A comparison between observed and calculated large settlements of raft foundations

This paper shows the results of large settlements observed over several years in Belgrade for a hotel founded on four rectangular rafts with expansion joints of 1 m width, and for a silo group built on the right bank of the Danube River. The capacity of the silo group is 400 MN. The settlement calculation for these structures was made using deformation parameters deduced from cone penetration test results. The theoretical solution for stresses and displacements was obtained by the finite difference method. Observed and calculated settlements show satisfactory agreement.Key words: settlement, raft foundation, finite difference, cone penetration tests.