Design of spread footings-probabilistic analysis of full scale testing results

In the period 1955-63 the Electricity Supply Board, Ireland (ESB) carried out a series of 61 tests on full scale foundations to ascertain the parameters to be used in the design for uplift of foundation sizes then in use. In the period 1984-7 the ESB set and tested a total of 54 full-scale foundations in three different locations in Ireland in a variety of soil conditions using different methods of installation. A further 14 foundations from a 40 year old line were tested in 1988. The site testing and statistical analysis of results of these foundation tests forms the basis for this paper which suggests design parameters to be used for the principal soil types, foundation shapes and dimensions examined