RESEARCH ARTICLE
Performance of Soil-bearing Spread Footings Supporting Highway Structures
Bashar Tarawneh1, *, Jamal Nusairat2, Shad M. Sargand3, Christopher Merklin4, Kevin White5
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2024Volume: 18
E-location ID: e18741495282014
Publisher ID: e18741495282014
DOI: 10.2174/0118741495282014240217093958
Article History:
Received Date: 16/12/2023Revision Received Date: 25/01/2024
Acceptance Date: 30/01/2024
Electronic publication date: 23/02/2024
Collection year: 2024
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Background
Soil-bearing spread footings (SBSF) are emerging as an increasingly attractive option for supporting highway structures. SBSF offers numerous benefits compared to deep foundations, including cost-effectiveness, accelerated construction, straightforward design, environmentally friendly characteristics, and reduced maintenance requirements.
Objective
The primary objective of this study is to assess the performance of highway structures that SBSF supports at four specific locations in Ohio. The findings from this assessment will serve as valuable recommendations for the future application of spread footings while identifying potential usage constraints.
Methods
The project team conducted a comprehensive review of documented performance data, assessed the effectiveness of existing footings, and compared these assessments against established structural performance criteria. Additionally, the team analyzed calculated settlements, provided an estimate of acceptable structural settlement, compared measured settlements with predicted values, and examined the relationship between performance and soil conditions.
Results
The data gathered, and field assessments conducted at all four sites encompassed in this investigation affirm that SBSF structures function as designed, displaying no signs of settlements or cracks associated with rideability. Both measured and calculated settlements fall within acceptable tolerances. While all structures exhibited acceptable levels of differential settlement, one encountered a differential settlement of approximately 54 mm between substructures, attributed to cohesive soil (A-6) in deeper layers.
Conclusion
SBSF structures were constructed by the manuals and guidelines established by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) and exhibited satisfactory performance. This paper also offers recommendations for settlement monitoring methods and plan notes that should be incorporated into the Ohio Department of Transportation's practices.
