The Paper describes tests on instrumented rigid square pads performed at the EPSRC soft clay test site at Bothkennar in Scotland. The aims were to investigate bearing capacity and load-displacement behaviour under short-term and long-term conditions. The instrumentation and loading schemes also allowed the soil's in situ stress–strain, consolidation and creep properties to be compared with those established in high quality laboratory tests. There was generally good agreement. The results emphasize that non-linearity has an important effect on the behaviour of spread foundations, even when they are subject to relatively light loads.
KEYWORDS: bearing capacity; case history; clays; compressibility; footings/foundations; full-scale tests; stiffness.
L'article prèsente les essais rèalisès sur des surfaces carrèes rigides et instrumentèes installèes sur le site expèrimental `argiles molles' du ESERC Bothkennar, Ecosse. Le but est d'ètudier la charge admissible et le comportement chargementdèplacement à court et à long terme. Les schèmas d'instrumentation et de chargement permettent ègalement de comparer les propriètès de contrainte-dèformation, consolidation et fluage du sol mesurèes in-situ à celles mesurèes lors d'essais de laboratoire de bonne qualitè. Un bon accord a gènèralement ètè observè. Les rèsultats montrent que la non-linèaritè influe fortement sur le comportement des fondations de grande largeur, même pour des charges relativement fiables;
