Capacity design principles for shallow foundations in seismic areas

The yield design theory presents a rational tool for the evaluation of the seismic bearing capacity of shallow foundations. It has been successfully implemented and tested against case histories for foundation on unreinforced soil. This theoretical framework is extended to an innovative foundation design concept in seismic areas. This concept based on the reinforcement of the in-situ soil with stiff, closely spaced inclusions, is economic, easy to implement and significantly improves the seismic bearing capacity of the foundation. In addition, but not the least, this concept introduces a capacity design philosophy in foundation engineering. Numerical studies and centrifuge model tests have demonstrated the validity of the concept and of the theoretical tools.