The purpose of this course is to provide guidelines for calculations of vertical displacements and settlement of soil under shallow foundations supporting various types of structures and under embankments. This course is intended as a guide for determining potential settlement and is not intended to replace the judgment of the design engineer on a particular project. Causes of Soil Displacements: Soil is a nonhomogeneous porous material consisting of three phases: solids, fluid (normally water), and air. Soil deformation may occur by change in stress, water content, soil mass, or temperature. Vertical displacements and settlement caused by change in stress and water content are described in this manual. Limitations of these movements required for different structures are described in inside this course.
We will be covering Army Corps of Engineers document "Settlement Analysis" chapters 1-3. In this chapter we will be discussing introduction, limitations of settlement, and evaluation of settlement for static loads.2
