Proposal for differentiation of the empirical settlement prediction method of Terzaghi and Peck for soft and hard soils

Load tests on a rigid strip footing embedded in sand compacted in six different densities are used to investigate the empirical settlement prediction method of Terzaghi and Peck From the investigation results that in the application of the method of Terzaghi and Peck, distinction between dense and loose sands must be made. The reason is that in dense sands the settlement determination by Terzaghi's and Peck's method leads for usual in practice loads to settlement overestimation. In the contrary, in loose sands the settlements are underestimated considerably. In the investigation, the reasons of this discrepancy are examined and the improvement of the method of Terzaghi and Peck is proposed. In the paper, a critical consideration of the investigation results for the evaluation of the foundation behavior of earth materials being in the region of hard soils and soft rocks is included.