Application of the Meyerhoff and De Beer Methods in Evaluating Soil Bearing Capacity for Low-Rise Building Foundation Design

Abstract

Foundation design for low-rise buildings requires an accurate evaluation of soil bearing capacity in order to obtain a foundation solution that is both safe and economical. This study applies the Meyerhoff method to evaluate the bearing capacity of shallow foundations and the De Beer method to evaluate the bearing capacity of deep foundations (driven piles and bored piles), based on Sondir/DCPT (Dutch Cone Penetration Test) data from the rehabilitation project of the BKKBN Regional Office Building of North Sumatra Province on Jl. Gn. Krakatau, Medan City. Two sondir points (S-1 and S-2) were tested using a 2.5-ton capacity apparatus following standard procedures, reaching maximum depths of 5.40 m and 4.60 m with cone resistance (CR) values of 209 kg/cm² and 205 kg/cm², both classified as very dense soil. Application of the Meyerhoff method (Qa = CR/40) for footing sizes ranging from 125×125 cm² to 200×200 cm² shows that for a typical column load of 15-20 tons in a 2-3 story building, a 150×150 cm² shallow footing only becomes sufficient at a depth of ≥ 3.00 m at point S-1, while at point S-2 this capacity is already reached at a depth of 2.00 m. Application of the De Beer method for 40 cm diameter piles shows that driven pile capacity is consistently 7-8% higher than bored pile capacity at the same diameter, and to reach a design load of 50 tons, point S-1 requires a pile depth of ≥ 5.00 m, whereas at point S-2 this capacity is already achieved at a depth of 4.00 m. These results demonstrate that combining the Meyerhoff and De Beer methods, applied to the same sondir dataset, can provide practical, site-specific guidance for engineers in selecting the appropriate foundation dimension and depth for low-rise buildings.