For the flow setup shown in the figure (not to scale), the hydraulic conductivities of the two soil samples, Soil 1 and Soil 2, are 10 mm/s and 1 mm/s, respectively. Assume the unit weight of water as 10 kN/m3 and ignore the velocity head. At steady state, what is the total head (in m, rounded off to two decimal places) at any point located at the junction of the two samples? _____
A square footing of size 2.5 m × 2.5 m is placed 1.0 m below the ground surface on a cohesionless homogeneous soil stratum. Considering that the groundwater table is located at the base of the footing, the unit weights of soil above and below the groundwater table are 18 kN/m3 and 20 kN/m3, respectively, and the bearing capacity factor Nq is 58, the net ultimate bearing capacity of the soil is estimated as 1706 kPa (unit weight of water = 10 kN/m3).
Earlier, a plate load test was carried out with a circular plate of 30 cm diameter in the same foundation pit during a dry season, when the water table was located beyond the plate influence zone. Using Terzaghi’s bearing capacity formulation, what is the ultimate bearing capacity (in kPa) of the plate?