• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.38 no.10
• /
• pp.61-74
• /
• 2022

Considering that the number of cases in which a structure foundation is located on weathered rock has been increasing recently, for adequate design bearing capacity of a foundation on weathered rock, allowable bearing capacities of such foundations in geotechnical investigation reports were studied. With reference to the study results, the allowable bearing capacity of a foundation on weathered rock was approximately 400-700 kN/m², with a large variation, and was considered a conservative value. Because the allowable bearing capacity of the foundation ground is an important index in determining the foundation type in the early design stage, it can have a significant influence on the construction cost and period according to the initial decision. Thus, in this study, six large-scale plate-bearing tests were conducted on weathered rock, and the bearing capacity and settlement characteristics were analyzed. According to the test results, the bearing capacities from the six tests exceeded 1,500 kN/m², and it shows that the results are similar with the one of bearing capacity formula by Pressuremeter tests when compared with the various bearing capacity formula. In addition, the elastic modulus determined by the inverse calculation of the load-settlement behavior from the large-scale plate-bearing tests was appropriate for applying the elastic modulus of the Pressuremeter tests. With consideration of the large-scale plate-bearing tests in this study and other results of plate-bearing tests on weathered rock in Korea, the allowable bearing capacity of weathered rock is evaluated to be over 1,000 kN/m². However, because the settlement of the foundation increases as the foundation size increases, the allowable bearing capacity should be restrained by the allowable settlement criteria of an upper structure. Therefore, in this study, the anticipated foundation settlements along the foundation size and the thickness of weathered rocks have been evaluated by numerical analysis, and the foundation size and ground conditions, with an allowable bearing capacity of over 1,000 kN/m², have been proposed as a table. These findings are considered useful in determining the foundation type in the early foundation design.