allowable soil bearing stress

[jboucher50]

What is an average allowable soil bearing stress for compacted granular material? Anyone know where I can find a summary for various types of soil? Is 2000 psf reasonable for calculating bearing areas for thrust blocks?

Thanks in advance

 

[bengineer]

Just like on the luge, you have to lean into the turns.

For vertical forces, 2000 psf is probably acceptable, however this will also depend on the bearing strata below the granular base. For lateral loads the modulus of subgrade reaction must be known to perform an analyis.

 

[DRC1]

Check your state building code. They usually have what are called presumptive bearing pressures. These are generally conservative values which can be used as long as you are reasonable in your application