This book is a valuable reference book that every Civil Engineer studying Foundation Engineering should consider having on their bookshelf.
Author — Braja M. Das
Second Edition — CRC Press
Civil / Geotechnical Engineering
The Second Edition focuses mainly on Ultimate Bearing Capacity, Allowable Bearing Capacity, and Settlement, and systematically explains the key design concepts of shallow foundations.
The book covers 8 chapters, including Centric Loading, Inclined & Eccentric Loading, Special Cases, Settlement, Dynamic Loading, Reinforced Soil, and Uplift Capacity.
Why is this book valuable?
1. It’s not just about formulas.
The book does not simply ask you to memorize bearing capacity theories such as Terzaghi, Meyerhof, and Vesic.
Instead, it helps you understand why a particular equation is used and which theory is more appropriate for a specific condition.
2. It connects Bearing Capacity with Settlement.
One of the important aspects of this book is that it helps readers understand Bearing Capacity Failure and Settlement as separate but closely related considerations when determining the allowable capacity of a foundation.
Chapter 5 is specifically dedicated to Settlement and Allowable Bearing Capacity.
3. It covers loading conditions encountered in real design.
Foundation loads are not always perfectly vertical and centrally applied.
The book also explains how to consider Eccentric Loads and Inclined Loads when evaluating foundation bearing capacity.
4. It includes advanced topics.
Topics such as Dynamic Loading, Reinforced Soil, Geogrid, and Uplift Capacity are also included.
Therefore, it is useful for engineers who want to go beyond the basic concepts of Foundation Engineering and develop a deeper understanding of the subject.
Who should read this book?
Civil Engineering Students
A good reference for understanding Foundation Design concepts from the fundamentals.
Geotechnical Engineers
A particularly useful reference book for foundation-related analysis and design.
Structural Engineers
Recommended for engineers who want to understand Soil–Foundation Interaction rather than focusing only on superstructure design.
Site / Project Engineers
Helps develop a better understanding of what values such as Bearing Capacity and Settlement in a Soil Report actually mean and how they relate to foundation design.
This is not the kind of book you read once and put away.
It is the kind of reference book you come back to whenever you are working on Foundation Design.
For a Structural Engineer, especially, if you want to understand the complete load path:
Column → Footing → Soil
this book is definitely worth spending time with.
Note
The book shown here is the Second Edition, with publication records generally dating to 2009/2010. A later Third Edition was published in 2017 and contains updated material.
Final Thoughts
In short, if you want to move beyond simply memorizing Foundation Engineering formulas and understand how soil actually responds to a foundation, this is a book worth reading.
Tin Ko Ko
(KSI Engineering)
