii) the allowable bearing pressure on tolerable settlement.