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GATE 2024 CE (CE1) – Question 18

Geotechnical Engineering · Shallow foundations: bearing capacity, combined footing, raft, settlement · 1 mark · Multiple choice

A 2 m wide strip footing is founded at a depth of 1.5 m below the ground level in a homogeneous pure clay bed. The clay bed has unit cohesion of 40 kPa. Due to seasonal fluctuations of water table from peak summer to peak monsoon period, the net ultimate bearing capacity of the footing, as per Terzaghi's theory, will

  1. remain the same
  2. decrease
  3. increase
  4. become zero

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Correct answer: (A) remain the same

Explanation

For a pure clay ($\phi = 0$) the net ultimate bearing capacity in Terzaghi's theory is $q_{nu} = cN_c$ (with $N_c = 5.7$ for a strip footing). It depends only on the cohesion and not on the unit weight or the water table, so it remains the same.