Bearing Capacity Analysis of Spread Footing on Massif in the “Corniche Ouest” of the Dakar Peninsula (Senegal, West Africa)

Abstract

This study presents various approaches to calculating the bearing capacity of spread footings applied to the rock mass of the western corniche at the tip of the Dakar peninsula. The bearing capacity was estimated using empirical, analytical and numerical approaches based on the parameters of the rock mass and the foundation. Laboratory tests were carried out on basanite, as well as on the other facies detected. The results of these studies give a range of allowable bearing capacity values varying between 1.92 and 11.39 MPa for the empirical methods and from 7.13 to 25.50 MPa for the analytical methods. A wide dispersion of results was observed according to the different approaches. This dispersion of results is explained by the use of different rock parameters depending on the method used. The allowable bearing capacity results obtained with varying approaches of calculation remain admissible to support the loads. On the other hand, the foundation calculations show acceptable settlement of the order of a millimeter for all the layers, especially in the thin clay layers resting on the bedrock at shallow depths, where the rigidity of the rock reduces settlement.