Civil EngineeringWBPSC AE · SSC JE · RRB JE

Foundation Engineering— Important Topics, Formulas & MCQs

Foundation Engineering applies soil mechanics to the design of shallow and deep foundations — bearing capacity, settlement, and pile design. It is closely tied to Soil Mechanics and frequently appears in AE-level papers.

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Important topics in Foundation Engineering

Bearing capacity — Terzaghi, Meyerhof theories

Types of shear failure (general, local, punching)

Shallow foundations — isolated, combined, raft

Pile foundations — load capacity, group action

Negative skin friction

Settlement — immediate & consolidation

Plate load test & SPT correlations

Well foundations & caissons

Pile spacing & efficiency

Foundation on expansive soils

Must-know

Key concepts & formulas — Foundation Engineering

Terzaghi bearing capacity

qu = cNc + qNq + 0.5γBNγ. The three terms are cohesion, surcharge and width contributions.

Pile spacing

Minimum c/c spacing for friction piles ≈ 3×diameter (IS 2911).

Negative skin friction

Downward drag that reduces the safe load capacity of a pile, not adds to it.

General vs local shear

Dense soils → general shear (clear failure surface); loose soils → local/punching shear.

Exam relevance

3–5 questions in AE papers; combine with Soil Mechanics for maximum efficiency.

Study tip

Remember which factor (c, q, γ) dominates for clays vs sands — it resolves most bearing-capacity MCQs quickly.

Worked example

Sample Foundation Engineering MCQ

The minimum centre-to-centre spacing of friction piles is generally taken as:

A. 1.5 × pile diameter

B. 2 × pile diameter

C. 3 × pile diameter

D. 5 × pile diameter

Answer: C. Per IS 2911, friction piles are spaced at least 3 × the pile diameter c/c to limit overlap of stress zones and group efficiency loss.

Common mistakes to avoid

Negative skin friction reduces (does not add to) the safe pile capacity.

General shear failure occurs in dense soils, local/punching shear in loose soils.

Terzaghi's Nc = 5.7 for a strip footing at φ = 0; don't forget the surcharge (q) term.

Confusing gross and net ultimate bearing capacity (net = gross − overburden).

Keep going

Related Civil Engineering subjects

Strength of Materials

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