Principles Of Foundation Engineering

Every civil engineering project has some geotechnical or foundation engineering component. This includes all earth and earth-supported structures, namely, founda-tions and earth-retaining structures, the two broad categories discussed in this book. The related chapters are bundled into Parts 3 and 4, respectively. Under foundations (Part 3), shallow foundations and deep foundations are discussed. In this edition, a new chapter is introduced on the load and resistance factor design (LRFD) method, which is quite different compared to the traditional allowable stress design (ASD) method that has been used by geotechnical engineers for decades. The LRFD was initially brought into practice by the American Concrete Institute (ACI) in the 1960s. It is widely used in structural engineering and is becoming popular in foundation engineering applications such as footings, piles, and retaining walls. The main differ-ence between LRFD and ASD is the way the safety factor is applied.