Circular footings on a cemented layer above weak foundation soil

This work proposes a method for predicting the behavior of shallow footings bearing on an upper layer of processed cemented soil that overlies a lower layer of weakly bonded residual soil with a high void ratio. The paper describes the results of a series of field plate tests and numerical simulations. The results lead to a semi-empirical method for designing shallow foundations on a double-layer system. The method has been validated by comparison of predicted values with results from a separate series of plate-loading tests. For engineering practice, the proposed method provides acceptable predictions of bearing capacities and load–settlement curves.