What is the effect of increasing the depth of a foundation on its bearing capaci
Practice Questions
Q1
What is the effect of increasing the depth of a foundation on its bearing capacity?
Increases bearing capacity
Decreases bearing capacity
No effect
Depends on soil type
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
What is the effect of increasing the depth of a foundation on its bearing capacity?
Step 1: Understand what a foundation is. A foundation is the part of a building that supports it and transfers its weight to the ground.
Step 2: Learn about bearing capacity. Bearing capacity is the ability of the ground to support the weight of the building without sinking or collapsing.
Step 3: Know what happens when you increase the depth of a foundation. When you dig deeper, you reach more soil layers.
Step 4: Realize that deeper soil layers can be stronger. The deeper you go, the more weight of soil is above, which pushes down and compresses the soil below.
Step 5: Understand confining pressure. This is the pressure exerted by the weight of the soil above on the soil below.
Step 6: Connect the dots. As you increase the depth, the confining pressure increases, which helps the soil below support more weight.
Step 7: Conclude that increasing the depth of a foundation generally increases its bearing capacity.
