Mechanism of Bearing Capacity of Spread Footings Reinforced with Micropiles

The Hyogoken-Nambu Earthquake in 1995 caused extensive damages to the foundations of bridges. Ever since, methods to improve the bearing capacity of existing foundations have become an important aspect of foundation engineering in Japan. Micropiles are considered to provide promising solutions. The mechanism which enhances the bearing capacity of surface footings reinforced with micropiles is the subject of investigation in this study. As an initial phase, model tests were conducted to understand the load-displacement behavior of surface footings with and without micropiles on loose, medium dense, and dense layers of sands. Salient factors which influence the behavior of the footings were selected and their influence on bearing capacity was examined through a comprehensive series of model tests. Notable improvements in the bearing capacity of surface footings reinforced with vertical micropile groups were observed in the case of dense sand which is dilative during shear. To assess quantitatively the degree of improvement in the bearing capacity of surface footings reinforced with micropiles, an index R called “Network Effect Index” was introduced in this study. The index R of unity means that the bearing capacity of footings reinforced with micropiles is simply equal to the summation of the individual value of the surface footing and that of the micropile group. An index R of more than two is achieved in this study where surface footings reinforced with a group of vertical micropiles bear on a dense layer of dilative sand. By contrast, with loose and medium dense sand, which are contractive in nature, the index R is found to be less than unity.