ANALYTICAL SOLUTION FOR CALCULATION OF BEARING CAPACITY OF SHALLOW FOUNDATIONS ON GEOGRID-REINFORCED SAND SLOPE

The bearing capacity of foundations resting on slopes is commonly calculated using
empirical equations. In recent years, it has been demonstrated that geosynthetic reinforced soil can
enhance the foundation bearing capacity. In this paper, an analytical method for determination of
the ultimate bearing capacity of surface strip footing on a sand slope reinforced with geogrid layers
is presented. The angle of the slope with the horizontal direction is varied within 20o to 40o. In this
study, the Coulomb-type lateral earth pressure theory has been used to compute the foundation
bearing capacity. It is assumed that geogrid layers act such that the active earth pressures are
reduced. The results obtained from the proposed method are compared with experimental and
numerical results. Parametric studies have also been performed to show the effects of contributing
parameters such as number of geogrid layers, locations of reinforcement layers, soil properties and
the slope angle on the bearing capacity of strip foundations resting on the reinforced sand. The
results indicate that the magnitude of bearing capacity of strip footings on the sand slope can be
significantly increased by using geogrid layers.